Kohima, Aug 6 : The Centre today laid stress on education and agricultural skills of the villagers in the backward regions and called for participatory development in areas including four Nagaland districts.
The joint secretary, DoNER, Jayashree Mukherjee, said notwithstanding huge funds doled out by Delhi, development in districts like Mon, Longleng, Kiphire and Tuensang was not proportionate to the amount sanctioned by the Centre.
The official called for people’s participation for speedy development of the districts.
In addition to the state’s allocation of Rs 100 crore for these four districts, the Centre has sanctioned several hundred crores under special backward area development programme.
There is also a special fund for development of areas on the Indo-Myanmar border.
Stating that the BSNL and the postal department have a number of schemes, Mukherjee urged the Nagaland government to extend assistance to these agencies so that services could reach people.
The department for development of underdeveloped areas was created in 2003, considering the importance of a balanced development in all parts of the state, particularly in Tuensang, Mon, Kiphire and Longleng districts, chief minister Neiphiu Rio said at the inaugural session of the second development seminar for Tuensang, Mon, Longleng and Kiphire districts here.
The department aims at catering to the special needs of these areas and improving living conditions there through development, thereby bringing the districts on a par with the rest of the state.
Rio said the Eastern Nagas, represented by 20 MLAs, inhabit a major part of the geographical area of Nagaland and comprise a majority of the state’s population.
Rio said due importance should be given to these areas with special emphasis on road, health and education sectors besides livelihood.
Lamenting that the literacy rate of Mon (42.25 per cent) and Tuensang (51.30 per cent) is far below the state’s average literacy rate of 67.11 per cent, Rio called for uplift of the education sector.
He said the state government had in recent times created many new administrative centres.