It is indeed a very welcome move by the state government to have a Vision Document with 2030 as the targeted attainment year. A state without a vision is predicted to perish but unfortunately Nagaland state with huge potentials in its 53 years of statehood is still in suspended animation. The persisting Indo-Naga political issue has been one of the biggest deterrents for growth and it is also one of the major factors that has moulded the Naga society both pre and post statehood. Except for some certain periods in the years after statehood there was absence of permanence of the statehood in the minds of the people and insecurity was the order of the day. The Naga National Groups also played their part in interfering in the affairs of the state government. Not only the people, but also the leaders had similar conclusions resulting in Nagaland having many hotch-potch legislations and decisions from the top, the legislature, to the bottom at the village level. The acceptance of the state as the final agreement was absent in the last half a century. The only targets that the state may have set were the programmes initiated by the central government ministries.
The closest that the state government came to having a target was the very visionary plan of the Nagaland Special Development Zone (NSDZ) starting from Khelma up to Tizit. Even for a lay person with basic concept of geography a brief look at the map of the state is enough to convince the viability and the potential that the NSDZ holds. But after the initial announcement and acceptance by almost all the stakeholders the continued lobbying and also restrictions in the following days finally halted the project even before implementation began. The main reason was again fear and insecurities mainly of people coming from outside the state to do business and that it was still too soon for such a project. With an economy that depends on the central government it would be a gargantuan task to formulate a vision document. Without proper modalities for the exploration of the resources of the state, the revenue generation will surely be a problem area intensified by the lack of outside investors due to some of the present restrictive regulations prevalent in the state. However, even though there is anticipation for another negotiated political settlement the going ahead for a vision document is indeed laudable. Hopefully the openness of the expert committee for contributions from all will surely bring some ingenuity to come up with a path breaking innovative plan that can be implemented. Moreover the motto of the state “Unity” has to be the mission statement to achieve such a vision.
