Kohima Bureau
Kohima, March 23 (EMN): Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Friday made some major announcements and proposals to propel development in the state and transparency in governance.Presenting the budget for 2018-19 during the 13th NLA session, Rio talked about his vision for a ‘Connected Nagaland’ through public road infrastructure. He said one of the first priorities of the People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA) government was to immediately start repair and maintenance of roads in the district headquarters within 60 days.Stating that INR 50 cr. has been provided for this purpose, he said the government will ensure quality of works was strictly maintained ‘without any compromise’, and to the extent possible, all such works would be taken up departmentally.Rio also informed that the State Quality Control Board which was created to ensure quality in civil constructions would be revamped and he further proposed to reconstitute the board with members representing both serving technocrats, government employees and qualified persons. He also assured that his government will ensure timely completion of ongoing national highway road projects taken up by NHIDCL with quality. Towards this, he said a web-based mapping software which will put the progress of road construction in the public domain, will be put into place. The chief minister also stated that the fleet of state transport buses will be enhanced besides improving infrastructure and facilities for public.
Welfare for the differently-able
Rio announced that the PDA government was committed towards the welfare of the differently-able and those facing mental health challenges. Towards this, he assured that the new government will give efforts to make government infrastructures barrier-free and provide special education teachers in all the districts. “We are committed towards protecting and expanding the rights of citizens who are differently-able and we will work towards full equal opportunities at work, access to education and to health services,” Rio stated.
Health project at 177 sites
On health sector, Rio informed of the 5-7 years World Bank-funded Nagaland Health Project implemented by the state medical department which would cover 177 sites selected through consultative process. He said the project seeks to improve health services and increase in their utilization by communities in targeted locations. The project’s approved cost is 48 million USD as loan from IDA and 12 million USD as state share. He said the project will avoid duplication of existing activities of the state health system as well as the NHM.
Religious and study tours
The PDA government has also announced the introduction of a new programme for ‘Holy Land tours and pilgrimages’. The chief minister said detailed guidelines to enable the citizens to visit ‘holy land’ will be set up so that the government part-sponsor such visits.
Another new package to be introduced is study tours and excursions for students, enabling them to take on excursion trips to different parts of the country, particularly the national capital region. Rio informed that every year 100 students will be sponsored to visit New Delhi and other cities to gain experience from places like the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House, Taj Mahal in different batches. A separate cell will be set up to facilitate the successful implementation of the scheme.
Stating that the government promised meritocracy to the people, Rio said as a first step, measures will be taken up ensure that government jobs were filled through proper transparent procedures. Also, on awarding of welfare schemes and selection of beneficiaries for various programmes, he said these will be merit-based. As a start, he stated that the practice of recommendation notes for vacancies, contracts and supplies will be curtailed. Vacancies and formats for applications will be displayed on government websites to enable all citizens have equal opportunity and a culture of meritocracy can be inculcated, he added.
Rio said all the districts will be connected on Bharat Broadband Network through optical fibres. Maintaining that information technology will be an invaluable tool for better governance as well as policy making, he said it was imperative to make departments, officials as well as the public to have a round-the-clock internet access. The IT department and National Informatics Centre Nagaland will pool their resources together to bring Nagaland fully into the age of IT so as to enhance efficiency and productivity of the government, he said.
The chief minister expressed concern that the industries sector was languishing in neglect for several years, and stating that conditions were ideal to bring investments into the state, he stated the PDA government will begin with key policy interventions to make setting up business and enterprise simpler. He however pointed out that real industrialization should be one that is locally driven and not injected from outside. For this, he urged upon progressive farmers and young entrepreneurs to appreciate the importance of starting big ventures with locally sourced raw materials and produce so that benefits flowed down to the grassroots levels.
Rio also mentioned that on Mar. 21, the Union Cabinet under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the North East Industrial Development Scheme (NEIDS) 2017 which would provide a financial outlay of INR 3000 cr. for industrial development in the NE states. He informed that Naga industrialists and entrepreneurs have potential to benefit with the incentives being provided for capital investments, taxes and employment promotion.
In order to attract investment from private sector and multilateral agencies in Nagaland, Rio proposed to set up Nagaland Investment and Development Authority, a body including recruited and experience persons from both the government and non-government sector from different backgrounds. This body whose structure will be announced soon, he said, will aggressively pursue investment projects, infrastructure development and take up major that contribute towards economic growth in a sustainable manner that is acquainted and adaptable to Nagaland situation.
A new initiative called ‘Clean and Green Nagaland’ will be introduced as part of the Swachh Bharat Initiative, to promote and spread the message of keeping the environment and habitations clean and hygienic. Announcing this, chief minister Rio said the state will soon be formulating an anti-plastic policy in a ‘practical and realistic manner’.
Rio today said that PDA government was committed to make special interventions to address continuing issues of imbalance in development of the Eastern Naga areas with special focus on creating key infrastructural facilities as well as capacity building to bring them at par with the state of the state.
“We would specially focus on ensuring connectivity of all block headquarters, provision of Broadband connectivity, ensuring availability of doctors in hospitals to ensure that the ENPO areas have better social and physical infrastructure,” he said. He remarked that every department will be asked to ensure focused attention on implementation of schemes in the Eastern Nagaland areas.
In order to ensure successful implementation of government policies, programs and projects, the chief minister announced that a central monitoring mechanism in the form of a Project Management Board will be setup. The board will ensure periodical monitoring of all skills and projects for successful implementation and timely delivery, he said.
Rio announced that a new tourism policy will be formulated to provide innovation and creativity that reflected the energy of the Naga youth, the colour and vibrancy of the Naga culture and the richness of their heritage. He informed that an amount of INR 2 cr. will be kept aside for capacity building exercises for tourism and related industry and promotional events. He also said an online ILP system will be introduced.
Maintaining that the annual Hornbill Festival has become a premier festival of the region, the chief minister said it was this event that has ‘internationalised’ Nagaland and propagated the culture and heritage of the Naga to the world in a most positive manner. Towards this, he stated that his government will be increasing the dimensions of the festival by promoting the ‘Hornbill brand’ further through a strategy that would bring in tourists throughout the year. Towards this end, he proposed to promote the tribal festivals into 2-3 days ‘mini hornbill festivals’ in various districts, which would culminate with the main Hornbill Festival in December.
Rio said power remains an area of concern due to the huge losses being incurred annually due to poor revenue collection. Attributing non-payment of bills and power theft as one of the main reasons for huge revenue losses in the power sector, he appealed to the public to develop the culture of paying for what they use and also asked departments to ensure that priority is accorded to payment of power dues.
Rio pointed out that during the 13th Finance Commission period, the total loss of revenue on account of power was INR 963.34 cr.; during the 14th Finance Commission period, the projected total loss of revenue on account of power is INR 1100 cr.; during the year 2017-18 alone, the loss of revenue on account of power was INR 309. 97 cr.; and now in 2018-19, it is projected at INR 318 cr.
“Unless serious efforts are made to check such negative trends, huge amounts of scarce resources will go down the drain without any productivity,” he said.
Nevertheless, he said power sector is witnessing positive improvements in transmission infrastructure because of which power supply in Kohima, Dimapur and Peren districts will become more stable. Reforms have also been introduced in the billing and collection activities in Kohima, Dimapur, Chumukedima, Phek, Zunheboto, Wokha, Mon and Tuensang towns through online payment systems including facility for payment using POS swipe machines at Kohima and Dimapur, he stated.
“During 2018- 19, I propose to provide an amount of INR 19 cr. for maintenance which is an increase of 35.71 % over 2017-18,” he added.
