Nagaland has not shown ‘much growth’, says CM Chang

EMN Dimapur, December 14 Minister for School Education CM Chang has admitted that Nagaland state has not made that much of progress “as compared to our past” in comparison to other northeastern states. The former Member of Lok Sabha implied the political conflict to be reason responsible for his suggested fall in the development sector. He specified “field of education, politics, social and other areas” as the areas the state of Nagaland has not seen ‘much growth’ over the years. CM issued a message today appealing to the people of Nagaland to use the festive season to introspect and act on ‘necessary changes’ to bring investors to Nagaland. He said that the reason for Nagaland’s lag in the stated areas were because investors, both developmental and financial institutions, were ‘fearful’ of investing in the state. “Every society needs all round development to become self reliant. It is not that we have not made improvements as compared to our past in the field of education, politics, social and other areas,” the former Member of Parliament of Lok Sabha stated in his message. “However our economic conditions have not shown much growth over the years as compared to other northeastern states.” This lag is mainly due to the apprehension investor shave when it comes to investing in Nagaland, the legislator said. He did not directly refer to the Naga political conflict or law and order situation. “This is mainly due to apprehensions in the minds of investors, whether it is financial institutions or multinational companies to take up projects in Nagaland which would benefit both our investors as well as the local economy,” Chang said. That fear, he said, has in turn forced the people of Nagaland to become dependent on the state government alone for their existence and economy. “As a result a large section of our people is dependent on the state government for their existence. But with no resources of our own to sustain our economy, our state at times faces heavy financial crunch as we are largely dependent on Central government assistance.” The politician has appealed to the citizens to take the festive season as a time to reflect on the state of Nagaland and her economic life as well as for her social wellbeing. “In the past we have appealed for peace and tranquility in the society only during the festive season. This time around I would like to appeal to every individual to both introspect and retrospect ourselves and resolve to make the necessary changes for a conducive atmosphere for investments to come in, forgetting and forgiving each other for past mistakes for a better tomorrow,” the minister said. “With this thought in mind, I on my own behalf and on behalf of my family wish each and everyone a merry Christmas and a very prosperous 2014”.