Neiphiu Rio says Meluri district after delimitation

March 22, 2022
Correspondent

Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio acknowledged that the demand for upgrading Meluri sub-division to a full-fledged district was understandable and genuine, but that things would mature with time and justice would be delivered.

He said this while replying to a discussion on the motion of thanks to governor Prof Jagdish Mukhi’s address on the second day of 13th session of Nagaland Legislative Assembly Monday. The issue of upgrading Meluri sub-division to a full-fledged district was raised by NPF legislators Imkong L Imchen and Yitachu.

Rio informed that the population of Meluri sub-division is about 30,000 with 19,202 voters, out of which 13,466 were Pochury tribe members and 5,743 were Chakhesangs. He therefore, maintained that Pochury community deserved separate district and assured that justice would be done post-delimitation. He also said once the delimitation process takes place in Nagaland, the government would be able to rearrange the constituencies and can meet the demands of the people. With delimitation, constituencies would be rearranged and justice would be delivered, he assured.

Rio said delimitation had taken place all over the country except a few States like Nagaland, Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, etc owing to security reasons.

Also sharing the concern expressed earlier by NPF member Yitachu on the inter-State boundary issue, the chief minister said border disputes with Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur and even Myanmar were being taken up positively.

Asserting that some positive developments had taken place in solving the border dispute with Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, Rio however said that though the Assam-Nagaland border dispute was sub-judice, attempts were being made to settle the matter outside the court through mutual understanding, adding that stakeholders of both sides like local leaders should sit and sort out the differences.

Rio claimed of having taken up the border issue with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and with respective governments of Assam and Manipur, claiming that the “sister States” were coming to a good understanding. He also termed the bandh call of Southern Angami Youth Organisation against Manipur as unfortunate and urged its leaders to come forward to discuss the issue with the government.

Referring to the issue of exploration of oil and natural gas raised by NPF member Dr Imtiwabang Aier, Rio said he took up the matter with Assam chief minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, who had on February 7 responded positively on sharing of royalties at DAB.

On election to urban local bodies (ULB), he assured that the elections would be held as per the March 9 resolution, but added that intensive review of electoral rolls would be taken up prior to that.

On power projects raised by NPF MLA Yitachu, Rio informed the House that the government was trying to complete smaller projects and take up new projects so that Nagaland could become self-sufficient in power and sell surplus power to other States.

Responding to a query of Yitachu on the criteria for selecting VDB secretaries, Rio assured that the matter would be discussed and addressed accordingly.

Further, due to financial crunch, he acknowledged that enough funds could not be provided to Department of Under Developed Areas (DUDA) but assured that more funds would be allocated to the department in the current year to take up some hostels for students from Eastern Nagaland area.

On Yitachu’s concern over regularisation of higher education teachers, Rio claimed that the government intended to regularise the contract teachers, but since the court banned regularisation of the contractual appointees after NSF and other activists took the matter to court, regularisation could not be done. But, he assured that sincere efforts would be made to get the issue resolved.

On Foothill Road Tizit-Dimapur-Khelma-Silchar, he admitted that these areas were a rice bowl and hence the road was important, but said the border issue was causing delay.

He was replying to NPF NPF MLA, Dr Imtiwabang Aier’s question on completion of Foothill Road.

Rio regretted that the road had taken a backseat because of fund constraints, but mentioned that the government had pleaded with Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) to declare the road as a national highway, which required the approval of Prime Minister.
He said the ministry has already engaged NHIDCL for the task and started surveys to take up the road in phases.

Earlier, initiating the debate on the motion of thanks to the governor’s address, NPF legislator Imkong L Imchen appreciated the creation of four new districts and maintained that Meluri sub-division should have been upgraded to a full-fledged district alongside Peren, Longleng and Kiphire when those areas were upgraded.

He said that the government should not wait for people to protest but deliver justice in its proper time.

Minister for Agriculture and Cooperation, G. Kaito Aye, while participating in the debate, remarked that in his long inning in the Nagaland Legislative Assembly, he termed the Governor’s address presented in the 11th session of 13th NLA as one of the best ever without bias to any department. Kaito said that the Governor’s Address indicated the success of the government’s policies and its activities which shows the commitment of the present-day government to take the state forward in all-round development.
NPF MLA Dr Chumben Murry highlighted that though the state was uniquely placed, the long-drawn insurgency issue, lack of revenue and dependency on the Centre for funds, had become a great disadvantage. On the allocation of reserved seats for women in the ULBs, he suggested that any formula for the reservation should be comprehensive of the whole duration that will be imposed, i.e. for 15 years or three terms.

Advisor for Horticulture and Border Affairs, Mhathung Kithan said the Governor’s Address contained the accumulated achievements of the government, therefore, he endorsed the address in totality. On Naga political issue, he called upon all sections of the society to work together for an early settlement that is acceptable, honorable, transparent, and inclusive.

In his concluding remarks, Rio said the legislators and political parties had made efforts to have consultations with tribal bodies, civil society organisations, NGOs and other stakeholders for an early solution to the Naga political issue. He asserted that the state government exhibited unity to form an opposition less government when it came to Naga issue.

Meanwhile, asserting that no amendment sought in the governor’s address showed the true essence of opposition-less government, the chief minister sought to adopt the motion of thanks. The motion was adopted through a voice vote.

Source: https://www.nagalandpost.com/index.php/neiphiu-rio-says-meluri-district-after-delimitation/