14k Naga farmers harvest new prospects from Food Security Act thrust

With the National Food Security Act having been placed for implementation in the state of Nagaland, impetus on allied production sectors such as the agriculture and allied sectors are being given. One of the thrust is capacity-building for farmers.

The National Food Security Act, 2013 (also Right to Food Act) is an Act of the Parliament of India which aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two thirds of India's 1.2 billion people. It was signed into law on 12 September 2013, retroactive to 5 July 2013.

During 2015-2016, more than 14, 000 farmers from across the state benefited from capacity building programs and training.

A number of ongoing schemes and programs the central government have inbuilt components for capacity-building and training for farmers in the field of agriculture and allied sectors.

The training programs have been instated by the ministry of Agriculture to acquaint the farming community with latest farming technologies which in turn would translate into–the central government hopes–improved and increased agricultural production.   

During a session in the Rajya Sabha several months ago, the Minister of State for Agriculture Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya had said that “farmers gained knowledge and skill on latest technologies through training and hands-on experience resulting in increased productivity and income.”

The skills imparted to farmers, the minister said, were “wide ranging and include improved agronomic practices, farm diversification, mechanization, animal husbandry, marketing etc.”

Some of these capacity-building programs that aims at equipping the farming community include the National Mission on Agricultural Extension and Technology, the Mission on Integrated Development of Horticulture & Horticulture Mission for North Eastern States & Himalayan states, the National Mission on Oilseed and Oil Palm, the Krishi Vigyan Kendras under the Indian Council of Agricultural  Research, the National Livestock Mission; schemes of NFDB of Animal Husbandry, dairy and fishery, and the National Scheme of Welfare of Fishermen.

Information regarding allocation and expenditure of funds during each of the last three years and the current year under various schemes are listed on in the table.

S. No.	STATE	2013-14			2014-15			2015-16
		FA	FU	PB	FA	FU	PB	FA	FU	PB

S. No.	STATE	2013-14			2014-15			2015-16
		FA	FU	PB	FA	FU	PB	FA	FU	PB
20	Assam	510.61	164.27	169396	5787	5617	604002	67.81	67.81	22636
21	Arunachal Pradesh	445.2	20.60	53299	5131	5111	10280	282.7	247.6	4900
22	Manipur	271.08	50.20	44202	5093.9	5068	4001	4052	3793	13806
23	Meghalaya	59.73	31.41	24302	4047	4030	4481	2834	2833	13942
24	Mizoram	113.56	62.88	84239	5252	5234	15328	3579	3542	29568
25	Nagaland	219.12	149.55	38549	5470	5328	4779	3674.3	3586.5	14219
26	Tripura	327.14	61.20	30502	5498	5493	679	0	0	0
27	Sikkim	101.9	33.00	67498	4944	4929	5566	3504	36.3	6730

(Al Ngullie, July 30, 2016; Eastern Mirror)

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Social Welfare refutes charges of fraud in department

The directorate of Social Welfare has refuted a number of allegations against it leveled by a local organization concerning anomalies in the department, which included ‘deductions.’

The Social Welfare issued a press release on Saturday stating its contentions. The charges were stated to have been leveled by a local activist group, the Nagaland Public Rights Awareness Forum (NPRAAF) that is alleged to have found anomalies.

“No deductions in any form have been made at source by the department. And if any staffs are found indulging in such illegal practices the department will initiate disciplinary action against the erring officials / staff,” the reply from the department stated.

The press release was appended by the agency’s directorate.  

The department also asserted that it had been ‘complying’ with requests for information: “Under the RTI Act every department is mandated to disclose information. The department has so far being complying. If there are such instances/ cases where disclosures has been denied individuals/ group may take up the (matter) with competent authority with supportive proof.”

Also, the directorate stated that registered nongovernmental organizations seeking grant-in-aid are verified through the District Welfare Offices. Based on the verifications, the press release stated, the state-level selection committee for grant-in-aid recommends ‘their inclusion for receiving the GIA,’ the department stated.

‘Some registered nongovernmental organizations are maintaining multiple homes and if the state level selection committee finds them befitting and deserving of grant-in-aid then only the grant is provided to the nongovernmental organizations under multiple schemes.,’ it explained.

The ‘details’, according to the statement, are (given verbatim):

* Ebenezer is maintaining a children Home as well as an Old Age Home in Dimapur.

