Less people from Nagaland serving in Indian Navy — Chief of Naval Staff

Our Correspondent
Kohima, Dec. 7 (EMN): Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral R Hari Kumar, who is currently in Nagaland, said that the percentage of people from Nagaland serving in the Indian Navy is “very less”, adding that there are about 200 of them serving at various capacities.

‘People are not aware of Navy service and nobody knows what Navy does. We want to tell the youth what Navy does and bring them into the service,’ he said at a press conference here at Kisama on Wednesday.

This year, the Indian Navy is conducting an outreach programme at the Hornbill Festival in Kisama through various activities like performance by the Navy band, stalls displaying information about Navy services, besides conducting medical camps and bike expeditions across the north-eastern states.

Kumar said the response from the locals is “good” while adding that it would try to engage people even after the Hornbill Festival.

The Indian Navy also organised camps in Nagaland and over 950 personnel have availed the opportunity. It has been interacting with students at various schools in the state with an aim to spread the message that “Navy is wonderful service”.

‘It offers a lot of opportunities for the youths to join, to find opportunities, to enrich themselves, gain experience from the type of technology and skills that they will receive and also serve the nation in various capacities,’ he said.

He added that he looked forward to joining hands and signing MoUs with startups in Nagaland to support them as well as to take various technologies forward.

The admiral, who also attended the day-seven of the ongoing Hornbill Festival at Kisama, said that the festival is a reflection of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’.

“Over the years, the festival (Hornbill Festival) has exponentially grown in scope, scale and stature,” he said while expressing hope that it becomes more famous and celebrated in a larger scale in the future.

‘This year, the event coincides with India assuming the G20 presidency and fittingly, this festival is being showcased at G20 in pursuance of its inclusive theme-one earth-one family-one future,’ he added.

Speaking about the Agniveer scheme, he said, ‘the youth can join for a short of period of time for four years and thereafter either continue in service if you choose to do so or based on the certification that you receive, you can choose other profession and serve the country in different fields’.

He also informed that the Agnipath scheme had the first Agniveers joining the service in November. The scheme is also open to women and for the first time, women will be joining in the ranks of Navy.

The Chief of Naval Staff said that there are openings for all the branches of other cadres for women, ‘which is a revolutionary change that the Navy has introduced’.

He expressed hope that more and more youth will join the services and serve the nation.

YK Chaubey, Chairman Hydroelectric Power Corporation, also attended the Hornbill Festival on Wednesday.

Hosts for the day were Medo Yhokha, advisor of Technical Education and Election; and V Kashiho Sangtam, Minister of Soil and Water Conservation, Geology and Mining.

The North East Zone Cultural Centre performed during the day’s cultural event, while the first and quarter round of the tug-of-war was held among various cultural troupes.