Kohima: Nagaland Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit has expressed serious concern over the demand of the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO), comprising Mon, Tuensang, Kiphire and Longleng districts, for a separate state and attributed ‘lack of equal economic development’ at par with the rest of the state which resulted in the demand for a separate state.
In a release here on Saturday, Nagaland BJP spokesman K James Vizo recalled that during the first tenure of Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) Government, when BJP was a coalition partner, it had supported the creation of the department of Under Developed Areas (DUDA) Department which was consequently established on June 23, 2003.
He maintained that the establishment of the department was to look after various Under Developed Area Programmes (UDAP) for the underdeveloped districts of Mon, Tuensang, Kiphire and Longleng.
Vizo stated that the department had implemented the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) for the seven RD Blocks sharing international boundary with Myanmar.
Apart from the regular funds, state BJP claimed that 20 MLAs of the four districts are getting special fund of Rs 50 lakhs each which was latter enhanced.
It has, therefore, questioned on the lack of economic development when the State Government is doing its best for the development of those areas along with special economic packages.
Taking a serious note of the situation, the state BJP questioned if it was the ‘failure’ of the DUDA department or the inefficiency of the elected members.
Meanwhile, the state BJP unit had condemned the July 30 incident in which two local journalists were robbed at gunpoint by the unidentified miscreants at Dimapur town.
The state BJP party was dismayed that the miscreants, using the name of certain faction of the Naga political group, had committed the crime despite the two scribes having identified themselves.
It has questioned if the miscreants were genuine members with proper instructions from their higher ups to do frisking in populated town areas.
Stating that many such incidents had taken place regularly which went unreported, the state BJP had appealed to the Naga political groups to discipline their cadres at the grassroots level. (UNI)