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www.morungexpress.com
tuesDAY • MArch 15 • 2016
DIMAPUR • Vol. XI • Issue 72 • 12 PAGes • 5
T H e
ESTD. 2005
P o W e R
If you aspire to the highest place, it is no disgrace to stop at the second, or even the third, place Turkey carries out airstrikes after deadly bombing in Ankara PAGE 09
Tzuzha Angling Festival hook many participants
o F
T R u T H
— Cicero
Martial keeps Manchester United’s cup hope alive
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PAGe 12
nagaland Budget 2016
rs 12 cr proposed for power sector imkong Walling Dimapur | March 14
Two young boys are seen playing with their wooden toy car on a warm spring morning at Poilwa village, Peren, 50 km away from the capital Kohima. Poilwa village is one of the oldest and biggest Zeliangrong villages. The village is also well known for its aquatic wildlife and lush green hills. (Morung Photo)
reflections
By Sandemo Ngullie
‘Apao Designated camp’ declares support to Kholi
DIMAPUR, MARCH 14 (MExN): Camp Commander of the Apao Designated Camp, Brigadier Shahwa Konyak today declared support for General Kholi Konyak and stated that “Apao Camp belongs to Baba Kholi Konyak and it shall stand with Baba Kholi.” A press note from the Brigadier, issued through the MIP of the NSCN (IM), claimed that General Kholi had the support of “senior leaders from Phom Region led by Kilonser Chuba Khamsik and Kilonser Shongyoung; senior leaders from Konyak Region, including Kilonser Moahba, Kilonser Angba, Kilonser Athrom and Kilonser Fight pollution? our gov- Pangloi; and high ranking Naga Army ofernment says there is no ficers led by Maj. Gen. Kossam and Desigscientist in nagaland. nated Camp Commander Brig. Shahwa.” “Leaders from military and civil authorThe Morung Express ities say that why should we reject our great Poll QuEsTion Baba Kholi’s love for Naga people? Baba’s Vote on www.morungexpress.com sMs your answer to 9862574165 Should theologians and Church leaders get involved in politics in Nagaland? Why? Yes
no
others
KG Kenye elected unopposed as Nagaland MP to Rajya Sabha KOHIMA, MARCH 14 (MExN): KG Kenye from the Naga Peoples’ Front (NPF) has been elected unopposed to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Nagaland State. This was informed in a press note from the Returning Officer, N Benjamin Newmai. The Rajya Sabha seat for Nagaland seat fell vacant after former MP Khekiho Zhimomi passed away last year. Election to the vacant seat was scheduled to be held on March 21. However no nomination papers were filed by any candidate for the election, except form the NPF’s KG Kenye.
TR Zeliang case hearing on March 28 Morung Express news Dimapur | March 14
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The Kohima Bench of the Gauhati High Court has adjourned the hearing of TR Zeliang’s case to March 28. On February 29 last, the Kohima Bench had passed an order listing the hearing of the case regarding Nagaland State Chief Minister’s education qualification on March 14. However, the hearing today was deferred by the single-judge Bench to March 28. The petitioner in this case is TR Zeliang while the respondent is KK Kulimbe.
love for Naga people went to such a historical move to sacrifice his own chair as president of GPRN/NSCN (U) and join hands with Isak Swu and Th. Muivah to support and expedite the Indo-Naga talk,” it stated. Stating that “it may sound like betraying his own identity,” the press note however said that “the truth is Nagas cannot be united unless a true leader like Baba Kholi humbles himself to bow before Naga people and urge for early solution.” “How can we Nagas unite if we still go on to claim superiority for one’s own individual benefits and policies?” it questioned, while expressing hope that “Nagas will remember or say it is an act of true patriotism for the cause of Naga nation.” “We will remain loyal to Baba Kholi and stand firm to protect against all odds. We all shall die for Baba Kholi and live for Baba Kholi,” it declared.
