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Correspondent KOHIMA, JANUARY 27
Documentation of human development data like that of the District Human Development Report (DHDR) of six districts of Nagaland which were released on Sunday by the state Governor, Dr. Ashwani Kumar and Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio on the occasion of Republic Day in Kohima are crucial for the planning process of the state.Chief secretary, Alemtemshi Jamir said this while addressing a press conference at Hotel Japfü, Kohima following the release of the DHDR of Wokha, Mokokchung, Dimapur, Longleng, Kiphire and Tuensang. Jamir, who is also the principal coordinator and chief mentor of the DHDR project, gave a brief background of the reports and highlighted that the project is a part of the Millennium Development Goals proposed by the United Nations where all member countries are to draw up human development reports. He said these reports are expected to address social and economic issues. The DHDR is based on three aspects of human development- empowerment through education, health and livelihood, and additional feature on gender empowerment and environment. The first Nagaland State Human Development Report (NSHDR) was brought out in 2004, and subsequently the state government signed a tripartite agreement with the Government of India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to undertake the project to strengthen state plans for human development, which the DHDR is a segment. The DHDR project is being handled by the state department of Planning and Coordination. Jamir said Nagaland has made a distinction in the country by becoming the first state to bring out the sub-national HDR, the 2004 NSHDR and consequently the sub-sub-national HDRs for the districts of Mon, Kohima and Phek in 2011, also another first in the country. He expressed enthusiasm that if all went well, Nagaland is set to become the first state to bring out the HDR of all its districts when the reports for Peren and Zunheboto, which are likely to be out within a month’s time, are released. He stated that the previous reports were well received by the UNDP and the Planning Commission and are now being looked at in many universities. He pointed out that the unique feature of Nagaland’s district HDRs is that the entire reports were written by writers from Nagaland who were assisted by the deputy commissioners as the team leaders of each district so as to reach the grassroots to make the process all-inclusive. “The utility of these reports are very strong,” he added. State economic advisor and the lead coordinator of the project, Professor Dr. Manoj Pant said an important feature is that a section of each report is dedicated to the stakeholders called the ‘Voices of the People’. Dr. Pant who is associated with the state right from the first HDR, explained the importance of stakeholders owning up to the reports and asserted that in Nagaland, that ownership is guaranteed as all the writers are in-house and the data for the reports were generated internally via statistical strengths of the departments and internal survey. More on Page 5