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tuesDAY • APRIL 12 • 2016
DIMAPUR • Vol. XI • Issue 99 • 12 PAGes • 5
T H e
ESTD. 2005
I write to understand as much as to be understood Hiroshima is a ‘gut-wrenching’ reminder world should abandon nuclear weapons PAGE 09
Gayatri Projects bags 340-Crore Road Project in Nagaland State New DelhI, AprIl 11 (pTI): Gayatri Projects today said it has bagged an order worth Rs 340 crore from the government for fourlaning of sections of existing Dimapur-Kohima road in Nagaland. “Gayatri Projects has secured a Rs 340-crore contract for four-laning of a highway from Dimapur to Kohima in the North East state of Nagaland from the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH),” Gayatri Projects said in a BSE filing. Giving details of the projects, the company said the projects are for four-laning of existing DimapurKohima road, excluding Dimapur and Kohima bypass, in the State of Nagaland through an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract. Stock of Gayatri Projects was trading at Rs 586.10, down 0.14, per cent from the previous close on BSE.
our Correspondent Kohima | April 11
The total number of government employees in Nagaland State as on March 2014 stands at 95,903 which accounts for 4.85 percent of the total population (19,78,502) of Nagaland and 9.85 per cent of the total workers (9,74,122) in the State as per the 2011 census. During 2012-2013, as per records, there was an increase of 2,373 employees in the State. This was stated in the Nagaland Economic Survey 2015-16 brought out by the State’s Economics & Statistics Department. Out of 95,903 employees in 2014, Class I employees constituted 4.16 percent, Class II- 2.86 per cent, Class III- 66.75 percent and Class IV- 26.23 percent. The report stated that the percentage of regular post is highest in Class I with 95.11 percent while the percentage of regular post tends to decrease with the fall in the status of employees i.e. Class II with 92.66 per cent, Class III with 91.27 per cent and Class IV with 65.20 per cent. The percentage of adhoc and work charge employees in the State is highest in Class IV category of employees and accounts 31.25 per cent, Class III with 5.78 per cent, Class II with 3.80 per cent and Class I with 2.53 per cent. Contract and deputa-
o F
T R u T H
— Elie Wiesel
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PAGe 12
RMSA candidates threaten Nagaland coal: Affected by falling prices hunger strike from April 13 Morung Express news Dimapur | April 11
RMSa canditates staging protest for immediate issue of appointment orders on Monday in Kohima. (Morung Photo)
RMSA Phase 2 & 3 candidates sets April 13 as deadline for appointment orders to be issued our Correspondent Kohima | April 11
In continuation with its indefinite protest, the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) phase 2 & 3 candidates today threatened to go on hunger strike if their appointment orders were not issued by April 13 by the department in concern. The RMSA phase 2 & 3 candidates who are waiting
for their appointment orders began their indefinite protest from April 8 last. The protestors while shouting “Justice should be for all”, “We demand our appointment”, “We demand what is ours” etc. during the indefinite strike stated that if nothing happens by Wednesday “we have no other option; but we will go for hunger strike.” Incidentally, the cycle of grievances for the candidates are continuing for over 3 years after they first answered the advertisement for recruitment of secondary teachers under RMSA that was first published on December 14, 2013. The written exam was held on May 24, 2014 and results
declared on June 27, 2014 but delayed Viva Voce for the same was held only on July 2015 amidst after widespread protest. The final result was declared on November 30, 2015. The protestors are demanding immediate issue of appointment orders to 111 candidates from all the districts of Nagaland. The selected candidates who are awaiting their appointment pointed out that first phase of appointments has been completed, whereas 111 candidates to be appointed in the second and third phase are still awaiting their appointment. Some candidate said their age limit has already expired while waiting for the appointment letters.
