The State government has decided to meet the demands of Jotsoma Village Council (JVC) after chief minister Neiphiu Rio intervened.
A meeting held under the chief minister’s chairmanship at his residential office here on Monday and attended by officials of public health engineering (PHE) and school education departments and Jotsoma village representatives took some key decisions on the issue.
The meeting decided that either the State government would move for creation of 12 grade IV posts and provide 12 regular jobs to villagers wherein a revenue sharing arrangement with the department concerned would be worked out with respect to water tax, or, as per the old agreement, 18 posts of work-charged employees would be provided, if so desired by the village.
While Government High School (GHS) and Government Higher Secondary School (GHSS) have already been upgraded and work order for GHS has already been issued, construction of a building for GHSS would be taken up at the earliest. Consequently construction of the hostel, as demanded, would be taken up in the works programme for 2021-2022.
Regarding construction of a full-sized playground at the village, Rio asked the village authorities to earmark a suitable location and execute the project by themselves, adding that the government would provide an amount of Rs 1 crore for the purpose, of which Rs 25 lakh would be sanctioned immediately so that the project could be started at the earliest.
And out of the total earmarked amount of Rs 1 crore, he said Rs 25 lakh would be set aside for construction of the rostrum while rest of the amount (Rs 75 lakh) would be used for excavation and preparation of the playground. The chief minister directed the PHE department to provide water supply to the village and ensure quality control when carrying out any construction work.
He suggested that since the earlier agreement between the government and Jotsoma village was signed 45 years ago, a fresh agreement be made by incorporating the new changes. The offer made by the government would be deliberated at the village level, after which the government would be informed on any decision taken.
Rio further directed that regular review meetings between the departments concerned and village representatives be held quarterly to assess progress of the works.
Following the meeting, the State government requested Jotsoma Youth Organisation to withdraw its ultimatum to stop water supply to Kohima town.