Our Correspondent
Kohima, May 31 (EMN): Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Tuesday said active participation of elected leaders, department officials, and village councils will change the scenario and economy of the state.
He was addressing a state-level programme at Capital Cultural Hall, Kohima as part of the prime minister’s nationwide interaction with beneficiaries of government schemes.
Rio stated that Nagaland is a resource-crunched state and depends on funding from the Central government for development of infrastructures, and consequently many Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) are being implemented in the state.
Through these schemes, funds to the tune of around INR 5000 crore are being transferred for various projects or to the beneficiaries in the state, Rio stated and added that in addition to building infrastructure, which benefits people at large and enables economic activities, the schemes are aimed at directly benefiting individual families.
Rio asserted that under the leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 16 Pradhan Mantri Yojana Schemes, 12 items were selected and discussed. He expressed delight that Modi was interacting directly with the beneficiaries at the district levels.
He remarked that the state had done well in housing (urban and rural) and the Jal Jeevan Mission of providing tapped drinking water, which is in progress, is also doing well.
Under community/public toilets - Swachh Bharat, Rio opined that the country is much cleaner including Nagaland. He also highlighted the various schemes being implementing in the state through subsidised foodgrains; providing direct transfer of INR 6000 per farmer (in three quarters); providing affordable loans to the micro-farmers and entrepreneurs, and health insurance cover of INR 5 lakh per family under Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
He requested the District Planning Development Board (DPDB) chairman, deputy commissioner (DC) and various other departments who are implementing the benefits schemes to review the progress, stating that the chief secretary will also have a monthly review.
In this regard, he stated that six months time will be given to reach the national level or become one of the best states in the Northeast.
He also told the legislators to go to the villages in their respective constituencies so that the benefits are not missed by the targeted people.
Rio further reiterated the plan to roll out the Chief Minister Health Insurance Scheme (CMHIS) from October 1, 2022, which aims to provide every citizen of Nagaland with hospitalisation insurance cover of upto INR 5 lakh per annum, irrespective of the family income.
“The scheme will provide cashless services for predefined packages covering secondary and tertiary care procedures at empanelled government or private hospitals, both within and outside the state,” he said.
The state government has also designed a micro-finance scheme which will provide subsidised loans to farmers and entrepreneurs, and will be rolled out in the coming month, he said while stating that discussions were already made with the banks.
He also pointed out that these two schemes were state-owned initiatives outside the PM schemes.
“Our future lies with how healthy, capable our human resources are so that they are able to generate sufficient economic surplus not only for themselves but also to take our state and country forward”, said Rio.
“The state government and the central government will continue to build the capacities of our people, and provide the environment for sufficient opportunities for the innate strengths of our people to grow at par with the national economy,” he added.
Earlier, the opening remark was delivered by Chief Secretary of J Alam while Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio also interacted with the beneficiaries from various districts in virtual mode, except for Kohima district, in the presence of his Cabinet, senior government officials and others.
Later, the state also joined the national interaction programme.