The recent Chakka bandh imposed by the All Commercial Vehicle Owners’ Association (ACVOA) raises concern on the negligence of the peripheries in a State whose Government continues to put up a façade through festivals, tourism, music and the promotion of soft power.

Though the incident is just a tiny fraction of neglected realities in our peripheries, it is an urgent call for inclusivity, equal governance and more diversity in all spheres and especially in our newsroom.

Extending solidarity to the ACVOA, six Districts Chamber of Commerce & Industry had issued a statement where it mentioned that “governance in Nagaland should not be confined only to some districts like Kohima, Chumoukedima, and Dimapur.” The issues faced by our fellow citizens in these districts are equally significant, and their concerns deserve the same level of attention and responsiveness.

Download Nagaland Tribune app on Google Play

Just as governance in these districts is often ignored and neglected, so are our stories and news in these districts. The peripherals remain underreported, and rarely makes it to our front pages. The leading voices in our newsroom mostly reflects views of the State capital and the commercial capital.

This calls for more diversity and inclusivity in our newsroom. Addressing this concern is not a complex issue, it’s as simple as hiring journalists/reporters from the underrepresented districts or sending journalists to report and investigate in underserved areas and districts.

The ambit of our State’s governance should not be confined within the perimeters of a privileged few districts, so is the newsroom whose radius needs to be expanded towards the peripherals