Nagaland Economic Survey 2015-16 statistics on Government employees
Chance of work security falls with class; women gain ground but remain under represented
P o W e R
Distribution of Employees According to their Educational Qualification (As on 31st March 2014) Status
Class – I Class – II Class – III Class – IV Total
EduCational QualifiCation
total Pu/ under Post Graduate Matric Graduate 10 + 2 Matric 1438 1603 804 115 28 3988 422 1023 800 402 93 2740 1361 9146 9240 15027 29245 64019 14 151 460 2609 21922 25156 3235 11923 11304 18153 51288 95903 Source: Directorates Economics and Statistics, Nagaland; Kohima
Distribution of Employees According to their Age (As on 31st March 2014) Status
aGE
18-25 26-32
33-39
40-46
47-53
54-60
Class – I 25 346 588 820 1260 615 Class – II 50 317 503 674 725 254 Class – III 3985 12663 15152 14712 10666 2560 Class – IV 1334 4267 5583 5288 3218 893 Sales Total 5394 17593 21796 21494 15869 4322
Sales
not Reported 364 217 4281 4573 9435
Growth Trend and Numbers of Employees during the last 5 years
total 3988 2740 64019 25156 95903
95903
93530
90519
2010
91308
91371
2011
2012
tion nature of employment are highest in Class II category and Class IV category with 3.54 per cent followed by 2.36 percent in Class I and 2.95 percent in Class III. The Survey report stated that female employees constitute 22.47 percent of the total employees and male employees constitute of 77.53 percent. With the increase in the number of employees in the State Government, the number of female employees gradually increased till 201011. However, during 201112 there was decrease in the number of female employ-
ees by 63 persons. In the year 2013, as on 31st March, the number of female employees increased by 1,026 person thereby raising the total number of female employees to 20,605. The number of female employees increased by 943 persons in the year 2014, as on 31st March. Out of total number of employees in the State, 94.28 percent of the employees are from Schedule Tribes while remaining 6 percent of the total employees are from General, SC and OBC category. The age profile of State Government employees
2013
2014
in the age group between 24-46 years is 63.48 percent while 5.62 percent of the total employees are in the age group between 18-25 years and 21.05 percent of the total employees are in the age group between 47-60 years. About 9.83 percent of the total employees did not disclose their date of birth, the report stated. The percentage of post graduate, graduate, PU/10+2, matriculate, under matric, are 3.37 percent, 12.43 percent, 11.79 percent, 18.93 percent and 53.48 percent respectively, the report stated.
While the Nagaland State Government struggles with streamlining the coal business, prospectors in the coal-rich belt of Mokokchung district are grappling with a falling price phenomenon. The price slump has slowed exports as miners fail to get a fair price from buyers in Assam. The slump, which has refused to show any sign of upturn for over a year, has brought work almost to a halt in several mines under Mangkolemba sub-division, particularly those located in sections of the Changkikong, Japukong ranges and the Tzurang river valley. From Rs. 4000-4500 a ton in 2014, the rates (given to miners) have currently dropped to Rs. 1600-2200. Miners from the area say the dip began around the beginning of 2015 and has not risen since. However, according to a miner, the same (Nagaland) coal was trading at Rs. 6500-7000 a ton in Guwahati during the first week of April 2016. It may be noted that coal from the said locations passes through Mariani, Jorhat and Guwahati enroute other destinations. The rate fixed by the Nagaland government holds no bearing. Not discounting the downturn in international coal prices, the miners point to local factors that have actually contributed to the slump in business. Government restriction on payload, ‘middlemen’, multiple taxation and increased labour costs have all, in parts, contributed.
Govt restrictions & middlemen The introduction of a Nagaland State government-authorised weighbridge at Longtho valley (bordering Assam) has upset buyers and contractors from Mariani, say miners. The weighbridge was installed in 2014 to put a check on the maximum cargo weight a truck can carry, for safety as well as revenue reasons. Along with it, a maximum payload of 20 tonnes per truck was enforced. Earlier, when there was no such restriction, a truck could carry over 30 tonnes, which translated into a good profit margin for both the buyer and the seller (miner, in Nagaland’s case). “Now, with the restriction in place, it has narrowed the profit margin for the buyer, who no longer is willing to pay the pre-2015 rate,” says one miner. Transporting 60 tonnes would require three trips for a truck, which means that the transporter has to incur additional transport costs, besides paying statutory as well as unsolicited taxes at check-posts. It, however, has not prevented the more adventurous buyers, as they allegedly bribe their way through carrying well over the 20ton limit. Rs. 200 is service charge at the weighbridge, plus Rs. 500, if the buyer wants to carry beyond the specified weight limit, it was informed. This, while they continue to buy cheap coal from miners in Nagaland desperate to dispose of the piling up mineral. Before, according to the miner, a truckload of around 30 tonnes could fetch a seller Rs. 90,000-1,00,000. The buyer from Mariani could double or even tri-
ple the amount supplied to bigger buyers based in Guwahati, making good profit even after deducting expenses, inclusive of taxes statutory as well as illegitimate. Now, the rates offered to miners have been cut by 50 percent. These factors are influenced by alleged pressures from a lobby exerting control from across the State boundary at Mariani. According to miners, this lobby, dubbed as ‘coal syndicate’ or ‘middlemen’, control the rate chart of coal from the areas mentioned above. It allegedly prevents parties from outside Mariani, big companies included, to make direct deals with miners, while also creating artificial price fluctuations. “This force ensures that any coal that goes out from here has to pass through it.” Taxation “Taxation starts from the mines,” a miner said, adding that a Naga National group charges Rs. 30,000 as annual tax on any active mine. Transporters are charged separately per shipment on the road. Aside from the statutory tax to the nodal government agency, other government agencies at the inter-State checkpost, including the police, have to be monetarily satiated. Put together, the pressures on individual miners of Nagaland have increased so much so that production has reduced on the one hand. On the other, whatever is mined is sold at unfair rates. These factors need to be studied by the Nagaland State Government while taking up policy initiatives.