* Caring Neighbour Ministry is maintaining an Old Age Home in Mokokchung and a Children Home in Dimapur.

Further, the department clarified that for the implementation of any central or state program, 3% of the total project cost was permissible for ‘administrative expenditure.’

“Setting aside Rs.50, 000 for office expenses come up to only 1.1% of the total amount GIA released. Therefore, earmarking the amount for such expenses should not be issue.  No GIA is withheld by the department and pending payments if any is due to the NGO's not coming forward to claim the GIA,” the Social Welfare authority stated. 

The department also clarified that that the amount of Rs.5, 00,000 available under the State Plan during 2013-2014 was “primarily earmarked for prevention and rehabilitation of drug abuse not confining to voluntary organizations alone.”

Based on the recommendation of the National Commission for protection of Child Rights, the State Level Selection Committee had duly endorsed the recommendation made to an individual whose case was deserving and befitting, the press release stated.

“The department is of the view that withholding such relief to a deserving individual should be going against the moral ethics.”

(Al Ngullie, July 30, 2016; Eastern Mirror)

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CNTC serves ultimatum: Revoke Rongmei ‘tribe’ status in 30 days

The festering issue of recognition given to the Rongmei community in Nagaland as a ‘tribe’ by the Nagaland government has taken a new turn: the Central Nagaland Tribes Council (CNTC) has placed before the state government a 30-day ultimatum to revoke the indigenous tribe status granted to the Rongmei.  

The organization issued a formal statement on Friday warning of an own course of action should the government fail to comply with the demand. The statement, expected to come sooner or later, can be perceived as a manifestation of resentment from communities in the state who see the recognition as an open threat to local community stakes and social capital. 

Besides the demand for revocation, the organization has also demanded that the “endorsement” given by the Naga Hoho on November 22, 2008 should be withdrawn.

The organization, which comprises the Ao, the Lotha and the Sumi tribal apexes, informed to have met on July 22 to take the decision of serving the ultimatum.

“The Central Nagaland Tribes Council has demanded that the indigenous tribe status granted to the Rongmeis be revoked within 30 days from the date of this publication,” the statement said.

“This decision was taken at a joint meeting comprising of the three apex tribal bodies of the Aos, Lothas and the Sumis on 22nd July 2016 at Khehokhu village.”

“Failure to comply with the demand, the three apex tribal bodies would resort to its own course of action. The CNTC questioned the ulterior motive of this move and reiterated that if a small state like Nagaland keep on giving the indigenous tribe status to every inhabitant, tomorrow anyone from anywhere will start demanding it where the original inhabitant tribes of the present state of Nagaland will be endangered by the ramifications of such thoughtless move.”

The CNTC made clear that the Rongmei community did not have a specific geographical territory within Nagaland, for which granting them the status of ‘tribe’ in the state was unjustified.  

“The Rongmeis do not have any specific geographical territory within the state of Nagaland and granting of the tribe status is not justified and uncalled for though the indigenous inhabitant status may be granted to those who settled in Nagaland prior to 1963 qualifying the required criteria,” the CNTC stated.

“Nagaland today cannot afford to jeopardize its own self and its future generations by granting of indigenous tribe status to anyone demanding it, as such unwarranted action will surely provide as a springboard for any outsider tomorrow for demanding the same which will result in utter chaos and spell doom for the future generations.”

(Al Ngullie, July 29, 2016; Eastern Mirror)

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Nagaland's Tourism department agrees to NPRAAF’s demands

The local activist group Nagaland Public Rights Awareness and Action Forum (NPRAAF) has informed that the government has conceded to the demand of the group.

Leaders of the NPRAAF informed on Thursday that they met with the parliamentary secretary for Tourism, Apok C Jamir, in Kohima town on July 27.

The meeting reportedly discussed the representation that was submitted by the NPRAAF seeking redress over various issues including anomalous appointments in the Tourism department, besides a demand to increase ‘sanctioned posts’ of tourist officers in the state.                                   

According to a press release issued by the NPRAAF on Thursday, the two sides agreed on a memorandum of understanding as proposed by the forum following a series of meetings with various departmental officials including the department’s director KT Thomas and two assistant directors, V Doulo and I Temjen Ao during various occasions.

The parliamentary secretary agreed to initiate ‘taking over of all tourism infrastructures already constructed but yet to be handed over to the department within 45 days.’