With load demand growing at the rate of 10 percent per annum, electricity consumption in Nagaland has come a long way since 1963. A diesel generator set was what made up the power department back in 1960-61 with three towns having access to electricity. Five decades later, power lines have reached 1400 villages and Nagaland has 3 dedicated Load Despatch Centres (distribution and transmission centre) with an installed load capacity of 174 Mva. As per data compiled by the Power department, installed power lines run approximately 19,000 kms inter-linked with as many as 134 major transmission and distribution sub-stations (or power house) and over 2500 mini distribution centres. At present, there are 2.55 lakhs metered consumers and increasing. In addition, Nagaland has the state-owned 24MW Likimro HEP and the corporate-owned Doyang HEP and a few mini generating stations of 1MW capacity. Going by numbers and the existing infrastructure, it appears relatively wellset for a small state with a population of around 20 lakhs and hardly any industry. While it looks robust outwardly, the Power Department is staring at bleak times ahead, sooner or later, as upkeep funding for the existing transmission and distribution in-
In 2015-16, State Plan allocation to the Power Department was Rs. 7 crores against a projected requirement of Rs. 140 crores Year-wise State Plan allocation 2016-17: 12 Crore 2015-16: 7 Crore 2014-15 : 30 Crore 2013-14: 57 Crore 2012-13 : 70 Crore frastructure has witnessed a decreasing trend during the past one decade. Simply put, the power distribution system is running under over-loaded conditions on the brink of breakdown with no fund in sight for upgrades and replacements. The recent extended blackouts in Mokokchung, Kiphire and Pfutsero and during 2012 in Dimapur would give a fair idea of the grim situation the Nagaland power sector is in. Department personnel explain that it is running on a shoe-string budget with the annual fund allocated by the government rarely meeting the demands of exigencies as in breakdowns, repairs and replacements. While myriad of constraints continue to dog the department and infrastructure crumble, government funding on this crucial sector is dipping year after year. If the records are anything to go by, fund allocation to the power sec-
‘naga people work very hard; so should we’ With the love of collectives, women farmers show the way
Morung Express Feature Chizami | March 14
“The Nagas are very hard working people,” said Swarupama continually on her first visit to Nagaland from Yedakupalli village in Medak district of Telangana State. She is a senior leader among the team of Dalit women farmers, videographers and coordinator here for the International Women’s Day and Biodiversity Festival observed by the North East Network in Chizami, Phek district, on March 8 and 9. The women are part of the Deccan Development Society’s Women’s Sangams (collectives) that have a membership of 5000 farmers who have changed the landscape of their drought-hit region into a food secure area by growing millets. Their harsh struggles on a harsh geographical, social, economic and political landscape have resulted in zero farmer suicides, over the years, in a region otherwise known for them. The Telangana collective of women farmers has been celebrating a biodiversity festival of their own for the past 20 years. Her observations on Naga people come only after she chats with women of the village, aided by a translator, reviews the food systems and observes the lack of governance in sustaining livelihoods in Nagaland. “We are small farmers who conserve our own
Dalit women farmers from Telangana seen here during a Biodiversity festival held in Chizami village, Phek, on March 9, 2016. (Morung Photo)
seeds and food growing methods—they give us our food and fodder; they provide us with overall and multiple security. We cannot trust seeds brought into our land from outside,” noted Swarupama in a solidarity message to the women farmers of Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya. The farmers of their region, she informed, have also begun to switch to cash crops, forgoing traditional food systems. The biodiversity festival is an attempt to preserve and protect traditional seeds and methods, culture and sustainability. Noting the lack of government initiatives to promote indigenous life and livelihood in Nagaland State, Swarupama stated to the Naga women, “There is no one here to teach you all this, but in our area there
are many interventions from government and non government bodies to encourage millets and other sustainable seeds.” When the women hold their festivals/events, the media in Telangana floods them with exposure, spreading the message far and wide. They were surprised at the minute interest Nagaland State media showed towards such issues—the media presence at the Festival at Chizami was next to nil. The honouring of women leaders from the villages for their work towards gender parity, the vast showcase of indigenous biodiversity, thus, remained restricted to those who could, or would, carry the message forward. The biodiversity festival celebrated by the Telangana women farmers is not
just a call to preserve and promote traditional food and systems, but also an attempt to create a dialogue with the government. “The festivals have helped us dialogue with the government, so that we can tell them what we want. They have learned many things from us, particularly what to promote for the people. Through our efforts, scientists, bureaucrats and politicians have recognised our knowledge systems,” said the Dalit woman farmer. They have now asked the government for a “millet bonus” as the rapid growing of millets has helped save both water and electricity in the region. Millets are a wonder grain that can be grown on infertile land, with minimal irrigation. They need no chemical inputs; they
are traditionally grown by small, marginal farmers in central and south of the Indian sub-continent, while in Nagaland it is often planted in the second and third jhum cycle. It is a subsistence crop that allows for biodiverse farming and provides for a range of nutrition. Millets—the grain, songs and methods attached to it—are slowly disappearing from the Nagascape. Women farmers in different pockets of Nagaland are now trying to revive the indigenous systems of millet farming with a little encouragement from the North East Network in Chizami. “Since the past two days I have seen women working very hard. It shows in the buzzing life and livestock in Nagaland—please continue to celebrate this,” said Swarupama on a parting note, before a few of them sang a song of the women’s collective from Telangana. They were moved by the ageing Naga women, without footwear or aid, carrying on harsh physical labour, and the almost equal absence of men from traditional spaces of work. Their observations were echoed by farmers from the Garo hills and East Khasi hills of Meghalaya, and the representatives of Naga farmers in Manipur, who stood in solidarity at the Biodiversity Festival in Chizami. Encapsulating it, “In the Garo hills we say Naga people work very hard; so should we.”
