Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, June 13: Nagaland Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio and Deputy Chief Minister, Y Patton today called on Union Minister for Northeast Dr Jitendra Singh, to discuss different developmental and other issues related to the State.
Rio, who recently took over as Chief Minister after the Assembly elections, gave a brief detail of the new initiatives undertaken by his Government in the last few months. He also flagged off some of the new schemes and plans that his Government envisages for the development of Nagaland.
Dr Jitendra Singh reiterated the Modi Government’s keen priority to put peripheral States like Nagaland on the fast track of development, in order to bring them at par with the other States of the country. He recalled that the direct flight from Dimapur to Delhi was started on the intervention of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) in 2016 and urged upon the Chief Minister to expedite the process of acquisition of land in Kohima to bring up a new airport over there.
Referring to the recent decision of the Union Cabinet, approving the first-of-its-kind “North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme”(NESIDS), Dr Jitendra Singh said, as per the new arrangement, all the Central schemes will get 100 % funding from Government of India instead of the earlier arrangement of 90:10 funding and this will be a huge financial relief for a small border State like Nagaland. In addition, he said, the NESIDS will also focus on strengthening the infrastructural initiatives with emphasis on sectors like health and education.
Dr Jitendra Singh also discussed with the Chief Minister, the new University complex proposed to be set up in the State in PPP (Public Private Participation) mode. He said, he has also requested the Union Health Ministry to sanction a Medical college for the State.
Considering the fact that Nagaland is a border State, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the recent improvement in the security situation will certainly help in giving impetus to the economic development which had earlier got constrained. With its literacy rate being more than 80% in spite of its small size, Nagaland also has an important role to play in the success of the Modi Government’s “Act East” policy, he added.
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