The NPRAAF stated that there were ‘many infrastructures lying unused owing to unknown reasons but still under the authority of certain individuals / landowners.’ 

They also agreed that from now on clearance and utilization certificates for ‘infrastructural development’ would be issued jointly by the engineering wing and a tourist officer in concern.

The press release stated further that the parliamentary secretary also ‘agreed that any deputation service sought by the department would be declared open for competition and be filled within one year from the date of utilizing that deputation service.’

Said policy seeks to provide opportunities for other ‘unemployed qualified youth’ to vie for government jobs.

Likewise, the government has ‘agreed to stop absorption policy except on extreme exigencies since such policy becomes a bane for educated unemployed youth as it denies them any available opportunity to compete for jobs.’                                                                                                                                                    

Further, the state has agreed to ‘completely stop absorption along with post’, in order to create job openings in the Tourism department.

Further, the parliamentary secretary agreed not to allow further privatization of tourist lodges in the state ‘as privatization was not contributing much to the treasury.’ In line with the department’s service rules for 12 sanctioned posts for tourist officers, the parliamentary secretary agreed to designate 12 ‘senior most’ tourist officers as district tourism officer ‘which can be arranged without financial implications,’ the group stated.

Concerning irregular appointments and promotion to the post of tourist officers, the department also offered clarifications to a number of cases, the forum stated.  ‘As some cases remained unclear, the parliamentary secretary assured NPRAAF of looking into the matter for necessary action. Further, the parliamentary secretary assured that under his leadership, there shall be no backdoor appointments,’ the organization asserted in their press release.

The NPRAAF stated that it would ‘periodically monitor the commitment made by the parliamentary secretary in the interest of justice.’ The group has assured support and cooperation to the Tourism department in meeting stated objectives.

(Al Ngullie, July 28, 2016; Eastern Mirror)

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UNC wants accord with IM ‘finalized, translated’

EM's Imphal Correspondent

The United Naga Council (UNC) has urged the Government of India and the ‘National Socialist Council of Nagalim’ (NSCN-IM) to ‘translate’ and finalize the “framework agreement” with political will and acceptable and honorable to the Naga people. It should be based on the unique history of the Naga people and their situation and brought to ‘its logical conclusion’ at the earliest.

The organization issued a press release on Thursday. The UNC’s General Secretary S Milan stated in the press release that the Naga people had been ‘patiently and prayerfully waiting’ for a Indo-Naga political settlement ‘at the earliest.’ The reason being, the group stated, ‘It is impossible for the Naga tribal to protect, defend and safeguard our life, land, history, identity, tradition, culture and time, after the signing of the Indo-Naga Cease Fire Agreement that came into effect from August 1,1997.’

After waiting for more than 18 years since the Indo-Naga ceasefire, the “historic” Indo-Naga “framework agreement” was signed between the government of India and the NSCN (IM) on August 3 last year in New Delhi, the group stated.         

The organization has also appealed to the tribes, women and students and youths, church leaders, villages to observe August 3 this year as “historic day” in their respective jurisdictions by taking up special prayer programs ‘for early settlement of Indo-Naga framework agreement.’
(Al Ngullie, July 28, 2016; Eastern Mirror)

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Nagaland lands a piece of center’s Rs. 2000+ crore tourism dream

From January 2015 till date, the government of India has release funds amounting to a colossal Rs. 2, 048 crore for tourism development projects in the northeast, among which Nagaland has a component too.

The Ministry of Tourism had, during the past 18 months, sanctioned projects worth Rs. 2333 crore under the Swadesh Darshan and PRASAD, the flagship tourism schemes of the Ministry of Tourism.

These projects envisage world class infrastructural development of the sites with special emphasis on tourist facilities including tourist “facilitation centres,” way-side amenities, parking, public convenience, illumination, sound and light shows and theme parks. 

During the meeting of the National Steering Committee (NSC, the apex committee for steering these schemes) that was conducted on Tuesday, the status report was placed by the mission directors of Swadesh Darshan and PRASAD. The meeting was presided over by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Tourism and Culture.

In his inaugural address Dr. Sharma stressed on the need of proper coordination and convergence of schemes with the central ministries for proper development of infrastructure in the country.

The Union Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi also emphasized upon the need for proper rail, road and air connectivity with places identified under various circuits.

