Nagaland Chief Minister inaugurates Bloom Bazaar in Kohima

KOHIMA — Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Saturday said the state’s vision has reached the “blooming” stage as teamwork has resulted in the creation of the weekend fair -- Bloom Bazaar -- at The Heritage in Kohima.

Speaking during the official inaugural programme of the Bloom Bazaar, which was opened to the public on Friday, Rio said the floriculture in Nagaland began from individual homes to groups before going to the commercial level, while pointing out that Naga women are doing excellent in the sector.

Sharing his experience, Rio said that many foreigners, who come to India for various purposes, complement Nagaland's flower arrangements.

The flower arrangement in other states is not as tidy and beautiful as done by Naga women, he said while encouraging them to continue the excellent job.

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He also thanked the banks for extending assistance in the form of loans to the flower growers and expressed hope that financial institutions will extend help to entrepreneurs as well.

The chief further urged the visitors to encourage the entrepreneurs by buying their flowers and other items that are on sale at the weekend fair.

IDAN Chairman and advisor to CM, Abu Metha, said every Naga home has flowers grown with passion.

The Bloom Bazaar aims to celebrate the Naga way of life and to showcase what Nagaland has to offer, he said, adding that the fair has generated 450 employment opportunities.

He said IDAN aims to help 400 flower entrepreneurs with various loans by the end of the year.

Winy Wilfred, Joint Secretary of IDAN, said the North East Small Finance Bank, Bank of Baroda, and Nagaland Rural Bank are giving out loans to the flower growers collateral-free.

On Saturday, North East Small Finance Bank distributed loans amounting to INR 44,000 lakh to the first 10 flower growers; the Bank of Baroda distributed INR 1.9 lakh to the first flower grower; and the Nagaland Rural Bank gave INR 7 lakh to the first beneficiary.

The IDAN also informed interested flower growers to reach out to the office for loans.

A total of 3000 Lilium bulbs of different varieties -- asiatic pavia (yellow), colares (red), eremo (orange), albufeira (pink), parrano (white) -- brought from the Netherlands were also distributed to the flower growers. It was informed that the suppliers were ready to buy back the flowers.