Nukhosa Chüzho
Kohima
Off late, the state policy makers ascribed priority to the hitherto unexplored fields of arts and capacity-building among local talents. Accompanied with this newly discovered interest is the role of state in sponsoring and honing the inherent skills of the upcoming local talents. This youth-oriented policy intervention of the state government is primarily precipitated by instinct abilities that lie dormant among our local talents (and need to be tapped to the best of abilities) as well as the opportunities and successes of various artists at the global stage (and earning independently).
The policy is, nevertheless, dampened by, inter alia, two existing cardinal structures that differentiate our young society from advanced societies. Firstly, our living standard is still rudimentary and our infrastructures are unlikely to instate a desirable environment where artists and audience complimentarily confluence and support each other as far as entertainment industry is concerned. Secondly, the policy makers overlooked the fact that Nagaland is made up of villages and majority of its population either dwells in, or comes from, villages. Thus, the push for excellence in entertainment sector along with the resources pooled towards the aforesaid purpose appears to benefit the few elites, defeating the very purpose of uplifting the in-need-of-assistance local talents.
The current pandemic has further exploited the vulnerabilities of lopsided policy visions. Nagaland was caught unprepared when nationwide lockdown had been promulgated. Activities that directly linked with earning had been put on halt. It was the daily wage earners, skilled and unskilled work force, small-time entrepreneurs and commercial establishments that were hit hard. The government agencies, philanthropic individuals and organizations came to their rescue and rendered the most noble job of feeding the hungry. However, the situation reached a saturation point and had it not been the magnanimous openness of the rural Nagaland in unconditional distribution and sharing of its resources, our society would have experienced a much uglier socio-economic catastrophe.
The rural Nagaland received its urban returnees even when the wave of migration was reversed amidst the pandemic-induced crisis. It offered economic and livelihood opportunities to the vast majority of its people who had been rendered jobless. Forests resources in villages of Nagaland became the bases in supply chain when urban Nagaland was reportedly running low on essentials. Its granaries play a vital role in reassuring the people of Nagaland when the whole country is gripped in uncertainty.
The training agencies imparting skills to our youth mostly concerned with jobs in service sector. There is hardly any institute in Nagaland that dedicates itself to the revitalization of agricultural practices, apart from the lone formal agricultural school. Despite the rice being a staple food of our state, change in land-use pattern and bulk migration to urban settings in search of the so-called ‘better opportunity’ have been affecting optimal management of our ancestral terraced paddy fields (in districts where it is endemic to) and are gradually becoming wastelands. Wet terraced paddy fields, simultaneously serving two fundamental objectives – as paddy fields and as small-scale inland fishery ponds – are disappearing due to the combined effects of mismanagement and climate-induced diminished moisture in such areas. Skills on rainwater harvesting and conservation (emphasis on traditional knowledge and documentation interjected with modern techniques), management of terraced paddy fields for optimal yield through application of green-based manures and an incentive to small time farmers may be exploited. Switching over to the service-based economy is welcoming but not at the cost of our time-tested agricultural foundation as the collapse of agriculture could bear wide ramifications.
It is an acknowledged truth that the resilient rural Nagaland has so much to offer. Despite this potentiality that is in store, the current policy direction orients an indifferent approach to the development of rural Nagaland. One instance that indicates lackadaisical approach of the policy makers in developing villages is the lack of research on rural Nagaland. All the research works on rural Nagaland are presumed to be a superstructure mounted upon earlier frameworks and therefore not incorporated the demanding exigencies in present rural Nagaland. Hence, we could not expect the policy makers to arrive at a befitting policy decision in developing rural Nagaland in the absence of proper data and in-depth research works (to be relied on).
Development of warehouses at the village level and small barns at the household level is a point. The agricultural produce post-harvest in villages are stored at the mercy of rodents. In extreme cases, pervasive rodents shared the grains with its human hosts throughout the year, and this phenomenon is attributable to ineffective storehouses.
Increase production of horticultural crops and fruits further warrant cold storage facilities in rural Nagaland. Fruits and vegetables are seasonal and easily perishable. Local farmers are presented with their most abominable nightmare when their produce could not be marketed because of unstable means of transportation as well as non-availability of immediate access point to market. This is further compounded by lack of storage facilities. As such, the normal produce and even the surplus are either left to rot or dispense at a rate much lower than the cost of labour engaged from production to the point of access.
Documentation and propagation of species of wild edible leaves found in villages need to be adopted. Rampant clearance of jungles and excessive hunt for delicious species threaten the very existence of such resources in the wild. Our natural resources needed some protection from excessive anthropogenic activities.
The rural Nagaland having endowed with much resource that still lies untapped, it is dismal to notice the disproportionate policy-push and research and development (R&D) on rural Nagaland. Rural Nagaland is still bare-footed; it’s still hardly surviving on its own even when endowed with natural resources. It could still emerge as the base of supply chain in Nagaland when target-oriented and research-based policies and follow-up implementation in rural Nagaland are meticulously adopted. Public establishments with rural essence could be based and set up in rural areas to mitigate problems associated with uneven demographic distributions bring about by migration. Setting up of mini-museums in rural areas for conservation of rare artefacts dated back to early societies of our forefathers will boost rural tourism and generate additional revenue.
Steps may have to be taken to revamp the existing operational scope of the State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD) so as to encompass the area of research in its functioning (if research subject is currently outside the purview of the SIRD or if it needs reinvigoration). Its faculty may be drawn from persons of diverse backgrounds and people with expertise in rural Nagaland including teachers in private colleges, imminent social workers at the community level, or any other personalities towards the successful realisation of the stated objective.
Alternatively, establishment of PPP-funded study centres in the state offers opportunity for both the government and private players to invest in rural research and its development. Rise of Nagaland will closely be associated with rise of our rural Nagaland as a whole. Nagaland cannot be construed as developed so long as its villages dwell in perpetual dependency mode.
Any study centre or research foundation that may be established in near future on PPP-mode / private funding / public funding could have far reaching effects on wide range of policy formulations, besides consequential impacts on rural Nagaland. Tectonic shift in policy formulation by Kohima-based policy heavyweights is imperative.
