Nagaland Governor PB Acharya asserted the new Nagaland government is committed to bringing in a new vision for Nagaland on the twin foundations of good governance and transparency and development and economic growth.
Addressing the first session of the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly on Thursday, Acharya explained the new government has come to power with peoples’ mandate on the promise of ‘bringing change’ to the state as a common vision of the political parties forming the People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA).
The Governor spoke of his government’s priority for early resolution of the Naga political issue. He assured to work with all stakeholders for a solution that is honourable, sustainable and acceptable to the people.
“Peace for development and development for peace has been our motto, and we shall ensure ushering in an era of development with all round peace,” he asserted while apprising the House of the government’s plan to set up a Centre for Peace to help bringing together all stakeholders for a long-term peaceful settlement.
Congratulating the members on being elected to the House, the Governor said elected members, both of the treasury and the opposition bench, have a crucial role to play in framing laws and guiding government policy. He expressed confidence that the members would bring in new ideas and thoughts, guided by the concern for the welfare and interest of the people they represent, for the betterment of the society.
“You have an onerous task to perform and a great responsibility to discharge as the custodian of faith, and confidence the people of Nagaland have reposed in you for peace and prosperity,” he told the legislators.
Acharya also informed of the government’s decision to ensure that all government departments and institutions have their websites and social media accounts for providing related information to citizens in a time-bound manner.
Maintaining that the state is in an unprecedented financial crisis, the Governor said the new government has inherited a huge financial deficit of Rs 1657.88 crore which is likely to be higher at the end of March, 2018. He said the government has the challenge of bringing in fiscal prudence and discipline to ensure it gets due share in taxes and fiscal grants from the Government of India besides taking hard decisions to control wasteful expenditure and misuse of funds.
On the government’s behalf, he assured to ensure strict verification of the works done under development schemes before releasing the payment.
On the deplorable state of roads in the state, the Governor said repair and strengthening of roads will be the top priority of the government. He informed the government decided to start immediate repair and renovation of roads and filling of potholes in Kohima, Dimapur and all district headquarters.
The ongoing 4-laning works on Kohima-Dimapur road, being carried out by NHIDCL for a stretch of 42.86 km at a total cost of Rs 1066.55 crore, will be monitored closely for time bound completion, he added.
The Governor also spoke of the new government’s plans to improve road, air and rail connectivity, for modernisation of state police force, to set up Nagaland Investment and Development Authority to bring in investments and also to organize Business and Investment Summit to focus on strengths, to create proper marketing mechanism, including buy-back facilities, to encourage farmers to produce more and assure remunerative returns, for tourism development, for implementation of Nagaland Forest Management Project (NFMP) by the Forest Department with funding from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) among others.