DIMAPUR, May 10 - The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has suggested lockdown exit measures, which primarily focuses on sustaining livelihood in the State.
Calling Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio�s lockdown exit plan vague and directionless, NPCC president K Therie, in a release, said, �We have to prepare to live with the coronavirus for times to come.�
Therie said Rio in his exit plan ignored economic distress and suggested that the State Government address certain issues on a priority basis to sustain livelihood.
Referring to the Chief Minister�s �distress letter� to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for release of State�s share in Central taxes, the NPCC said when the State Government cannot even get its own share of taxes from the Centre, there is no question of the Centre giving additional or special plan and non-plan assistance to the State. �We cannot expect the BJP government to rescue the State�s economy saddled with huge deficit. We must plan for a self-content economy,� the NPCC said.
The NPCC opposed sending away migrant workers from the State, saying this will further paralyse development activities. It said the government should facilitate resumption of work by migrant workers instead of sending them away, if they wish to stay back. Considering the economic impact on each citizen and family after the lockdown, the NPCC said the government should provide free education as every family cannot afford online education. The State Government may think of having its own satellite channel or online learning facilities for meeting this emerging necessity, it said.
The NPCC said the government should increase grant-in-aid to private schools and reduce admission and tuition fees.
Some other measures suggested by the NPCC include health services and health insurance schemes for every citizen, stimulus to restructure the economy, resolution of the Naga political problem to get rid of multiple taxation, facilitation of loans from banks and other financial institutions for local entrepreneurs, declaration of all areas under town and municipal councils as cadastral areas, allocation of land for industries in the industrial zone, plan to create two lakh jobs, facilitation of agricultural growth and arrangement of marketing channels, training of local workforce to replace migrant workers, compensation to hospitality sector, providing stimulus to agriculture and farming and reduction of taxes, rent and utility bills.
