Naga society ‘educated’ but not ‘refined’: Nagaland CM

June 29, 2022 48 Views No Comment

Lack of proper planning and bye-laws bringing lots of problems, says CM

Morung Express News
Kohima | June 29

‘Nagas as persons, we are an educated society, but we are not a refined society,’ Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio indicating on the lack of civic sense among the people.

Speaking at the first State function for ‘Cleanest ULBs and Wards Award-2022 Nagaland’ here at the Capital Convention Centre, Kohima today, he said Nagas have lots to learn and still a long way to go to catch up with others.

Congratulating the winning ULBs, Rio said this movement for awareness and cleanliness to make our Nagaland a garbage free state should not become a one-time endeavour, but should continue till cleanliness is made as a ‘habit and way of life.’

‘Mad rush’ for urbanisation
Making a comparison of urbanisation percentage which has jumped up to 39% in 2011 from 19% in 2001, Rio said there is a mad rush for urbanisation, which also bring its own sets of challenges and opportunities.

Citing instances, he stated that the State does not have proper town planning and bye-laws bringing lots of problems particularly in the upkeep of the town city and its amenities.

He further noted that the shops and markets placed haphazardly become a challenging task for the administrators to handle in the process.

Migration of people to towns and cities, he maintained are inevitable as people come for opportunities which are considered the engine of economic growth as ‘enormous potential pave way for wealth generation.’

Towards this, Rio said Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) should be prepared and cope up with the demand though the task won’t be easy – with new innovations and initiatives to face the challenges in terms of housing, roads, drainages, garbage management, water supply etc.

Strongly advocating on the need for cleanliness, Rio stated that awareness should permeate down to all levels. To this, he said that both the education department and the rural development department will be tasked to impart civic knowledge and education at schools and village levels.

“We have lots of room for improvement. Our situation is not as good as we wanted it to be, but we are improving slowly and people are becoming more and more aware,” said Rio.

Also informing the congregation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the next chairman of the G20, he implied that it is a good opportunity as meetings will be held in different states of the country.

For this, he further informed that a team came to the State and were ‘said to be pleased’ with the survey. But, he doubted if the State would be prepared to host the G20 meeting, in case it was given the chance.

Nonetheless, Rio was optimistic that the event was a good beginning, small but significant and “our combine efforts will make a difference.”

“Once the real peace comes to our state, lots of things are going to happen but we cannot wait for that time. We have to keep on working” added Rio.

Waste management a herculean task
Additional Secretary, Urban Development, Elizabeth Ngully said waste management is a herculean task and the state is still at a nascent stage and many are not aware of the ramifications of improper waste disposal.

Though currently, the focus is mostly on sing-use plastics and municipal waste, Ngully pointed out that ‘the threat of biomedical waste and its management cannot be ignored.’

Waste management, she pointed out matter of fact, is not a task that can be tackled by the ULBs alone but need all the support and attention. For this, she suggested that the MLA of the respective district should align their developmental focus to waste management and provide support o the ULBs through LADP funds and bring about a sustainable waste management system.

‘The political willingness and administrative support can bring about a positive change in this aspect,” she added.

Despite numerous shortcomings and challenges such as lack of resources, technical knowledge, inadequate sanitation fleet, workforce etc, Ngully appreciated the ULBs for doing well. However, she added that much is yet to be done.

For this, she said, it is imperative to adopt immediate functional measures adding “if we are to end with only this event, then all the lessons learned and accomplishments would be naught.”

Source: https://morungexpress.com/naga-society-educated-but-not-refined-nagaland-cm