On the first day of the second session of the 14th Assembly session on Monday, the ministers in-charge of various departments responded to several starred and unstarred question raised by members of the house.
Disturbed Area: Responding to a starred question raised by NPF legislator Achumbemo Kikon on areas that were under the ambit of AFSPA in Nagaland, deputy chief minister in-charge of Home, Y. Patton informed that the whole of Nagaland has not been declared as “Disturbed Area” and said that 18 Police Stations in the State do not fall under the purview of AFSPA.
On the work progress of construction of Ethung Post under Bhandari sub-station, Patton stated that the work was in good progress and expected to be completed by March 2024. He also informed that there was no proposal to upgrade the Merapani Border Magistrate.
ILPs: On number of ILPs issued, Patton stated that with effect from January 1, 2023 till date, there were 6,899 new ILPs; 13,782 renewed IPLs and 10,587 ILPs to tourists.
Power dept: Responding to a starred question by Naiba Konyak, MLA on power connectivity from Sangsangyu, Tuensang District to Tobu, Mon district, power minister K.G. Kenye informed that the department would be proposing the inclusion of 33kV line for the mentioned areas with a sub-station at Tobu in the next financial year 2024-25 under State Plan.
RD Dept: RD minister Metsubo Jamir informed the house that the total amount received from the Centre under Samagra Programme for the year 2021-2022 and 2022-23 was Rs. 13,734.16 lakh and Rs. 28,104.49 lakh respectively. He was responding to a starred question by Naiba Konyak.
On the query raised by Achumbemo Kikon on Jal Jeevan Mission, PHE minister Jacob Zhimomi informed 86 villages were covered under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in 40 Bhandari assembly constituency.
No case against Lotteries dept: Responding to a starred question raised by Kuzholuzo (Azo) Nienu, MLA with regard to Nagaland State Lotteries, chief minister Neiphiu Rio said that there were no cases registered against the authorized dealers associated with Nagaland State Lotteries. However, he informed the house that there have been instances where FIRs had been registered against individuals involved in selling fake/ duplicate tickets of Nagaland State Lotteries.
He also said that there has been no case investigated against Nagaland State Lotteries by the central agencies. Rio added that there was no known case of evasion of GST as alleged and that C&AG regularly conducts audit.
352 ASIs post: Responding to an unstarred question by Azo Neinu, deputy CM Y Patton informed the house that the sanctioned strength of assistant sub inspectors (ASI) under DEF Nagaland was 352, while a total number of 172 ASIs were currently serving. Patton further stated that the criteria for ASI promotion to the SI post was 50% by direct recruitment and 50% by promotion to the available vacancy at a given time.
60 CDPO offices: Meanwhile, replying to Picto Shohe, MLA with regard to child development project officer (CDPO) offices in the state, chief minister Neiphiu Rio, who is also in charge of Social Welfare department, informed that there were 60 CDPO offices. He mentioned that a proposal had already been sent to the Union Ministry of Women & Child Development, though till date no sanctioned had been received for 32 Atoizu A/C.
Water supply Phek: PHED minister Jacob Zhimomi informed the House that a detailed estimate for repair and partial replacement of main pipeline for water supply to Phek town from Laka source amounting to Rs 42,58,000 was received by the PHE directorate on June 15, 2023 and had forwarded to the government for further instruction.
Replying to an unstarred question raised by Azo Neinu, he said the directorate had been instructed for verification on June 21 and the estimate, after verification by PHED directorate, was received by July 11. Zhimomi stated that after attaining the approval, PHED forwarded the proposal to the State Planning & Transformation on July 18 seeking additional fund.
Rs 3816.64 lakh allocated for aspirational district Kiphire: On the other hand, replying to an unstarred question of Kipili Sangtam MLA, deputy chief minister TR Zeliang, who is also in charge of Planning & Transformation and National Highways, said Rs 3816.64 lakh had been allocated from the various funding agencies in aspirational district Kiphire.
While NITI Aayog had allocated Rs 1,905.31 lakh, Rs 552.76 lakh was received from the Ministry of Skill Development and North Eastern Council (NEC), Rs 958.57 lakh from Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Rs 100 lakh from the state government and Rs 300 lakh from Tribal Affairs Article 275(1).
Regarding the schemes being implemented under aspirational schemes, Zeliang said two projects were taken up under Tribal Affairs, 22 projects under Special Corpus Fund (state plan); 3 projects for health, tourism and infrastructure, 5 projects for development of backward areas under 30% CSS under NEC, 14 projects under NITI Aayog and 15 projetcs under NITI Aayog (additional) etc.