PM promises highway after bumpy ride…

A Two-hour bumpy ride for Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee along a 70-km stretch, which can hardly be called a National Highway, and Naga...

A Two-hour bumpy ride for Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee along a 70-km stretch, which can hardly be called a National Highway, and Nagaland got a four-lane highway today.

Relating his harrowing journey to Dimapur, after his helicopter did not take off due to thick clouds, the PM said: ‘‘Speaking of roads in Nagaland, I have to say that I had a first-hand experience yesterday. Mother nature wanted me to take the road from Dimapur to Kohima. I was told that of all the roads in the state, this is the best. If this is the best, it is difficult to imagine how bad is the worst.’’

He announced that the Golden Quadrilateral, which ends at Silchar, will be extended to Kohima, and the Centre will spend Rs 400 crore on converting the this stretch of NH-39 into a four-lane highway. This gift, which was as sudden as the rains that had almost sent Vajpayee back to New Delhi from Dimapur, came in less than 24 hours of his inaugurating the BSNL mobile services in Nagaland.

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He announced another Rs 40 crore to the state for building roads, but not before laying one condition: ‘‘The roads must be of good quality — much better than the existing roads.’’ The task of converting the Dimapur-Kohima road into a highway will be entrusted to the Border Roads Organisation, he added.

Responding to Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio’s statement that unemployment was fast emerging as a major problem for Nagaland, Vajpayee also promised that the Centre will help create 25,000 jobs in the next two years.

The openings will be created in sectors like village industries, tourism, transport, horticulture and fruit processing. He even promised full Central support towards the state government’s Bamboo Mission.

…pleads with Nagas to hold their horses

KOHIMA, OCTOBER 28:
Even as the United Naga Council lined up over 5,000 Nagas from the four hill districts of Manipur to welcome Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee to Kohima yesterday and impress upon him the need to integrate all Naga-inhabited areas, the latter today chose to ignore this demand, and instead advised the Nagas to be patient in seeking a solution. While inaugurating the Indira Gandhi Stadium here, Vajpayee without making any direct reference to the on-going peace negotiations between the Centre and NSCN (I-M), said there is no issue that can’t be solved through patient dialogue. All that he said about the peace process was that it was moving in a ‘‘positive direction’’. ‘‘The Centre has an equally strong desire for permanent peace in Nagaland, based on a lasting solution, with honour and dignity for its people,’’ he said, adding, ‘‘It is this mutual desire that has driven the peace process forward. If we continue to work together in an atmosphere of mutual trust, understanding and patience, the day is not far off when we will reach our goal.’’ ‘‘There is no issue which cannot be resolved through patient dialogue. Our experience in Nagaland is showing this,’’ the Prime Minister said. Underlining the need for peace in North-East, Vajpayee also said that issues between tribes and organisations too should be resolved through dialogue. Whether he wanted to mean the clashes between the NSCN factions or the on-going tension between the Nagas and the Meiteis of Manipur, was not clear. The Prime Minister also took the opportunity to ask all the extremist organisations in the region to shun the path of violence. ‘‘The deepest desire of the people of this region is for peace. Peace is also a pre-condition for the development of the N-E. Without peace, there can be no investment and no development. Without development, there can be no employment,’’ he said. He also spoke on the history of Nagas. ‘‘Nagaland has a unique history and we are sensitive to this historical fact,’’ he said, recalling some of the Nagas who played a major role in India’s freedom struggle and also how the Naga soldiers fought in Kargil.(Express News Service)