Northeast India neglected for too long, says Narendra Singh Tomar

Finance minister visiting Nagaland next week

Our Reporter
Dimapur, June 27 (EMN): The government of India is trying to give priority to the Northeast (NE) as the region has been neglected for too long, said minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW), Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday, the second and final day of his visit to Nagaland.

Speaking at an event held in his honour at Angh House, North East Agri-Expo in Chümoukedima, the union minister government said that the Centre is trying to make the Northeast self-reliant and provide support to bring about reforms.

The Prime Minister of India has made numerous trips to the NE and his Cabinet ministers to visit the region every two to three months in order to understand the problems of the people, and if possible, try to solve them, as well as to make the people feel that the government is standing with them, he said.

He stated that the Centre’s vision is a balanced and all-around development, for which the NE can’t be ignored. He added that strong leadership and devoted citizens can work together to overcome obstacles and find solutions.

Tomar also said during an interaction with the journalists that the government’s focus is to do away with the regional imbalance. He added that Nagaland needs to indentify two-three products which have a competitive edge over other states to make the state an organic hub.

He said that as far as global marketing linkage is concerned, be it railways or airways, the central government is ready to provide marketing agencies.

The Union Minister added that as the global marketing linkage is concern, whether through railways or airways the Union government is ready to provide marketing agencies.

Sitharaman may visit Mon

When asked if his visit was limited to Dimpaur and Kohima, Tomar said he visited Molvom village and interacted with the farmer as well.

He revealed that Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will visit Nagaland next week and she is likely to visit Mon district.

He also highlighted several government schemes like Jan-Dhan account and free food grains to the citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Backbone of state economy

Minister of Agriculture and Co-operation, Government of Nagaland, G Kaito Aye said that agriculture and allied sectors provide the best scope for economic development, as it constitutes about 45% of the State’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and remains to be the largest workforce.

While maintaining that the state receives the most rainfall during the monsoon season, he said the emphasis under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) should be on construction of water bodies such as water harvesting structures and check dams, which are covered under the component of Other Interventions (OI) and Micro Irrigation (MI), considering water scarcity in the state during the lean season.

‘The component sharing ratio of 40:60 (OI:MI) for the NE Region, particularly Nagaland, might be changed to 60:40 (OI:MI),’ he said.

Highlighting some gaps in implementation and policy issues, he said “One size fits all” design should be replaced with strategies that will help the farming community in the hill region, wherein the planners and policy makers take the trouble of coming to the Northeast and frame policies based on their experience at the grassroots.

Online payments not farmer-friendly

Aye said implementation of digital online payments through PFMS, SNA account, DBT etc. is not farmer-friendly as 27 out of 74 blocks in the state still doesn’t have banking facilities.

He also proposed construction of a common facility for the state at the NE Agri-Expo Site with all amenities under one roof.

Also speaking at the event, Chief Secretary J Alam said the state has huge potential for commercial production of various crops and other allied activities as two third of the state’s population lives in rural areas and engaged in agricultural activities.

He said that 73% of farmers in the state practice jhum cultivation and the remaining 27% in terraced cultivation, which is neither economically viable nor ecologically sustainable despite the best efforts of the farmers.

However, he said the state government has adopted the Naga Model of Integrated Settled Farming (N-IsF) model and emphasising more on organic farming, wherein13,000 hectares has certified and another 10,000 hectares is certification process.

He went on to inform that it was agreed in principle during 25th regional committee meeting of ICAR for the NE States in December last year, for establishment of an ‘Organic Hub’ with quality control facilities, a College of Agriculture in State Agriculture Research Station (SARS) at Yisemyong, in Mokokchung District under CAU, Imphal, and a Regional Livestock Centre on Pigs in Zunheboto district for self sustenance in pork production.

Alam also request the Centre to provide a better marketing linkage or buyback arrangement to enable farmers get remunerative prices as they do not have any institutional mechanism to provide price support to the farmers for any of the crops.