Imlisanen Phom
Dimapur
The newly formed government in Nagaland seems to be very determined in bring land law reform in Nagaland. On 17 March 2018 in local dailies the planning, Coordination and land Revenue minister Neiba Kronu is reported to have stressed on modifying the existing land laws in Nagaland which is in line with Article 371 (A). The reason for modifying the land laws was to enable the unemployed youth/entrepreneurs to borrow “huge loans” from the bank by mortgaging land. This reason certainly sounds very ignorant. Such unwise and unstudied action on land reform may end up stabbing our precious and all unique Article 371 (A) which would in return slowly but surely bleed it to death.
I hope the Planning minister and his fellow politicians are aware that there are more than enough schemes for the unemployed in Nagaland to get their so call “Huge” loan from the bank without having to mortgage their land. Thus there is no need for the present Government to tweak or modify the land laws in Nagaland for the purpose of availing “huge” loan from the bank which would endanger Article 317 (A).
Take for instance the Reserve bank of India has come out with excellent program to help those who want to set up Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises business by Granting loan without any collateral/grantor for those who want to start or already has business Enterprises. The Reserve Bank of India made it mandatory for banks to give collateral/grantor free loan of upto Rs 10 Lakhs as per the RBI circular RPCD.SME & NFS. BC. No. 79 /06.02.31/2009-10 dated May 6, 2010. Banks In India were confused and shocked when they received the order from the RBI to give loans without any collateral/grantor etc. Therefore the Banks asked the Reserve bank of India (The mother of all bank in India) if the guidelines given through the RBI circular to give loans without any collateral/grantor was just an “advice”. Promptly the Chairman/Managing Director of RBI through Circular No. RPCD.SME&NFS.BC.No.16/06.0231(P)/ 2009-10 dated August 24,20019 Clearfield that the guidelines were “not advisory” but “Mandatory”. Which means that the Banks had to compulsorily give loans without collateral/grantor upto Rs. 10 Lakhs. Even after the RBI made it compulsory to give loans without any collateral/grantor there were complains that banks were asking Collateral/grantor for loan of Rs 5 Lakh. When the matter reached the RBI it once again through its circular No. RPCD.SME&NFS.BC.No 84A /06.02.31(P)/2008-09 dated January 20,2009 strongly suggested that such practice of asking for collateral be stopped. So you see the unemployed in Nagaland can apply for loan upto 10 Lakhs without having to mortgage ones property/land/grantor. Which is a good amount for setting up micro and Enterprises, of course one has to have a good project. Now if Rs 10 Lakhs is too “less” and an employed person needs that “huge” loan as mentioned by the Panning minster then there is Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for micro and small Enterprises also known as CGTSI where one can get loans upto 2 Cores without any collateral or any grantor. Check the web side www.Cgtmse.in for the complete details. I don’t know why Banks in Nagaland don’t inform the entrepreneurs who come for loan about such excellent CGTSI loan cover and the BI instructions to give loans without any collateral/grantor upto 10 Lakhs. This is number one reason why we Nagas get harassed by bank managers and end up mortgaging our land and looking for a grantor for even small loan of Rs 2 Lakhs. In fact the Ministry of CGSTSI through circular No. 46/2008-09 dated July 9, 2008 has clearly instructed that a greater effort must be taken to cover more entrepreneurs from SC/ST. It looks like there is a zero effort from the bank regarding this matter. An RTI would bring out the list of applicant under CGSTSIE and I have a feeling that most of the beneficiary would be non SC/ST from Nagaland. Every wondered why the first thing a manager ask when we go to bank for loan for setting up a business is if we have a Govt Job, property, grantor etc. It is a wicket and illegal trick practiced by bank managers because the moment we apply for loan for setting up Micro, Small or Medium Enterprises through mortgage/grantor or with loan interest more than 3% above the prime lending rate (PLR) we automatically loss the credit Guarantee cover scheme. Then there is the NCST (National Commission for schedule Tribes) which has excellent loan schemes for tribals for very minimum interest rate for complete details checkwww.ncst.nic.in. The NIDC (Nagaland Industrial Development Corporation) is the implementing agency for all the schemes from NCST. When was the last time the NIDC advertised about such excellent loan schemes? Then we have the Nagaland Chief Minister cuprous fund to help the unemployed people to set up business by giving finical assistance to the unemployed, we have the MLA’s fund for public development, we many other sate and central schemes for employment generation program like PMEGP(Prime Minister employment Generation program) etc etc the list goes on.
Why is that every time there is a issue with unemployment problem the politicians always looks for shortcut. Our politicians in Nagaland have a bad habit of pointing to a law and saying this law has to changed/removed/mortified etc. In the past a chief minister of Nagaland pointed out that NLT P act must be scraped so that Liquor/alcohol can be sold freely in Nagaland so that the tax earned from selling liquor can be used for development of the state. One cannot imagine a Christian Chef minister making such comment.
What came as a shock to me was when the minster for Planning went on to say that the subsidies provided by the state Government alone was not enough to start a “good project” by the entrepreneur. Does that mean that the state Government for the past 50 years has been assisting the entrepreneurs in starting only “bad projects”? I refuse to believe that all the IAS and other officers in every Ministry in the State and central Government continually failed for the past 50 years to come up with good schemes to help the entrepreneurs/unemployed to start good project in Nagaland. This is extreme bluffing.
Could it be that the politicians in Nagaland are hell bound to bleed Article 371(A) under the direction and blessings of the present Government in Delhi in return for the economic stimulus package the center is willing to pour into Nagaland in the name of development and employment.
Leave Article 371 (A) alone. Article 371 (A) was a divine bargain during the formation of State which our Pioneers of State achieved with the Government of India. It is a gift of freedom and independence which none of our Politicians of today’s age and time would have ever had the wisdom of coming up with. I could be exaggerating but as per unprofessional characters displayed by our present day Naga politicians had they been present during the bargain they would have happily settled for some financial stimulus package from the Gov of India rather than bargain for such a brilliant rights as Article 371(A). I challenge the Naga politicians to work the unemployment issue by leaving Article 371(A) alone. I pray that our Naga politicians in regard to the unemployment problem in Nagaland would demonstrate if not equal a similar wisdom as demonstrated by the pioneers of our State who by Gods help instituted Article 371 (A) right in the middle of political storm and bloodshed. The unemployed Nagas must not swallow everything that comes out of the mouth of a politician. At least take the time to carefully study if there are other ways to achieve a solution to the unemployment problem. Also always study the loan scheme in detail and prepare before going to the bank for loan. Remember failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Nagas know very that it’s a curse to grab/steal/encroach others land. Therefore we rightfully avoid it. Christian politicians of Nagaland know very well that as our Sate Slogan goes “Nagaland for Christ”, Nagaland First belongs to Christ. When we dare not grab someone’s land why in the world would any Naga politician/political party/civil society/organizations in their right mind cunningly dare plot to rob Christ of His land?
