Neiphiu Rio terms Budget 2024-25 as ‘people-centric’

Nagaland chief minister, Neiphiu Rio, has termed the 2024-25 budget as ‘people-centric’, unveiling a slew of novel initiatives aimed at bolstering the welfare of citizens. Among the highlights is the Chief Minister’s Universal Life Insurance Scheme, a groundbreaking endeavour fully backed by the State government.
In a post-budget press conference, Rio underscored the government’s commitment to prioritize initiatives that directly benefit the populace. He noted a surge in revenue, predominantly stemming from GST, given the absence of significant state-owned resources.
Expressing concern, Rio lamented a prevailing mindset among Nagas, where desire often surpass available resources. He emphasized the state’s consumer-driven economy, with GST proving instrumental in its fiscal landscape. He further underscored the pivotal role of GST, which provided a significant chunk of revenue as contribution.
Rio shed light on Nagaland’s untapped potential in natural resources, including petroleum reserves and mineral deposits like cobalt. Plans for exploration, facilitated by governmental consultation and external support, are underway to unlock this latent wealth. He said collaborative efforts with industry experts and consultations with local communities formed the cornerstone of this endeavor.
Rio declared he was undertaking the endeavour openly and will hold consultations with the concerned stakeholders who would in turn will sensitise their people.
On challenges in the energy sector where the state was spending Rs 595 cr to procure power while losing Rs 280 cr annually, Rio acknowledged the losses which were attributed to power theft, non-payment of power bill, tampering among others. He said collaborative stakeholder engagement was imperative to mitigate such losses and ensure sustainable progress.
Rio also informed that the State government was gearing up for the Urban Local Bodies polls and that e-roll revision was underway for which funds had been sanctioned. He said since the earlier tentative date for the ULB polls clashed with the Lok Sabha polls, it will be held only after the Lok Sabha polls.
Rio also identified unresolved Naga political issue, prohibition under NLTP and ban on logging operations as factors hampering the growth of revenue of the state.
He however said the Centre was mitigating this loss by allocating revenue deficit grants to the state.
Rio also maintained that politicians discuss politics while the rest of the people discuss on how to improve the economy.