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DIMAPUR — Nagaland Lok Sabha MP Tokheho Yepthomi has clarified that his recent statement on Article 371(A) was his own personal view and does not reflect that of the NDPP or its leadership.
The state’s lone Lok Sabha MP, in a press release, also maintained that his statement was to provoke the minds of fellow citizens in respect of the misuse of the article in matters of development activities.
On his reported statement, “I wish the GoI do away with Article 371 (A),” Yepthomi cited some points that prompted him to say so.
He said that while all northeastern states have either upgraded their airports to international standards or fully functional modern airports, Nagaland's lone airport in Dimapur has been “encroached by our own people,” which has completely ruled out any expansion or upgrade.
The MP also pointed out that when the Prime Minister virtually inaugurated 508 railway stations on August 6, 2023, to be upgraded to world class stations, Dimapur railway station was also allotted INR 208 crore for its development.
“The ugly head of land encroachers has not spared even the railway land at Dimapur. A very large portion of the railway land has been encroached by our own people and here as well the District Administration has not ever tried to evict land encroachers because all cite Article 371(A),” he said.
He also went on to cite that Assam has extracting oil from 28 oilfields from Assam- Nagaland border, and after upgrade of all oil refineries in Assam, the capacity has more than doubled to 17 MMT, which roughly translates to revenue of INR 44 thousand crore in ten years for Assam.
“On the contrary, the people of Nagaland have citied Article 371(A) and not allowed extraction of oil because land its resources belong to the people. Will we extract oil when the world has not use of it because most of the world is now moving to clean and renewable sources of energy,” Yepthomi hit out.
He further termed the Dimapur-Kohima 4-lane road as the biggest example of the misuse of Article 371(A), as the government had to negotiate with every single land owner from Dimapur to Kohima for land acquisition and that it took nearly 10 years to just acquire the land.
Also read: Lotha organisations resent MP’s remark on Art. 371 (A)