Principal Correspondent
KOHIMA, JULY 2
HAVING completed a month in office, the DAN-III government under Chief Minister TR Zeliang has come up with two new policies – Nagaland Investment Board (NIB) and Nagaland Coal Policy (NCP) which would be presented on the floor of the ensuing State Legislative Assembly for approval.
Addressing his first press conference after taking over as the Chief Minister this evening before the Welcome Dinner of the new Governor at CM’s Residential Office here this evening, Zeliang said that the State Cabinet has approved the constitution of NIB while the detailed modalities would be worked out and placed in the Assembly whereas NCP is yet to be approved by the Cabinet.
He said that the State Government has also constituted a committee to see how to proceed with the Nagaland State Development Zone (NSDZ) and also the Foothill Road construction.
On the disturbance caused by the Nagaland Foothill Road Coordination Committee (NFHRCC), he said that the original concept was that the state government had appealed to tribal hohos to shoulder responsibility to iron out problems from the land owners while finalizing the alignment and also while awarding the contract. But the concept was later diverted to their own interest, he lamented.
On allegations labeled against Minister Kuzholuzo Nienu of demanding Rs. 30 lakh as commission from NFHRCC contractor, he said that the Cabinet in its meeting yesterday had constituted as Cabinet Sub-Committee (CSC) to look into the matter and submit its report within one month.
On NCP, he said in the past coal has been extracted from few districts of the state like Mokokchung, Mon and Wokha and it has been taken to Assam and stocked as ‘Assam Coal’ without any collection of taxes or revenue. Therefore, the state government has come up with a new policy to set up five coal storages within Nagaland and after realizing all the taxes, it would sent to various destinations in the name of ‘Nagaland Coal’.
On the Naga political issue, Zeliang reiterated that his government would continue to play the role of ‘facilitator’, But, he said, “we have apprised the Centre to appoint the new interlocutor as after former interlocutor RS Pandey’s resignation in December 2013 there has been no new appointment.”
“We hope that they (Centre) will appoint the new interlocutor at the earliest and resume the talks so that we will try to be the best facilitator and also encourage the FNR and NGOs to bring the different Naga groups together and arrive at acceptable solution.
On the progress of peace talks, he said “since no interlocutor has been appointed they could not process any further, but we are hopeful of progress only after the new appointment”.
On the ACAUT’s movement ‘one government, one tax’, he said the state government is trying to reform the taxation system and also regulate the land revenue. “Discourage other illegal taxes and encourage the government taxes, which will come as government revenue for the development of the state,” he said.
On the growing unemployment amongst the educated youths, he said solution would come only if the people change their mindset from looking for government jobs and explore opportunities with the entry of private investors as they establish industries.
On the thousands of work-charged employees in the state, the CM revealed that a CSC has been constituted while all the Deputy Commissioners have been directed to identify actual workers and ‘ghost-employees’ in each department of the district. The CSC has been given three months time to submit its report, he said.
On the stability of the government, he said “we are stable and there is no threat so far” while accepting that there is bound to be displeasure while distributing the portfolios. On the demand of Zunheboto NPF division for reshuffling of ministerial berth, he said that “giving the portfolio to a minister is not only for one district alone but for the entire state and the people should ask for development from the minister, which would taken up equally by the state government”.
“We have to change the mindset that one district should get more than the other,” he quipped.
