Work towards peace for development, says Vice President of India

Our Correspondent
Kohima, Oct. 7 (EMN): Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said that peace, which is essential for progress, should be the prime component for development and all must work towards it.

Naidu, who is on a two-day visit to Nagaland, stated this while addressing the virtual inauguration programme of the Minister’s Residential Complex in Kohima, government school buildings and Directorate of Information Technology and Communication building on Thursday.

He called upon the people of the state to discourage the “forces of violence”. He further urged those “who have taken to violence to come back to normal life; because, you cannot do anything by violence. You will be putting hardship on the people,” he said without naming any particular Naga political group.

He went on to add that if they are really interested in the prosperity of the people, they must help the peace process.

‘And the way forward is dialogue, discussion, and decision. Other than that, there is no way and you cannot challenge the might of the Government of India (GoI). Because GoI is committed to the safety, security, sovereignty of the people of India, which includes Nagaland and the Northeast,’ Naidu said.

He complimented Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and state legislators for taking initiative and for calling upon “those people who have taken to arms to go back to the discussion table” (on the Indo-Naga political talk). He further expressed happiness at the discussion that is going on.

He also expressed hope that the negotiating parties will come to a conclusion at the earliest.

According to the VP, people’s patience is “running out” and they want leadership and solutions to various issues. He added that borders and issues of other nature can be discussed, debated and decided.

He said that driven by a cohesive sense of purpose, the people of Nagaland will contribute to fast-tracking the progress of the state.

“The developmental story of Nagaland is on but it should be further accelerated. An all round development is possible through democratic process. Democracy is the best system in the world and India is proud that Parliamentary democracy is ‘really working well’,” he said.

Women should get equal recognition

The vice president also said that gender bias should be eliminated at the earliest.

‘Women also form a part of the society and state. They should be given their due after proper consultation at all leadership levels particularly that of community leaders. See to it that women also get adequate representation and proper recognition,’ he urged.

‘We may have different political parties but the aim is the happiness of the people and an all round development. Therefore, all should join hands and work together to take the country to a greater height,’ he added.

He informed that the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was leaving no stone unturned to make sure that the region is developed.

‘Nagaland is known for its diversity, richness of handicrafts, agro-products and hard-working. On the other hand, there is still huge potential to be tapped in different sectors. If all infrastructure projects can be fast-tracked on priority basis, Nagaland will benefit in the coming years,’ he pointed out.

On the state’s performance in the Sustainable Development Goals, he said that Nagaland performed well in certain goals but also needed to work on the other indicators.

He laid emphasis on the importance of the delivery system and pointed out that bureaucrats should focus on it. He suggested the government to focus on transparency by providing all information to the people.

He further urged the state government to have accountability and zero tolerance towards corruption, for which ‘digitising is key to solving the problem’. He urged the government to digitise everything and involve citizens into the system.

He informed that there is a huge potential in agriculture and encouraged the state to explore the market and its availability.

He further added that the development story is not complete without the Northeast and urged the states in the region, particularly Nagaland that shares border with an international country, to learn the good practices to succeed.