KOHIMA, Jun 12(NEPS): BJP said the Congress-led UPA Government at the Center had ignored the historical importance of the state of Nagaland while deciding the state’s the Annual Plan Size this time.
Talking to NEPS here, newly appointed National Vice President of BJP Schedule Tribe Morcha (BJPSTM) Johnny G Rengma explained that the present state of Nagaland was born out of political negotiation between the then Naga People’s Convention (NPC) and the Government of India. And when it was created, the state was not “economically viable” to run as state on its own. Therefore to supplement the revenues of new state, the Government of India had to pay “Lumsum towards the cost of development and a grant-in-aid towards meeting the cost of administration” from the consolidated fund of India, he disclosed.
“These are the historical facts,” he argued. “The Center cannot ignore these realities.” Regrettably, such status accorded to the Nagaland state had been systematically diluted by adding more and more states in the list of “special category states,” he said.
Rengma, who is the first Naga from the state to occupy the prestigious position of Vice President of BJPSTM, expressed his utter dismay on the way the Congress-led UPA Government had shown disrespect to the DAN Government in the state by even reducing allocation of Annual Plan Size to the state this time from the previous year, whereas all other northeastern states had been substantial increased their Plan money.
He also came down heavily on the Congress-led UPA Government’s attempt to abolish the only Ministry that took care of the northeastern region—DoNER, which was created when the BJP-led NDA government was in power. The BJP would not, at any cost, allow the Congress-led UPA Government play such a sinister design to abolish the Ministry, he said and further alleged they were not interested to see the growth of the Northeast people.
Rengma also assured that he would fight for the rights of the tribal people in the country and see that any tribes who were not given due recognition as “Schedule Tribe” get their due honor and status.
He also called upon the people of Nagaland and Assam to sort out any differences—be it border or any other issue—through mutual understanding and dialogues.