Lok Sabha member from Nagaland, S Supongmeren Jamir has demanded for the early implementation of the Agreements signed by the Government of India with the various Naga political groups to usher in an era of permanent and sustainable peace and development in the State.
Participating in the ongoing discussion on the Budget 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Jamir slammed the Centre for “blatantly lying to the People of Nagaland when it pompously declared that it had solved the Naga Political Issue nine years ago on inking of the “Framework Agreement” with the NSCN (IM) on 3rd August 2015 and “Agreed Position” with the Working Committee of NNPGs on 17th November, 2017, when in reality the situation in the state has only deteriorated since then.”
The MP also highlighted the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, broad daylight killings, anti social elements burgeoning all over the state and the common people reeling under the painful and suffocating yokes of rampant illegal taxations, the Communications Department of NPCC said in a press release.
Further, Jamir reminded the House that Nagaland was the only State in the Country with its Capital without an airport, and drew attention to the false promise of the Union Government when it had announced the development of an IISER (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research) in Nagaland in the 2015-16 Union Budget. He urged the Central Government to honor its promises and implement the two projects on a priority basis.
In terms of infrastructure and connectivity, Jamir questioned the sincerity of the Union Government’s much touted “Act East Policy”, when improvement of road connectivity in the North East Region did not even get a mention in this budget.
The Lok Sabha MP further stated that the Union Government has once again resorted to headline grabbing rhetorics instead of offering targeted and pragmatic solutions to address the scourges of inflation and unemployment faced by the common people of the country.
Jamir also raised objection to the Central Government’s projections of a 6.7 percent and 6.3 percent unemployment rates in the urban and rural areas respectively, while according to the latest CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy) data, the urban and rural unemployment rates are quoted at 9.2 percent and 9.3 percent respectively.
He also drew attention to the misplaced priorities of the Government by citing the historic low budgetary allocations of 1.78 percent and 3.5 percent of the total budget to MGNREGA and the Agri and Allied Sectors respectively.
