Time to emerge from shadows of conflict—Rio

[caption id="attachment_281742" align="alignright" width="400"] Neiphiu Rio addresses students at the 19th biennial general conference of All Nagaland College Students’ Union at Zunheboto Government College on Thursday.[/caption] Our Correspondent Zunheboto, Nov. 7 (EMN): Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Thursday said that time has come for the Naga people to emerge from the shadows of war and armed conflicts that have affected Nagaland for a long time. Addressing the inaugural session of the 19^th biennial general conference of All Nagaland College Students’ Union (ANCSU) at Zunheboto Government College, Rio shared that wars and conflicts have cast a shadow over the state and its people for a long time—starting from the trip of Naga Labour Corps to France during World War I to the Battle of Kohima in World War II, and finally the Naga political movement, whose recent developments, he added, has provided hope for a new chapter. The chief minister said that there is a time for everything; and it is now time to unite, irrespective of the origin, to cohesively carve out a positive future for the Nagas. Rio reminded that a society cannot progress under gun culture and violence; but only through cultivating peace, citing the example of Japan ‘who had failed in war but managed to conquer the world through entrepreneurship’. He announced that the state government has decided to declare the year 2020-2021 as the ‘Year of Skill Empowerment’ so that genuine aspirants would be skilled through training programmes in all districts of Nagaland, with placements assured after completion of training. Reminding that the government of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘is seriously working on the Act East Policy’, he wondered if Naga people were ready for it. Therefore, Rio asserted that Naga youth must be skilled and prepared for the same through skill development and education. “We cannot miss the bus,” he added. Commenting on the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GRE), he said that the state has shown improvement from the 2015 record of 5.4% to 17.8 % in 2019. However, he reminded, it was the lowest among Northeast states and lots need to be done under Rashtriya Uchchatar Shikhsha Abhiyan. Rio urged the students to grow trees and plant more indigenous trees, which ‘is our identity’. The chief minister also asked the colleges to judiciously make use of the funds for development and to ensure quality works. Rio asserted that the government has concern for the welfare of students, citing scholarship schemes, ex-gratia for students, etc. He assured that the government is in the process of revising the scholarship, in order to address the grievances of the students. The chief minister advised them to not only focus on obtaining degrees but also equip themselves for the job market by acquiring various skills. To mark the event, a monolith and a souvenir were also unveiled and released by the chief minister of Nagaland. The president of the Naga Students’ Federation, Ninoto Awomi, in his brief address, urged the students to work collectively towards eradicating corruption for a just future. ANCSU president, Katho P Awomi, delivered the presidential address and highlighted the ‘plights of students’ to the chief minister and his council of ministers. One of the issues raised was the upgrade of Kheloshe Atoizu Polytechnic Institute to degree level, for which he asked for inclusion of more branches, besides the sanction of degree course for civil engineering alone.