People’s Democratic Alliance government has taken note of various issues and suggestions raised by the several opposition members during the last day of the first session of the 13th NLA held on Monday.
NPF member Imkong L Imchen has suggested review of the transfer and posting policy, besides streamlining Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) Mahila.
The opposition member’s suggestion came while moving a cut motion and pointed out the alleged wrong policy and mismanagement of police force on the concluding day of the budget session of Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) on last day of the budget session.
Imchen also demanded that serving IRB Mahila personnel be transferred to DEF after completing a particular tenure and fresh recruits inducted into the force, so that issues like marriages, family etc. were not affected.
Imchen also proposed issuing double uniforms and providing special allowance to IRB Mahila, a proposal which he said was made during his tenure as home minister.
He also informed the House that supply of ration and uniforms to the State police force needed to be checked and demanded that any wrongdoing should be dealt with seriously.
Deputy chief minister and home minister Y Patton said the government had taken note of the issues and suggestions raised by the opposition member.
Meanwhile, NPF legislator Keneizhakho Nakhro demanded details of the funds used for the Kohima smart city project as there was no visible progress on the ground. To this, urban development & municipal affairs minister Metsubo Jamir replied that Rs 107 crore for the project was not yet spent and that the project would be implemented after finalising it with the chief minister.
Exposing utter mismanagement of the State government in Tourism sector, opposition member Chotisuh Sazo pointed out that while the government spent over Rs 6 crore for Hornbill Festival, the revenue earned was just about Rs 6 lakh. In this regard, he demanded to know whether any measures would be taken to improve the situation and whether any step would be initiated to improve wayside amenities.
Leader of the House and chief minister Neiphiu Rio replied that Rs 6 lakh was only the earning from selling of tickets and that government only played the role of a facilitator while the benefits were reaped by local people and entrepreneurs.
Rio explained that the objective of the government was not to earn revenue from the festival but to ensure that the benefit flowed to general public
Stating that there were separate projects and that tourists were visiting various villages, the chief minister added that the most visited district in the State was Mon. Welcoming the suggestion for maintenance of wayside amenities, he said it had been taken note of.
Raising the issue of huge revenue loss of Power department, NPF member YM Yollow Konyak suggested that repairing centres for transformers should be set up in every district headquarter to avoid wastage of time for minor repairs, which also causes inconvenience to the public.
To this, Rio replied that the loss of revenue was primarily due to transmission problem and power theft.
He claimed that Dikhu hydro project was good though the land issue remain unresolved, due to which the project failed. Nevertheless, he assured the House to take up the issue with all seriousness.
To this, opposition member Dr Imtiwapang Aier pointed out that much of the State’s fiscal deficit was due to power department’s huge losses and demanded corrective measures from the government in this regard.
Rio replied that the power department also undertook Central-sponsored schemes but the funds provided were insufficient, adding further that there was a need to improve the entire system by upgrading sub-stations, checking power theft and providing sufficient transformers.
As the power department had installed pre-paid meters in some districts, he exuded confidence that things would improve soon. To arrest the loss, the system had to be improved and people need to be honest, he pointed out. Alleging mismanagement in the department of Roads and Bridges, NPF member Vikheho Swu said the department was contemplating re-tendering, realignment and recasting of sanctioned roads under SRDF in 2017-18 whose execution was stalled.
PWD minister Tongpang Ozukum assured to look into the matter and update the House subsequently.
NPF member, BS Nganglang Phom raised the issue of poor administration at Longleng and poor guest house facility at Tamlu ADC headquarter, which was inaugurated five years back and later shifted to a new location.
Pointing out that the PDA government had just taken over, the chief minister replied that he would see what could be done.
Opposition member Er Picto pointed out that though as per the government policy there should be fire and emergency services at ADC headquarters, there was no such service available at Atoizu.
Rio replied that due to financial constraints, the service could not be extended to all headquarters.