Kohima, October 9 (MTNews): Addressing the 70th Plenary of the North Eastern Council (NEC) attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the governor of Nagaland Prof. Jagdish Mukhi highlighted a slew of issues specific to Nagaland.
Drawing the attention of the Council to some of the issues specific to Nagaland State, the said Nagaland is facing acute power deficit as the State generates only 26 MW against the peak requirement of around 115 MW. He appealed that NEC should therefore include Power in the thrust areas. In this regard, he said that the Nagaland State Government has submitted to NEC a proposal “Construction of 2.4MW Duilumroi HEP at Peren district” for gap funding and requested NEC to consider for sanction of the project. “Power is critical for industrialization and technological advancements and for overall economic development,” he added.
He also said that capacity building and skill development in the region can give gainful employment to large numbers of educated unemployed youth in various fields. “Nagaland is struggling with the problem of employability of the educated unemployed youth,” he said, adding that the youth of today have high aspirations and expectations. When these aspirations are not met, he said, frustration sets in and they are easily misled to take to crime and anti-national activities. “Most north-eastern states are confronted with insurgent activities and if we are to usher in peace and development in the region, the youth must be provided with opportunities to lead productive lives,” he added. He also said that these youths need to be imparted with the skills in tourism and hospitality, aviation, nursing, para -medics, wellness industry, music and entertainment, IT and the BPOs, sports, therapists, and specialized skills in automobile sector and in the construction sector.
Stating that the various Naga tribes have their own rich costumes, patterns and crafts, the governor also said that basketry, using bamboo and cane is an integral part of Naga activity. “Nagaland has immense potential to export readymade apparel, handlooms, handicrafts and textile products to South-east Asian countries,” he added. He also said that harnessing this skill commercially will provide better means of income, particularly to womenfolk especially in the rural areas. “NEC may therefore give due emphasis for development of loin-loom production of the NE States as a promotion of traditional industry,” Mukhi said.
As an agrarian state, the future of the Nagaland lies in exploiting the opportunities in agriculture and allied activities, the Governor said. Commercial crops like coffee and rubber need to be given a big push while horticulture is another area where the State has immense potential, he informed. Crops like orange, kiwi, passion fruit, cucumbers and pineapples are suited for the soil while spices like ginger, turmeric and Naga King chili are grown in abundance, he said, batting for value addition and organic certification to fetch good prices.
Prof Mukhi also noted that the State is struggling with poor internet connectivity and urged the NEC to intervene in providing infrastructure for high speed internet connectivity up to the village level in the entire region.
Sharing about the Nagaland Start-up Policy aimed at establishing the State as a “model startup leader in the region” by creating a culture of entrepreneurship and facilitating growth of at least 500 start-ups in the next five years with focus on “Made in Nagaland,” he called for the NEC’s intervention in establishing an Innovation hub that can house all the startups under one roof, on PPP mode.
Further maintaining that coaching plays a vital role for candidates in clearing competitive exams and most civil service aspirants from Nagaland cannot afford to go to New Delhi, Prof Mukhi urged the NEC to come forward by tying up with a reputed coaching institute for providing online coaching classes at subsidized rates.
He also requested the NEC to include sports as one of its thrust areas and said that apart from creating sporting infrastructure, opportunities for developing the skills and providing exposure to young people at the National and International levels need to be created.
It will be very good if NEC could organise junior level inter-state football tournaments in line with Senior Level Dr T Ao North East Football Tournament to provide necessary platform and exposure for young talents, he added.