Rs.284.53 have been sanctioned so far under the PRASAD scheme for 11 projects in Amravati, Kamakhya Temple, Patna Sahib, Patna, Vishnupad Gaya, Shri Jaggannath Puri, Amritsar, Ajmer-Pushkar, Varanasi, Mathura-Vrindavan, and Kedarnath Dham in Uttarakhand.

They include two projects worth Rs.36.96 crore approved for the Varanasi River Cruise and Dwarka and three other projects.

Thirteen themes tourist circuits of Buddhist Circuit, Ecotourism Circuit, Wild life, Himalayan, Spiritual, North East India, Tribal, Krishna, Rural, Coastal, Heritage , Desert, Ramayana have been identified to attract both domestic and international tourists having special interest of visiting such places.

From January 2015 till date 25 projects for Rs. 2048 crore have been sanctioned. They include EcoTourism circuits in the states of Uttarkhand, Telangana, Kerala; a tribal circuit in Nagaland, Chattisgarh and Telangana; a coastal circuit in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Pondicherry, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Goa; a Buddhist circuit in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh; the Himalayan circuit in Jammu and Kashmir; the Desert circuit in Rajasthan; the wildlife circuit in Madhya Pradesh and Assam and the North East India circuit in Arunachal, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Tripura.

Also, five pan-India mega circuits have been identified.

(Al Ngullie, July 28, 2016; Eastern Mirror)

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High drug price, pharma monopoly killing Hepatitis sufferers in Nagaland

EM's Kohima Correspondent

High cases of the deadly Hepatitis C virus have been reported in Nagaland but the state does not have even a testing and diagnosis facility. As if the matter weren’t already enough people cannot access treatment drugs too, although they are available, due to exorbitant prices and monopoly exercised by pharmaceuticals.

Interestingly while Nagaland does not have even a diagnosis center, free diagnosis and medicines are being provided to people in the neighboring states of Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram.

And health institutions aren’t helping either: even private hospitals exploit the people by charging exorbitant rates just for an antibody test, local nongovernmental organizations working in the field told a recent program in Kohima town.

Said issues are some of the problems being faced by Hepatitis C sufferers even as the world observes World Hepatitis Day.

With the theme ‘elimination,’ World Hepatitis Day was observed in Kohima town with a formal program that was organized by local health groups in Kohima town in Thursday.

The organizers of the event were nongovernmental groups namely the HepCoN, the NUN, the Kripa Foundation, the Network of Naga People Living with HIV/AIDS (NNP+) and the semi-government agency, the Nagaland State AIDS Control Society.

The event was conducted at the LCS building.

Similar anti-Hepatitis programs are being held in other parts of Nagaland such as Wokha, Mokokchung, and Phek, Kiphire, Mon, Satakha and Tuensang district.

During screening conducted between May and June of 2016 in the state, it was found that the prevalence of hepatitis C positive (or HCV) stood at 2.43% with 3.90% in the male population and 0.52% among the female population.

Giving a brief note on the Mylan CSR Project on HCV, Mhonthung Tungoe said that the two-year project was being implemented by the NNP+ and had been undertaken in Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland. The drive is especially so for the rural areas. It aims at increasing ‘awareness’ and diagnosis of Hepatitis C. Key activities include advocacies, counseling, first-level HCV screening (card tests), mobile HCV screening in the remote areas; referral and linkages; information education and communication.

Also, offering an overview of state of HCV in Nagaland, Ketho, secretary of nongovernmental organization HepCoN, said that high cases of the virus have been reported. Nagaland does not have any single testing and diagnosis facilities though, he lamented.

In spite of treatment drugs being made available, Ketho said that the people are not able to access them due to exorbitant prices and monopoly by pharmaceutical companies. He also alleged that sometimes private hospitals exploit the people by charging exorbitant rates just for an antibody test.

Further, the NGO worker said, free diagnosis and medicines are being provided to people in the neighboring states of Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram. Although there had been many new developments in the world of science and medicine in regard to treatment of the hepatitis virus, Ketho lamented, the people continue to die of a preventable and curable disease because of the lack of information and because of high treatment costs.

In this regard, a number of recommendations have been placed before the government of Nagaland to address the disease burden of Hepatitis C in the state: initiating a state surveillance system through the Health departments or the IDSP.

Another recommendation has asked the government to ensure availability of Hepatitis diagnostic facilities besides treatment drugs in all public health facilities. This is to regulate Hepatitis C treatment prices and also to give importance to Information, education and communication services about viral Hepatitis.

