AIZAWL: Mizoram has sought a special financial package from the Centre to implement its flagship programme, ‘Bana Kaih’ or ‘Hand holding’ policy, an official in the Chief Minister Office (CMO) said on Sunday.
During the NITI Ayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, Mizoram chief minister Lalduhoma informed that his government will implement the hand-holding policy to mitigate the economic disparity of people living in towns and villages and to generate more employment in the state, the official said.
The chief minister urged the Centre to provide a special financial package to implement the flagship programme, he said.
Hand-holding policy is an innovative approach to address the issue of institutional credit availability, particularly microcredit, for both agriculture and small industrial endeavours, a statement said.
The programme will be implemented by synchronizing various schemes and initiatives of the central government.
The Mizoram government has allocated Rs. 200 crore for the implementation of the hand-holding policy for the fiscal 2024-25 apart from Rs. 110 crore corpus fund allocated for agricultural assurance in the 2023-24 fiscal.
The policy will be implemented to empower different sectors, which includes uplifting farmers through the purchase of local agriculture or horticulture produce, food processing, marketing of agriculture and allied products, promotion of entrepreneurship and skill development, creating employment avenues for youths, giving impetus to small-scale and agro-based industries and other development works.
Horticulture, fisheries, veterinary and animal husbandry, and sericulture activities, which serve as crucial means of livelihood for many in the state, will receive renewed attention under the ‘Hand holding policy’.
Lalduhoma had told the meeting of NITI Ayog that Mizoram was a late starter in terms of development and the cost of living and developmental projects are comparatively high because of the state being situated in a remote corner of the country, an official statement here said.
However, the state government has been making massive efforts to be on par with other states, he had said.
He had claimed that the state’s strong determination to equate other states in terms of development has manifested in its aggressive implementation of Sustainable Development Goals.
Citing that the road density in Mizoram is far behind the national average, Lalduhoma had told the NITI Ayog meet that the state is in dire need of more good roads and communication.
There is also an acute shortage of water, power, education, public health, hygiene and administrative infrastructures, he had said.
Unlike other states, Mizoram hardly has any industry to enhance its sources of income requiring special consideration and assistance, the chief minister had told the meeting.
He had informed that meeting that Mizoram requires financial aid in the form of a ‘peace dividend’ as the state has not been allocated funds under the security-related expenditure (SRE) like the neighbouring states.
Mizoram, which is sandwiched between two international borders, has to protect itself from insurgent organisations operating in the neighbouring countries and states, Lalduhoma had said.