Kohima: Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfarelaid the foundation stone of the Mon Medical College in Mon district headquarters today in the presence of Neiphiu Rio, Chief Minister, Nagaland andS PangnyuPhom, Health Minister, Nagaland. Lok Sabha MP from Nagaland TokhehoYepthomi was also present.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Harsh Vardhan underscored the holistic development of North East being planned and carried out on the ground by the apex political leadershipunder the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

The Union Minister informed the gathering: “At present there are 562 medical colleges in the country out of which 286 are in government sector while 276 are in private sector. Another 175 medical colleges are also in the process of development. Against 52,000 MBBS seats in 2013-14, there are now 84,000 UG seats. Several medical commissions are also being set up. Around 1,50,000 health & wellness centres have been set up in the country.”

Expressing his elation at the opening of the second medical college in the state, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, “This medical college is approved at a cost Rs 325 Crore under Phase III of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for establishment of new medical colleges attached with existing district/referral hospitals. The project will have a central share of Rs 292.50 Cr and is slated to be completed by 2023-24. The setting up of the new college in Mon, one of the most backward and farthest districts from the state capital will help bring affordable secondary healthcare facilities to the doorsteps of nearly 2.5 lakh people.”

Dr Harsh Vardhan also lauded the efforts of healthcare workers in combating COVID-19 and stated, “India is ahead of many developed countries in the war against the pandemic”. He also mentioned the significance of the Ayushman Bharat programme of the central government in providing insurance to last citizen. He said government aims to eliminate Tuberculosis by 2025 from India and urged the state government to work to ensure the same.

Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio in his address observed that the college will not only benefit Mon and Nagaland but also the people living in neighbouring states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and even Myanmar. Stating that the college will be run by the state government under PPP mode, he outlined that Mon Medical College is one of the 75 district medical colleges to be constructed in the districts of the country where people have been historically deprived of development and health facilities (due to their locational disadvantage).

Principal Secretary (Health) of Nagaland Shri Amardeep S Bhatia, IAS, District Collector of MonShri Thavaseelan K, IAS, Mr. NokeWangnao, Advisor Social Welfare, Home Guards & Civil Defence also attended the event along with senior government officials, leaders of civil society organisations, political functionaries and members of the medical fraternity.

New Delhi: Union Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ today announced the dates of commencement of CBSE Board examinations. Shri Pokhriyal said that Class 10^th and 12^th Board Examinations will be held from 4^th May 2021 to 10^th June, 2021 and results of Class 10^th and 12^th Board Examinations will be declared by 15^th July, 2021. He further informed that Practical exams of Class 12^th  will start from 1^st March, 2021.

Pokhriyal said that students, teachers and schools are facing an unprecedented and uncertain situation due to the Covid-19 epidemic but teachers have worked tirelessly to ensure that students do not face any difficulty in their studies. He appreciated the teachers for working hard and for adopting new techniques and methods of teaching. He highlighted that Government has also taken various steps to provide a platform and content for learning through digital medium.

Shri Pokhriyal said that the decision on the dates have been taken after considering the suggestions given by students, teachers and parents.

The Minister extended his greetings on New Year’s Eve and wished students great success in board exams as well as in life ahead.

Nagaland plans to provide 100% tap connection to every rural household by 2024. The State was allocated a budget of Rs 56.49 Crore for the year 2019-20, but the State could not utilize the full amount. Under the State share, State could spend only ₹ 4.67 Crore against the mandatory matching State share of ₹ 5.65 Crore. The allocation for Nagaland has been increased to Rs. 114.09 Crore in 2020-21 and with opening balance of Rs. 32.95 Crore, Nagaland has an assured availability of Rs. 147.04 Crore of Central funds for JJM. With matching State share, the State will have Rs 163 Crore during 2020-21 for implementation of JJM.

So far this year only 2,950 households have been provided tap connections against a target of 1.47 lakh. Union Minister Shri Shekhawat expressed his concern over the slow progress of work as well as poor fund utilization and urged the State to fast-track the implementation. Then, various aspects of the mission in the State were discussed with the Chief Minister at length. The Chief Minister assured to provide household tap connections to rural households of the State in an expeditious manner.

Under 15th Finance Commission Grants to rural local bodies, Nagaland has been allocated ₹ 125 Crore; 50% of this amount is mandatorily to be utilized on drinking water supply and sanitation. If any local body has fully saturated the needs of one category, it can utilize the funds for the other. The union minister urged the State for planning to be done at village level and Village Action Plan (VAP) of every village is to be prepared by dovetailing all available resources by convergence of different programmes viz. MGNREGS, SBM, 15th Finance Commission Grants, CAMPA funds, Local Area Development Funds, etc.

In Nagaland, out of 1,502 villages, 1,351 villages have PWS schemes, but out of 3.68 lakh households only 18,826 HH (5.1 %) have tap connection. The Union Minister urged to take up the work a campaign mode so that around 3.5 lakh households belonging to poor & marginalized sections of the society could be provided with tap connections in next 4-6 months. Nagaland has one Aspirational district i.e. Kiphire and the State was asked to expedite the works in the district to ensure tap connections to all households.

Underlining the role of local community, the State was asked to mobilize the Gram Panchayat or its sub-committees i.e. Village Water & Sanitation Committee consisting of minimum 50% of women members to be responsible for planning, designing, implementing and operatingof in-village water supply infrastructure.

Under Jal Jeevan Mission, priority is being given on water quality surveillance through active participation of frontline functionaries as well as involving the local community. 5 persons especially women are being trained in every village to use the Field Test Kits to test the quality of water being provided in the rural areas. Every source needs to be tested once every year for physical and chemical parameters and twice for bacteriological contamination. The State was also advised to complete the accreditation of State and district laboratories in next 3-4 months and also to open those for public so that they can test the quality of water supplied at very nominal rate.

Assuring the Nagaland Chief Minister of his full support to make the State a ‘100% FHTCs State’, Union Minister requested him to launch a campaign ‘Har Ghar Jal’ to make “every village” provided with 100% tap connections and achieve the goal much ahead of 2024.

New Delhi: The Governor of Nagaland Shri R.N.Ravi today called on Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh here and discussed about the progress of developmental projects in the State.

Dr.Jitendra Singh reiterated that soon after the Modi government took over in 2014, Prime Minister had stated that every effort would be made to bring the North Eastern region at par with the more developed regions of the country. In the last six years, not only developmental gaps were bridged successfully, but North- Eastern Region has also gained Psychological confidence, he added. Dr.Jitendra Singh underlined that all sections of society are ready to move under Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.