The 59th Statehood day was celebrated at Nagaland Civil Secretariat Plaza, Kohima on 1st December 2021.
Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio delivering his speech appealed to the people to rededicate and work for peace, growth and development, and provide better standard of living for all citizens. He emphasized on the need to further improve our administrative and governance systems and added that the citizens have to join hands with the Government to usher in a new era of peace, development and prosperity.
Rio said that this year’s celebrations also coincide with the ongoing nationwide celebrations to commemorate 75 years of India's independence 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' and the great achievements of its people. Close to six decades since Statehood, the quality of life of our people has improved significantly; he remarked that despite achievements in the expansion of health and education facilities, the road and power infrastructure need to improve. Rio added that the Government is committed to take necessary steps for all round development and to ensure that our people are provided with the best opportunities for growth and progress.
Rio said that our State occupies a unique position in the Indian Union with special provisions in the Constitution and as the wait continues for a solution of the Naga Political Issue, the dialogue and negotiations between the Government of India and the Naga Political Groups have reached a stage giving us hope for an early resolution. He said all the elected leaders of the state have come together to form an opposition-less government in the form of United Democratic Alliance to facilitate an early settlement of the Naga Political Issue.
Rio expressed grief and sympathies to those families who have lost their near and dear ones to Covid-19. Rio gave salute to the health care workers, front line workers, the district administration and the civil societies and church leaders for their ceaseless hard work. He added that the government has constantly monitored the situation and taken timely decisions which helped in dealing with the first and the second waves effectively.
He stated that in order to improve the health infrastructure hundreds of doctors and nurses were recruited by creating additional posts. Oxygen generation facilities were set up, added more hospital beds including a modern, State of the Art 200-bedded acute care hospital block in CIHSR, Dimapur and deployed advanced equipment. He added that the facility at CIHSR Dimapur will help the state to be better prepared for future COVID-19 waves and other medical emergencies.
Rio cautioned the public to continue to be watchful and take all preventive steps as we open up and start the festive season. He said that vaccine hesitancy in some pockets of our districts is a matter of great concern. He remarked that within Nagaland, people in Kohima and Dimapur have taken the vaccine with great enthusiasm and these towns are safer today. Rio congratulated the villages which have completed 100% vaccination of their eligible population and appealed to all to come forward and take the vaccine as this will keep everyone safer against any future COVID-19 outbreaks.
He said that the uniqueness of our culture and talent of our people is fully proven by the success of the Hornbill Festival- the festival of festivals, and the 21st edition of this festival will showcase the talents of our youth in the spheres of art and music and other fields.
Rio also announced that in the month of January 2022, our State will be hosting the South Asian Cross-Country Championship, which will be clubbed together with the 56th National Cross-Country Championship. Rio also said that it will be the biggest-ever international event to be hosted by Nagaland and the event will bring athletes, officials and delegates from many South Asian countries to Nagaland.
Rio remarked that the government’s continuous endeavour is to improve the quality of education in our schools and colleges. 31 colleges out of the 66 colleges in Nagaland have been accredited by the National Assessment & Accreditation Council-NAAC, and many other college applications are in the pipeline. The Department of School Education has commenced implementing the National Education Policy 2020 in a phased manner and various innovative projects are being introduced, such as making the teaching-learning process joyful and productive to both students and teachers.
He said that electricity is the driver of all development and as we are heavily deficient in power generation, we need to quickly enhance our capacity. Rio also said that the State received approval for two Externally Aided Hydro Electric Power projects, namely 42MW Y Lower Tizu and 24MW Zungki, with estimated costs of Rs. 529.78 Cr. and Rs. 367.21 Cr respectively. In order to further augment our power generation capacity, we will be setting up solar power plants of 10-20 MW during the coming year, Rio added.
He mentioned that road network in the state is expected to see a further boost with Nagaland PWD and the NW DCL carrying out several projects in the State. Prominent among them are 78 km, 2-laning in Wokha -Mokochung sector of NH-2, strengthening of existing pavement in NH-2, NH-202 & N 702-A, the 4 lane RCC Sanuoru bridge on the way to the New Capital Complex, the first 4-lane bridge in the State, was completed and opened to traffic on 29th November 2021. Further, 89 Roads & Bridges projects, including 22 Bridges are being constructed under PMGSY, covering a total length of 1107 Km, with a total sanctioned amount of Rs. 2284 crores. DPRs are also under preparation for the East-West corridor and North-South corridor in the state.
To showcase our tradition, culture and talents, the much awaited Cultural Hall was inaugurated with a seating capacity of 1850 and it will be one of the premier Cultural Halls in the country.
Chief Minister said that Nagaland witnessed a drought-like situation this year and in order to deal with the delayed and erratic rains implemented a Crop Contingency Plan to help affected farmers with input support during Rabi season. Our state is giving more focus to organic farming not only to help farmers fetch better prices for their produce, but also to provide healthy and nutritious food, Rio added. He also mentioned that during the three years Convergence Program of MGNREGA with North East Initiative Development Agency & Land Resources Department, a notable achievement was also made in our rural areas by successfully completing 105 Spring Shed Management projects in 97 villages.
Rio stated that with the outbreak of African swine fever in neighbouring States this year, Department of Veterinary & Animal Husbandry did well to prevent spread of the disease in our State by enforcing strict bio-security measures.
Rio commented that during the recently concluded session of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly, we passed the resolution for implementation of the SARFAESI Act in Nagaland. The act will pave way for providing finance facilities by the banks to our promising entrepreneurs.
The other highlights of the program included lunching of NIPUN Bharat Mission in Nagaland and inauguration of photo exhibition ‘Glimpses of the history of the State’ by Chief Minster Neiphiu Rio. ‘The Gael ’Musical was presented by NPTS brass band and 15th NAP (IR) Mahila pipe band. Deputy Commandant NAPTC Dr. Kupe Kapfo Commander and Asst. Commandant 15th NAP (IR) Bn led the parade with Medemkala as the second-in-command. Cultural display was presented by Aong Reju cultural organisation (Ao), Pfushin Thuringia cultural Troupe (Rengma) and Khianmniungan cultural troupe (Kohima).
(Esuihangle IA)
