State govt left no stone unturned in resolving Naga political issue: Guv Ganesan

Guwahati, Jan. 26: Nagaland Governor La Ganesan on Sunday said the state government has spared no effort to resolve the decades-old Naga political issue.

Unfurling the national flag on the Republic Day at the Nagaland Civil Secretariat Plaza, the Governor said on November 21, 2024, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio accompanied by his cabinet colleagues met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and apprised him of the desire of the people for an early solution of the Naga political issue.

The Governor informed the gathering that the state government submitted its comments on the third draft of the Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) in respect of the proposed Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority, to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Substantial progress has been made on the matter and it is hoped that the remaining concerns of the Eastern Nagaland Peoples' Organisation (ENPO) are addressed in the same spirit of brotherhood, he said.

Since 2010, the ENPO has been demanding a separate ‘Frontier Nagaland Territory’ or separate state comprising six eastern Nagaland districts -- Kiphire, Longleng, Mon, Noklak, Shamator, and Tuensang, inhabited by seven backward tribes -- Chang, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Phom, Tikhir, Sangtam, and Yimkhiung.

Ganesan said that after Nagaland was granted statehood on December 1, 1963, special provisions were inserted through the 13th Constitutional Amendment Act, Article 371-A, protecting among other things the state's traditions, customs, law and procedure.

The Governor said that the Chief Minister’s Health Insurance Scheme, launched in October 2022 has been growing in strength. So far 65 hospitals each from within and outside the state have been empanelled under the CMHIS.

He said that a total of 10,317 beneficiaries have benefited from the scheme with 14,670 treatments undertaken amounting to Rs 59.77 crore during the 2024-25 financial year. Under PM-KISAN, as of October 31, 2024, a total of 2,21,931 farmers have benefited and an amount of Rs 620 crore has been directly credited to their bank accounts as of November 31, 2024, the Governor added.

He said that the Department of Industries and Commerce has established 16 Entrepreneur Development Centres (EDCs) across 16 districts and six EDCs in colleges to foster and encourage entrepreneurship from an early stage. The Nagaland Startup Portal is currently hosting 330 start-ups, leading to the creation of over 1,000 jobs and has generated approximately Rs 58 crore in turnover during the fiscal year 2023-24, Ganesan said.

Nagaland state became the first North Eastern State in October 2024 to begin implementing the Biometric-Based Aadhaar Authentication for GST Registration. This initiative will ensure that the person behind the business entity is genuine and traceable.

The Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is implementing the Nagaland Forest Management Project, which is assisted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Under this project, an Eco-Park was inaugurated last month jointly by the Chief Minister and Keichii Ono, Ambassador of Japan in India.

This Eco-Park is being developed along with the Kohima Peace Memorial which would serve as a testimony to close ties between Japan and India and particularly with the State of Nagaland, the Governor said.

To make the state drug-free, the District Administration and the police spared no efforts in ensuring that peace reigns in Nagaland. Last year, the Nagaland Police Department continued its fight against drugs and drugs worth approximately Rs 49 crore were seized from different parts of the state. The State Excise Department during the period from April 2024-November 2024 made seizures worth more than Rs 1.16 crore, Ganesan stated.

- with inputs from IANS