Be self reliant and celebrate

It is a well known fact that the economy of our state is largely dependent on the govt. and the state govt. has to depend on the Central govt. for sanctions to make ends meet. This is nothing unusual for a state which has no source of revenue generation of its own and more than 60% of the budget allocation is spent on the salary of its govt. employees. It was anticipated that the Prime Minister’s visit to Nagaland would also bring some financial packages to help the state get out of debts which has accumulated over the period of time. Modi’s beard may resemble that of Santa Clause but unfortunately the packet was missing and everybody was left high and dry, more so during this festive time.Coming back to the economy of our state, majority of our people are dependent on the financial transaction of the state govt. Even the business community thrives or shrinks accordingly as funds released by the govt. determines the buying power of the consumers. As it stands now, the people, both the sellers and costumers are in for a dry season as far as business is concerned. This trend does not augur well for us in the long run and its time to ponder and find ways to sustain ourselves without depending on any agencies. Self employment avenues have to be explored as self reliance is the best source of survival. However, success cannot be achieved overnight but one must venture into something, however modest it may be, with full dedication and determination without losing hope instead of depending on the govt. Today the situation is such that the business community is facing hardships as the circulation of money has dried up in the market drastically, particularly during this festive season and is far below as compared to the past. Considering the present scenario, the Sumi Council, Dimapur would like to appeal to all individuals, groups and organisations to desist from collecting money from the market on some pretext or the other as everybody is going through hardships due to the financial crunch faced by the state. Now coming back to the issue of self-reliance, it would be appropriate to cite the example of Mr. Geoffrey Yaden, the founder of Nagaland Post. If one goes back, it was a modest beginning in the Industrial Estate, Dimapur when he started the news daily but it was his sheer dedication and perseverance over the two decades which has propelled him to the position where he is today without any help from the govt. The younger generation need to emulate him and earn both name and fame by the dint of hard work and not expect anything on a platter. While congratulating him and his staff for completing 24 years of service to the society, the Sumi Council, Dimapur would also like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous 2015 Kuhoi Zhimo Chairman, Sumi Council, Dimapur