2011-12: 55 Crore 2010-11 : 54 Crore 2009-10 : 74 Crore 2008-09 : 124 Crore tor has slipped to the bare minimum. According to records made available, the annual fund allocation to the Power department from the State Plan outlay dipped to Rs. 7 crores in 2015-16 from Rs. 124 crores in 200809 (See Box). The requirement projected by the department for 2015-16 was Rs. 140 crores. The Department also has pending bills amounting to Rs 17 Crores, incurred during 2015-16, which are due to suppliers. 2016-17 will not be any better either as an official from the department, who wished to remain anonymous, disclosed that the State government has proposed a measly 4.5 percent of the projected fund requirement for the coming financial year. The source said that the power sector has been allocated Rs. 12 crores in the State Plan outlay for 2016-17 which will likely be announced unchanged during the Assembly Budget Session on March 17.
Departmental projection on the other hand has indicated a requirement of Rs. 265 crores as operations and maintenance cost for 2016-17, excluding the cost of buying power. While repeated appeals from the department year after year have gone unheard, the source held that the government should seriously reconsider the proposed allocation of Rs. 12 crores. Further, the source said that the miserly annual allocations are not in tune with the 5-year Plan approved specifically for the period 2013-14 to 2018-19. As per the plan, the state government had proposed to pump in Rs. 707 into the power sector over a 5-year period. “The government disputes that it is spending crores running into the hundreds annually on the power sector,” the source said. While acknowledging the government’s argument, the source however maintained that it should make a clear distinction between maintenance cost and spending on buying power. “The government is misconceived to think that the money spent on buying power is contributing to upkeep of infrastructure. These are two different working units.” The government reportedly raked up a staggering Rs. 200 crores as bill for drawing power from the national Grid in addition to the Plan allocation of Rs. 7 crores during 2015-16. In return, it barely managed to collect 50 percent of the cost.
CBCNEI calls for constructive dialogue in Kiphire & Shamator DIMAPUR, MARCH 14 (MExN): The Council of Baptist Churches in North East India (CBCNEI) has appealed for the communities residing in Shamator and Kiphire towns of Nagaland to maintain peace and engage in constructive dialogue with “calm mindedness to thwart off any future escalation of violence.” A press note from the CBCNEI said that responding to conflict with violence “will not bring any solution or peace, rather it will only bring hatred and killings in society.” “Let the peace of God which surpass all understandings prevail upon our judgments against one another and forgive to over-
come bitterness and strive to work together towards peaceful co-existence.” Affirming that “forgiveness is the only way to achieve peace,” it called for initiatives to build a peaceful and friendly society in the state. “It is essential part of Christianity to spread God’s freedom and regenerate love, peace, unity, with an attitude of welcoming and merciful towards all tribes, races, or communities living together in a state where Christians are majority, so that everyone may encounter the goodness and mercy of God and have fullness of life in the state of Nagaland,” the CBCNEI stated.
Myanmar president to be selected today NAYPYITAW, MARCH 14 (AP): Myanmar’s parliament votes Tuesday to pick the country’s next president from a group of three final candidates, including a front runner who is a longtime confidant of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi’s NLD won overwhelming majorities in both houses of parliament and its lawmakers are expected to confirm party nominee Htin Kyaw as the country’s next leader. The new president is to take office on April 1. Myanmar’s constitution blocks Suu Kyi from becoming president because of a clause that excludes anyone with a foreign spouse or children. Suu Kyi’s two sons
are British, as was her late husband. The clause is seen as having been written by the military with Suu Kyi in mind. Suu Kyi has said she will be “above” the president and rule from behind the scenes, meaning that any NLD candidate would effectively be her proxy. Myanmar’s electoral system requires that the president be chosen from candidates put forward by each of the two houses of parliament, and a third nominee from the military, which retains a quarter of the legislative seats. Parliament speaker Mann Win Khaing Than announced Monday that the vote would take place Tuesday.