The Investment and Development Authority of Nagaland (IDAN) is all set to organize the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Investment conclave in Kohima on August 22-24 all over again with the Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in attendance. The conclave, which was earlier scheduled to be held on July 4-6 was postponed due to the inability of the Union Minister to attend the same at the 11th hour. However, with corporates, investors and bankers reaching the state, the state government held a precursor and deferred the conclave. As per media reports, Nagaland spent around Rs 2.5 crore for the postponed conclave and is now once again set to spend around Rs 2.7 crore to host the much-awaited Nagaland CSR, Investment and Banking conclave from August 22-24. It is interesting to note IDAN is so determined to host the conclave. Now that it is definite that Sitharaman has confirmed her schedule and will be staying in Nagaland throughout the 3-day conclave, it appears that IDAN knows what it is doing. As Nagaland intends to pitch to corporate houses and investors, it is hoped that the conclave would be successfully held this time. IDAN, led by its CEO, Alemtemshi Jamir, has made its intent clear and all must appreciate their effort regardless of the outcome. More than 100 corporates and investors from different parts of the country have reportedly confirmed their participation and are expected to extend CSR funding up to Rs 160 crore, which is huge money for a resource crunched state like Nagaland.
Having said that, it is difficult to say if Mokokchung is going to gain anything out of the conclave. The CEO has made it clear that IDAN is acting only as facilitator and not the implementing agency of any project. If Mokokchung cannot take advantage of this, we have none to blame but ourselves. The conclave is open to all the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and NGOs of the state which fulfill the requirements of being registered under corporate law and has been functioning for 2-3 years implementing CSR projects. Do we have any such CSO/NGO in Mokokchung? As per IDAN, Nagaland currently has only around 25 organizations fulfilling the CSR requirement and it is likely that none or not many of those 25 are from Mokokchung. That’s how far we have fallen behind others.