We cannot know what the future will be like. The only thing we can know about the future is that it will be different. We need to also, therefore, think differently. Children starting school this year will be retiring in around 2080 and no one has any idea what the world will look like in ten years’ time, let alone 2080. What kind of a world are they going to inherit from us? Our urban centers are growing but the forests are disappearing, our quality of life is improving but our culture and traditions are eroding, we are pursuing education but are forgetting our indigenous wisdom.
Naga people take pride in their identity but what defines identity? Is the definition of ‘Naga identity’ changing over time? Will there be a Naga identity in the future? Will there be a time in the future, in the distant future, when the whole of humanity is assimilated and there would not be a Naga population?
These are times of unprecedented global change, and the world is changing faster than ever before. These are times for serious retrospection, a time for Nagas to prepare for the future, or else we will be in for a serious shock.
According to official data available with Mokokchung Times, there are about 52,000 vehicles registered in Mokokchung, which comprises about 14% of the total number of vehicles registered in Nagaland. Kohima and Dimapur obviously have the highest number of vehicles, comprising a combined total of around 2,70,000 vehicles or about 70% of all vehicles registered in Nagaland. It is also known that the Government of Nagaland has accrued a cumulative total of around `95 crores from Mokokchung in the form of Motor Vehicle Tax till date. Nagaland on the whole has generated around `760 crores through Motor Vehicle Tax till date. How this revenue has been utilized will, perhaps, be never known to the common people and it looks the common people are not even interested to know how the taxes they pay are utilized.
Coming back to the number of vehicles registered in Mokokchung, it is hard to believe that there are only 52,000 private vehicles registered in Mokokchung. The actual number of running vehicles in Mokokchung will be far more than the number of registered vehicles.
The used cars bearing registration numbers of other states seem to be equal, if not more, to the layman’s observation. There could be many reasons why there are so many vehicles in Mokokchung not bearing Nagaland registration numbers and there may be legalities involved here which the concerned department should be able to explain. However, the inconvenient truth here is that there is no system in place to calculate just how many vehicles there really are in Mokokchung.
It is very difficult to get hold of any reliable data in Nagaland. Due to lack of genuine and reliable data or statistics, it becomes very difficult for analysts and researchers to arrive at satisfactory conclusions on most subjects.
There is no data to show the actual number of vehicles in Mokokchung. Likewise, for example, there is no data to show how many lives have been lost due to consumption of spurious liquor or how many non-Nagas in Mokokchung are paying Income Tax.
So long as we do not have a system in place to provide factual data for research and analysis on all the important subjects, it will be very difficult to formulate policies to mitigate problems.