Nagaland: Kikon flags racial bias; bats for jatropha

NPF legislator Achumbemo Kikon raised a series of concerns during Zero Hour on the second day of the 8th Session of the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly, drawing attention to racial discrimination faced by people from the Northeast in mainland India and proposing Jatropha cultivation as a response to human elephant conflict and renewable energy needs.
On the issue of discrimination, Kikon described racial bias against Northeasterners as a grave matter that deserved a strong and united response from the House. He said that as representatives of the people, members must clearly convey to the mainland that citizens from the Northeast are equal stakeholders in the nation’s democratic journey. Any form of prejudice or exclusion, he asserted, undermines national unity and cannot be accepted.
Kikon also highlighted the persistent problem of human elephant conflict in his constituency, 40 Bhandari Assembly Constituency, which he said remains one of the worst affected areas in the state. He noted that he had repeatedly raised the issue in previous sessions and with the Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, yet no lasting solution had emerged. Frequent elephant intrusions, he said, have forced many farmers to abandon paddy fields and agricultural lands, severely affecting rural livelihoods.
As an alternative approach, Kikon proposed large scale cultivation of Jatropha in abandoned or vulnerable areas.
He informed the House that he has collaborated with an organisation named TERRATROTH, along with its technical partner JATROPOWER, which focuses on research, improved plant varieties and structured market linkages for Jatropha based bioenergy production. Since elephants do not consume Jatropha plants or seeds, the crop could serve as a protective and productive alternative.
He said the initiative would include supply of hybrid saplings and assured buy back arrangements, enabling farmers to earn income while contributing to renewable energy generation. Kikon added that the model could integrate ecological protection, livelihood support and clean energy development in Nagaland.