The government is also requested to take the lead role in organizing the global World Hepatitis Day events which is observed on July 28 every year as a global event, and to introduce government health schemes for treatment of HCV.

The HepCoN has also requested the public to contact the organization to avail free diagnosis facilities and treatment, which is currently being offered in collaboration with a pharmaceutical company.

World Hepatitis Day, observed on July 28 every year, aims to raise global awareness of hepatitis—a group of infectious diseases known as Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E—and encourage prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Hepatitis affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide, causing acute and chronic disease and reportedly killing close to 1.4 million people every year.

World Hepatitis Day is one of eight official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with World Health Day, World Blood Donor Day, World Immunization Week, World Tuberculosis Day, World No Tobacco Day, World Malaria Day and World AIDS Day.

(Al Ngullie, July 28, 2016; Eastern Mirror)

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Members of Child Welfare Comm. get the table test

The Nagaland government has instated a new bench of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) for the term July 2016-June 2019.

An “induction training” program for new members of the CWC was conducted by the State Child Protection Society of Nagaland. The event was conducted from the 26th of July and till the 27^th in the premises of Mount Tabor Retreat House in Kohima district.

Members from different parts of Nagaland attended said training. This is the third batch since the inception of the CWC.

This five-member bench is the competent authority of their respective district to handling cases of children in need of care and protection. The CWC as a bench enjoys the status of judicial magistrate (first class) in dealing with such case.

The two-day training event began with the launch of a guide for CWC members when dealing with cases of children in need of care and protection.

The resource person for the event was K. Ela, director of local nongovernmental organization, the Dimapur-based Prodigal Home. Ela raised concerns over the public ignorance about the existence of CWCs and the importance of these institutions.

The resource person also spoke about a report on the budget for children in Nagaland which she said showed ‘alarming figures in issues relating to children in Nagaland.’

Ela challenged the participants to return to their respective district and to ‘lay the ground work in order to enable children to avail various services that have been created for them.’

The training program also included discourses on topics of statutes, adoption, Child Rights, and Child Psychology, among others.

Confusion because state govt. hasn’t even adopted statute

A number of questions and queries were raised by the newly elected CWC members on the topics that were discussed during the event. For instance, there was confusion over following either the Juvenile Justice Act of 2000 or the 2015 act as the Nagaland government still hadn’t adopted the Juvenile Justice Act (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015.

The State Child Protection Society assured the members that it would take up the issue with the state government. But, the leaders said, it would be in the best interest of all stakeholders if the Nagaland government would address the matter at the earliest and clear the confusion without further delay so that the children would not be affected by it.’

(Al Ngullie, July 27, 2016; Eastern Mirror)

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Wait…no career cultural artistes from Nagaland?

It could be out of ignorance or just simply apathy but there has been no application for a central cultural scholarship scheme from artistes in Nagaland. Meanwhile Assam and Manipur, two of the northeastern region’s top hotspots of cultural artistry are making hay while the sun shines.

During 2013-2014, there were six from Nagaland who applied. But since then, there has yet to be any. Assam and Manipur, true to their reputation as a cultural hotspot, are ahead of the northeast states with more than 100 applications between the two.

On July 25, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, the minister of state (in-charge) for Tourism and Culture told the Lok Sabha that the government was implementing a scheme of scholarships for young artistes in different cultural fields. Up to 400 scholarships are given every year to young artistes in the age group of 18-25 year for advanced training in the field of Indian classical music, Indian classical dance, theatre, mime, visual art, folk, traditional and indigenous art and light classical music, the minister said.

Each selected artistes are being granted a scholarship of Rs. 5, 000 per month for a period of two years.

The scheme for the current year i.e., 2016-2017 has not been advertised, the minister stated.

“For wider publicity the scheme is advertised in all the leading newspapers throughout India including employment news. The scheme is also advertised on the website of the ministry.”

The number of applications received during the last three years from the north east states:

Sl No	State	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
1	Arunachal Pradesh	Nil	Nil	01
2	Assam	175	30	117
3	Manipur	156	16	51
4	Meghalaya	5	Nil	01
5	Mizoram	1	Nil	Nil
6	Nagaland	6	Nil	Nil
7	Sikkim	9	Nil	Nil
8	Tripura	45	02	14

(Al Ngullie, July 27, 2016; Eastern Mirror) 

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