Talking part in the general discussion on the budget 2016-17 on Friday, members of Nagaland Legislative Assembly in their speeches touched upon Naga political issue with some members saying the demand and offer made by both the NSCN(I-M) and the Centre should be made public in working towards an early solution to the vexed problem.
Parliamentary secretary jail, science and technology Hukavi Zhimomi said all sections of people should be included in the Naga political dialogue. He said no one knew about the content of the charter demands made by the NSCN (I-M).
Referring to the statement of AICC president Sonia Gandhi, who told Parliamentary Working Committee of the Joint Legislators’ Forum (JLF) from Nagaland in New Delhi that her party “cannot give a blank cheque of support as of now”, Zhimomi said the agreement was confusing and left the people in dark since the contents of the peace accord have not been revealed. He, therefore, said Nagas should not be kept as a mere spectators, but “we” need to tell the negotiating party to lay down the charter of demands so that the confusion should be cleared.
On the other hand, parliamentary secretary for tourism C. Apok Jamir appealed to the public not to give wrong information or mislead others since “such agreement were also signed in other parts of the world for further discussion for amicable solution”. He also appreciated chief minister, T.R. Zeliang for presenting practical and progressive budget and said that this government has overcome despite being faced with financial constraints. He, however, reminded the state bureaucrats to play a crucial role in reducing the unnecessary expenditure while keeping check on developmental activities taking place “on the ground”.
Also, taking part in the discussion, minster for Rural Development and REPA, C.L. John suggested that since the state government has declared 2016 as “year of construction workers” the system of “no work, no pay” should be applied in all government institutions.
Apart from the budget speech, the minister also stressed the need of developing Nagamese language for better communication especially in rural areas.
He cited that even top bureaucrats of the state were compelled to use Nagamese while communicating with the general public. Deputy speaker Imtikumzuk, who led the session after the first break, appealed to the members to observe “Earth hour” on March 19 (8:30pm -9:30pm) by switching off lights as a sign of solidarity towards the climate.