Peace, a paramount concern: Governor

Nagaland governor, Nikhil Kumar took note of the many areas of the social indicators in which the state has excelled when compared to the national averages but asserted that peace was of paramount concern for the Nagas.
Extending warm greetings to the people of the state on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of India’s Republic Day, Nikhil sought to make the search for peace a priority adding “When peace sustains, developments follows.” In this connection, he commended the efforts of the state government in constituting an all party Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Naga political issue comprising members of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly. He said the creation of the JPC reflected the concern of the Naga people as a whole for a solution to the Naga political issue.
The governor also appreciated the efforts made by the civil societies in laying the ground work for ushering in lasting peace in the State. He exuded confidence that the Nagas, with the blessings of the Lord Almighty and combined efforts would succeed in bringing stable peace to the State. He also thanked the government of India for its initiative to solve the issue through dialogue.
The governor observed that the state and its people have striven and succeeded greatly in achieving significant progress in many fields despite constraints and unfavorable situations.
Nagaland, being endowed with rich natural resources and abundant potential, especially in the sectors of agriculture, horticulture, forestry, animal husbandry and tourism, Nikhil hoped that if these were harnessed properly, the economy of the state would grow further. He said the state government’s seizure of the need to improve the physical infrastructure and doing so on a priority basis would further boost the efforts in making Nagaland a well developed state.
Nikhil further said although the state has excelled in many fields, yet there was always a scope for improvement and encouraged the people to put in their best efforts so as to excel particularly in the fields of education, health and drinking water and make the achievements in these areas the best in the country.
The governor identified the youthful population of the state as “one of our biggest assets” and said it was a measure of the forward looking attitude of the younger men and women that they have found stable vocation in some of the metro cities especially Delhi. Nikhil said he was happy to note that the government of the NCT of Delhi has assured him of full prompt redressal of any grievances without any discrimination.
He pointed out that the initiatives like capacity building programmes, more technical and vocational training opportunities, better sport facilities were some praiseworthy initiatives during the recent times for the youth.
The governor expressed pleasure to have gotten acquainted with the culture and traditions of the Naga people and also the enlightened and vibrant people of the state who through their unique initiatives in various areas, particularly in the area of self-government have earned the admiration of everyone.
On the occasion of the 61st Republic Day celebrations, the governor urged the people to recall with gratitude the prudence and insight of the eminent framers of the Constitution which gave the state a special status.
Nikhil called upon everybody to come together forgetting the differences whether it was related to tribe, region, community, religion or gender and work wholeheartedly towards a peaceful, beautiful, vibrant and a developed Nagaland in every way.