Nagaland MPs look forward to PM's visit to in December

Kohima: Members of Parliament from Nagaland have said the people of the state are keenly awaiting the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the state in December. “We are confident that your visit will be historic and will begin a new era for peace and development in Nagaland,” said Lok Sabha MP Neiphiu Rio and Rajya Sabha MP Khekiho Zhimomi in a letter addressed to the prime minister today.[caption id=“attachment_1825131” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PTI[/caption] Stating that Nagaland is the 16th State of the Indian Union and celebrated its 50th year of Statehood last year, the two Naga MPS lamented that despite five decades of statehood, Nagaland is a backward state with poor infrastructure and lack of facilities on several fronts and the State does not have any national or regional project worth the name. “It is in this background that the people are looking forward to announcement of a prime minister’s package during your visit,” they said. They proposed that the Centre take up project for a medical college at Kohima as a fully funded national project. The state needs quality Hindi language teachers as the population, especially in the hilly belts are still not comfortable with Hindi, they said while suggesting that the Centre may consider establishment of a high quality Hindi Language Institute in the State. Recalling that during the visit of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2003, he had announced a youth employment package which made the state government launch the Year of Youth Empowerment, the MPs urged the PM to consider a youth employment package in order to overcome the unemployment challenges of the State and also to tap into the talents and capabilities of the youth of Nagaland. Nagaland is struggling with connectivity facilities especially in broadband services for which the MPs appealed to improve the sector. Other proposals and suggestions put forth by the two Naga MPs include foothill road, train connectivity, airport and air connectivity, Eastern Nagaland package and grant for salary shortfall. The two MPs also highlighted that the historic three-day visit of the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is still fondly remembered by the Naga people. Unfortunately, the Naga MPs maintained that Vajpayee’s seriousness towards the peace process and his economic package could not be fully realised by subsequent governments at the Centre. Most significantly, his announcement of a four lane highway between Kohima and Dimapur and a thermal power plant in Dimapur remains unrealized till today, they said. The Naga MPs also expressed confidence that Modi’s visit will be historic and path breaking. The prime minister is scheduled to arrive Nagaland on 30 November to inaugurate the much hyped Hornbill Festival of the state on 1 December at Kisama, 12 km away from the state capital, Kohima. PTI