AKUMTENLA LONGKUMER
[dropcap]N[/dropcap]agaland attained Statehood on 1st December 1963. The State will be celebrating the completion of Golden Jubilee Year of Statehood on the 1st December 2013. It is time to evaluate the achievements made during the past fifty years or so. All the departments in the State are as old as the State itself. However their contributions towards the progress of the State is not significant. There have been wide gaps between targets and the achievements in all the development departments in the State. The efforts made by the government and the people during the past fifty years to bring about rapid economic development especially in the fields of agriculture, industries, trade and commerce had not been very impressive.The development of industries is the key to progress. With this objective, the department of Industries and Commerce in Nagaland had been making all round efforts to encourage/ set up various Small Scale & Cottage industries, Medium-Sized industries and Large Scale industries. However, the productivity of especially the latter two had been disappointing. The performances of the Nagaland Pulp & Paper .Co Ltd, Tuli; Nagaland Forest Products, Tizit; Nagaland Mechanised Bricks Co Ltd, Dimapur; Nagaland Sugar Mills Co Ltd & Nagaland Distillery Ltd, Dimapur; Nagaland Fruit Canning Factory, Longnak in Mokokchung district and others had been very disappointing.
The Urban Haat constructions located by the side of the old Dhansiri Bridge, Dimapur which was developed under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme is lying in waste. All these sickness with the industries may be due to many reasons.
The recent efforts being made by the State Government to encourage the entrepreneurs to set up small scale and medium industries are noteworthy. The following are some of the infrastructures that are being developed by the department of Industries and Commerce to encourage Small and Medium industries, namely, setting up of Industrial Growth Centre at Ganeshnagar; Export Promotional Industrial Park adjacent to Industrial Growth Centre; establishment of Nagaland Mini Tool Room & Training Centre at Industrial Estate ,Dimapur; the Nagaland Bamboo Policy under the Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency at Dimapur; establishment of Border Trade Centres at five places in the International boundary areas; and others.
Diagnosing the causes of industrial sickness in our State and thereafter taking appropriate measures to correct them appears to be the right step which the government may take in this 50th year of Statehood. The present land holding system in the State has no room for the business Entities or Companies to purchase and own the land for industrial development. The hand of the Banks to lend is also limited because of the lack of land settlement in many parts of the State. In the absence of land settlement, proper land documents will not be available with the landowners. Unless, the land is made available to the Private Investors, it will be difficult to attract the Private Capital especially from outside the State. Prevalence of peace and tranquility are pre-requisites for the establishment and running of industries. Extortion and unnecessary taxations adversely affect industrial progress. The safety of the Entrepreneurs and the workers are also very important.
Availability of electricity / power and all round connectivity with routes are also required to be given due importance. The availability of the raw materials and the scope for marketing the finished goods need to be assessed well ahead of time by the State government. State government may arrange the holding of Workshops, consultations and discussions from time to time with the Industrial Leaders/Industrial Houses/Industrial Consultants who are available in different parts of our country (so as to find out the corrective steps to cure the present ailments and also to see the feasibility of starting others industries /enterprises).
To carry out all the above mentioned action-oriented measures by the department of Industries and Commerce in our State, good leadership is necessary. To bring about desired results, proportional representation in the Directorate of Industries and Commerce (and Subordinate establishments) by the generalists; by persons with Technical know-how and by qualified youth with Commerce-Degree background will go a long way in curing the ailments of the present industrial scenario. For example, out of about 103 Gazetted Officers, only 5 of them are having Commerce Degree background, which comes to 5 % only. Similarly, good representation in the department with persons having technical qualification and know-how will help to strengthen the department.
The present Writer is of the view that the educated Naga youth having Commerce degrees can contribute a lot in different ways towards the industrial and economic growth in the State. And for this, contributions of ideas and suggestions (etc) may be possible only through the formation of a collective body. Hence, it is suggested that an association, like, ‘The Commerce Students’ Association of Nagaland’ may be formed.
The task of the Government of Nagaland to bring about fast industrial development may appear to be impossible. However, with the lessons learnt during the past fifty years or so, more innovative efforts may be made to improve the present industrial scenario.
The writer is , M.Com (Final year).’Lendi ki’, House No-D 15, New Minister Hill, Kohima.
