Kronu suggests special session on education

Kohima, March 24 (EMN): MLA Neiba Kronu said the amount spent on salaries for education department alone during 2015-16 stands at Rs 997.89 crores excluding other infrastructural developments and others whereas the entire development for the planned budget was Rs 580 crores only.

Kronu, who was in the Planning Department earlier, said Planning Department was allotted only Rs 580 crores for sectoral alone for the whole State, out of which Rs 60 crores was set aside for LADP, and Rs 160 crores for State whereas RD department alone requires more than Rs 300 crores.

However, due to the constraint of fund, he said only Rs 160 crores was allocated to RD department, while Rs 100 crores was earmarked for negotiated loans which was used for office building constructions. He said the remaining Rs 260 crores was distributed to different departments. With the limited funds, he said the allotted money was not sufficient to develop the State.

Stating that huge amount of money is being spent on the salaries of the education department alone, he lamented the department is far from achieving imparting quality education. In this regard, he suggested setting up of a highest level committee by the chief minister from his own level and bureaucracy level by entrusting the chief secretary to revamps the whole system in education lest things might go out of control.

He strongly suggested setting up committee at the earliest and wipe out all controversies associated with the department relating to bogus teachers, unpaid salaries etc, and also put forth urgency for a special session to discuss on educational matters.

He argued on the logic of spending Rs 861.58 crores for the police department in the State for 15 battalions from the one time grant from the Government of India, while other states have 2-3 battalions.

With 1,25,712 regular employees and more than 13000 work charge employees, Kronus aid more than Rs 70 crores was spend on work charge employees during 2015-16.

In regard to the power sector in the State, he said the State purchased power for Rs 247.11 crores in 2016 for Rs 3.20-25 per unit, while the revenue generated comes to only Rs 111.07 crores though it was sold at Rs 5.50 per unit.

As Government of India has stopped the funding for power generation, Kronu expressed concern that if this continues it will affect the State a lot.

While appreciating the generosity of the 14th Finance Commission for allocating maximum funds for non-plan budget, Kronu remarked that with only the CM Corpus Fund and Special Development Fund, it will be not be enough for the State government to function in the long run.

Though there was an unresolved political issue, Kronu said the members cannot overlook the day to day business activities which need to be taken care of today.

Stressing on the need to generate our own revenue, Kronu suggested setting up of a permanent Nagaland Investment Board (NIB) office for clearance and facilitation of investors. He said many agencies abroad have shown keen interest to invest in the State.

He also recommended setting up of a revenue board headed by the chief secretary to find ways and means to
generate more funds by setting targets.

Also noting that there are many talented young entrepreneurs who are deprived of soft loans to start their business, Kronu suggested the State government to work out a formula on how to provide soft loans or guarantee to genuine entrepreneurs. This, he said in turn will help a lot towards solving the challenge of unemployment in the State.

With the demand for implementation of 7th ROP in place, Kronu also suggested on professional tax whereby a formula can be worked out so that government employees can atleast contribute something in this manner. He said the cabinet can discuss on how best to work it out.

Expressing serious concern on the lack of revenue, Kronu strongly asserted on the need to rectify the whole system at the earliest. He said it is the duty of the elected members to put the system in the right order.