Our Correspondent
Kohima, Aug. 15 (EMN): Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Monday asserted the need to continue making efforts so that the fruits of development and progress reach everyone.
He was addressing the state on the occasion of the 75th Independence Day celebration at the Nagaland Civil Secretariat Plaza in Kohima on Monday.
Rio stated that the state government is in full coordination with the government of India in implementing several public welfare schemes for improving the lives of the people of the state.
Despite severe resource constraints, he said they have recently taken a number of measures to further streamline the fund flow and improve the implementation of the schemes.
On agri and allied activities, he asserted that they have been consistent in increasing food grains while informing that horticulture crops such as pineapple, kiwi, passion fruit, dragon fruit and plantation crops such as coffee and tea were attracting premium buyers from India and abroad.
He stated that about INR 315 crore have been directly transferred to bank accounts of 2,01,920 farmer families under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PMKSN) scheme while successfully providing critical marketing link in agriculture value chain to entrepreneurs, FPOs, SHGs by building "Naturally Nagaland" as a premium, organic brand.
On the youth and sports front, the chief minister apprised that they are focused on developing modern indoor stadiums at Tuensang, Noklak, Niuland, Tseminyu and Chumoukedima districts, multipurpose stadiums at Wokha, Longleng, Kohima and astroturf football grounds at Mon, Peren and Mokokchung districts.
He also stated how people could be benefited with the coming up of the state's first Regional Centre of Sporting Excellence.
He said that TaFMA-mentored artistes from the state are not only making waves in the country but headlining international platforms as well.
Further, Rio also made the announcement to conduct the Nagaland Olympic and Paralympic Games 2022 with the motto "Stronger Together".
On Nagaland Police, law and order, he said 11th NAP (IR) Battalion Headquarters in Aboi has been inaugurated while the foundation plaque of the Nagaland Police Sports Battalion has also been laid down last year.
He also reminded that the capacity enhancement of the State Forensic Science Laboratory, Dimapur Nagaland for DNA analysis and Cyber Forensics are being taken up during the year while informing the constitution of a "Cabinet Select Committee" for resolving border disputes with neighbouring states.
On the tourism sector, Rio informed that they are promoting the state's tourism nationally and internationally.
He apprised that with the launch of a single-window system, all tourist service and trade have gone onboard whereby travel agents, tour operators and homestay units or paying guests can now apply directly online for registration with the department.
On entrepreneurship, he informed how an e-commerce platform known as Yellow Chain for the local entrepreneurs has been created and an MoU was signed with GiZ (Germany) and Dhriiti last year to create an ecosystem for women entrepreneurs in Nagaland through Her & Now Project.
On education, the chief minister apprised that with a view to have better monitoring of the teachers' learning processes in the government schools, the normal Teacher's Diary has been converted into Digital Teachers Diary this year, adding that there are a number of other initiatives for improving the learning environment, including the cluster schools being taken up under the World Bank funded programme.
On transparency and good governance, he said that the Personal Information Management System(PMIS) for the government employees has been strengthened while Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB) has started functioning.
Apprising how Nagaland Legislative Assembly Secretariat became the first in the country to operationalise paperless assembly proceedings under E-Vidhan initiative, Rio said that they have also now moved towards online mode of issuing of ILP for all categories.
On livelihood and intellectual property rights, Rio informed that till date, about 1,11,703 lakh women have been mobilized into self-help groups and 1,084 village-level federations and 49 cluster-level federations have been promoted.
He said that they have created the Mongken brand, which functions as an umbrella brand to market tribal products on the mainstream commercial space.
"Through this and further hand holding, economic opportunities are being created for local designers, skilled tailors and weavers with special focus on the underdeveloped areas of the state," he added.
On public welfare and infrastructure development, Rio asserted that they are working for "Housing for All '' by 2024 for which the Rural Development and Urban Development departments have been using resources from the Gramin and Urban sub-schemes under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
He also said that the state has successfully completed the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) scheme from phase 1 to phase 5 and they have rolled out modern IT-based supply chain and hospital management systems that will bring in more transparency, accountability and better management of healthcare facilities.
Rio apprised that the construction works at Nagaland Medical College Kohima has shown 75% physical progress while informing that the second Integrated Ayush Mission at Chedema, Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centers as well as Wokha Polytechnic were inaugurated.