State chief minister, Neiphiu Rio asserted that his government was committed to making special interventions to address continuing issues of imbalance in development of Eastern Nagaland areas with special focus on creating key infrastructural facilities as well as capacity building to bring them on a par with rest of the State.
In his budget speech, Rio said the People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA) government would especially focus on ensuring connectivity to all block headquarters, provision for broadband connectivity and ensuring availability of doctors in hospitals to ensure that ENPO areas had better social and physical infrastructure.
He said every department would be asked to give focused attention on implementation of schemes in Eastern Nagaland areas.
Believing in gender equality and women empowerment, Rio remarked it was unfortunate that no woman could be elected to this House till date, adding his government would make all possible efforts to bring women into leadership roles at different levels.
To begin with, he said the government would introduce “pink bus” in the State capital and the commercial hub Dimapur on a pilot basis.
He said these pink buses would be pressed into service on select routes that would have reserved seats for women passengers and subsidised fares. On successful implementation of the pilot programme, the service would be expanded to other areas of the State, he added.
Rio further proposed to introduce a 24-hour women’s helpline to assist and help women in distress and facing emergency situations. He said victims of domestic violence, abuse and attacks, cheating, etc, could call the helpline for quick and immediate reaction from law enforcing agencies.
The chief minister also announced setting up a centre for women entrepreneurs to create mentoring opportunities and enable financial linkages to build successful women-led enterprises.
Rio said his government was committed towards the welfare of differently abled as also care for those facing mental challenges. He said he would make efforts to make government infrastructure barrier-free as also providing special education teachers in all districts.
He also informed the House that the PDA was committed towards protecting and expanding the rights of citizens who were differently abled and work towards equal opportunities at work, access to education and health services.
In order to attract investments from private sector and multilateral agencies in Nagaland, Rio also proposed to set up Nagaland Investment & Development Authority (NI& DA). He said NI& DA would include reputed and experienced personalities from both government and non-government sectors and hailing from different backgrounds to aggressively pursue investment projects, infrastructure development and take up measures to contribute towards economic growth in a sustainable manner.
He said details of the institution and its structure would be announced soon.
The chief minister also announced a new initiative to promote a cleaner and more hygienic Nagaland as part of the Swachh Bharat initiative. He said Clean and Green Nagaland would be launched so that message about keeping the environment and habitations clean could be disseminated.
Rio said the government would formulate an anti-plastic policy in a practical and realistic manner, besides targeting open defecation free villages and award those villages and colonies that achieve the targets and set new standards.
Rio further announced that the government would introduce a new programme for Holy Land tours and pilgrimages. He said detailed guidelines to enable the citizens to visit the holy land would be introduced so that the government partly sponsors such visits for citizens who want to undertake the pilgrimage.