
The Nagaland government has added another industrial structure in the hope of encouraging young Naga entrepreneurs to step forward and take the initiative for various development activities, which will in turn lead to all round progress of the State. Inaugurating the Integrated Infrastructure Development (IID) Centre at Kiruphema, which is located along the NH-39 between the commercial hub of Dimapur and State capital Kohima, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio had reaffirmed the message of encouraging the young upcoming entrepreneurs to make the best use of the infrastructure provided. The Chief Minister is quite right when he says that the success of the centre would depend on how the entrepreneurs put their effort and make the best use of the facility provided. This is true of not only the latest facility at Kiruphema but also of other similar initiatives taken by the State government. The Ganeshnagar industrial facility in the outskirt of Dimapur has also been constructed for the purpose of stimulating industrial growth in the State.
It is however anybody’s guess that most of the State run facilities have remained under used or non-performing assets ending up as visual ‘monuments’ or white elephants and draining on the exchequer. What is actually required at this juncture is to come out with ‘viable’ and workable partnership between the government and stakeholders i.e. the public. Also given the fundamental flaw of having the State run an economic enterprise, what is required is public private partnership or some form of privatization. The present government has already in place its policy on public private partnership. This need to be reviewed and wherever deemed fit, improvements can be made to the overall working of this policy. There is also nothing wrong to go in for privatization of some sector as long as it is done in an honest and transparent manner and where benefits accrue to the local people and its economy.
The other aspect that has to be looked into is on the need for creating an atmosphere that is conducive for business and investment to thrive in. Unless there is peace and security, our entrepreneurs will remain at a disadvantage. Many of our young men and women do not lack in potential or hard work. In fact given the opportunity they can also strive towards excellence like their global counterparts. However, they need a secure environment to thrive on. They also certainly do not want to pay exorbitant rates of extortion, whether it is to the State, underground or the countless of unions and other interest groups. The State government will therefore have to step in to ensure a safe working environment for our entrepreneurs to find their success. Business confidence must be improved upon.
In fact to make a mention of what could actually be wrong with our state of affairs, a few years back with great fanfare, the Industrial Growth Centre and Export Promotion Industrial Park at Ganeshnagar was inaugurated. Many of our politicians and bureaucrats at that time had hoped that this venture will catapult the State into an era of industrial boon. So what went wrong? Did our entrepreneurs make the best use of the given opportunity? Or was it that policy makers failed to see the linkages between such an industrial undertaking and the farming community; correlation between production and marketing? Or worse still, was information monopolized by the powerful section so much so that majority of the capable lot did not actually get the opportunity? Or simply put, the required pre-condition for successful modern economic activity is missing in Nagaland? Most of us already know the answers to most of these queries.