By Y Merina Chishi
A decade ago, the government of Nagaland announced a visionary document called "Vision 2020 Nagaland." The document contained developmental thrusts for the coming decades and envisaged to boost the state's economy and human resources.
The initiative started on a promising note. The Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Ganeshnagar was revived and the government tried to rope in foreign and domestic investors. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with a Korean farming company but it was never executed. The SEZ became defunct eventually. In order to strengthen the Look East Policy, International Trade Centre at Pangsha and Longwa were inaugurated. Some trade took place initially but that too didn't sustain for long. The two towns only remain as porous borders for illicit trade.
Among others, “Vision 2020” thrust area was to be the agri and allied sector. Agriculture Produce Management Committees (APMCs) were set up in all districts of the state. However, most of them became non-functional. In many cases, farmers were not even aware of the existence of APMCs! The government in its programme planned to set up micro-food processing units and open up marketing channels, including construction of agri-link roads to potential destinations. All seemed good news for the agricultural sector. But most of it was not executed and so, inadequate marketing and transport facilities remain bottle necks for the agricultural sector.
In spite of its good intent, the government did not prioritize on power and road-the two most essential sectors needed to boost economy. Setting up mini and micro-hydel projects seems unlikely even in the near future. In the transport sector, projects for a Dimapur-Zubza railway link, airports at Chiethu and Razaphema were announced. While the former two are in the pipeline, the status of the latter remains unknown.
For any society to progress, education is the main tool. In Nagaland, government run institutions are still in dismal state. Setting up institutes of higher and technical education was one of the key focuses of "Vision 2020.” The National Institute of Technology (NIT) became functional but upgrading our state's very own polytechnic institute at Atoizu remains elusive.
The document did not entirely fail though; floriculture and horticultural have made tremendous progress. Bengulurians have tasted pineapples from Molvom, apples from Thanamir have become trade-marked, and exotic fruits like kiwi and dragon fruits are growing in our very own farms. Further, areas of tourism, eco-tourism, music, youth and skill development have reached new heights.
But what the government really envisaged accomplishing falls short. It is quite apparent that much of what was incorporated in the document is yet to be fulfilled. The document sought to make Nagaland not just self sufficient but a surplus producing state but the government failed to implement its programmes and policies effectively. This shows how important it is for the government to introspect and correct itself in those areas where it had failed to deliver.
When “Vision 2020” was announced, there was great deal of hope and optimism among the public. And so, one can only hope "Vision 2030" does not remain a mere document but will be implemented more effectively and will produce better results.
Comments can be sent to merinachishi@gmail.com
