Nagaland Holds First Review Meeting on PM GatiShakti National Master Plan

The first review meeting in Nagaland on PM GatiShakti National Master Plan under the chairpersonship of Special Secretary, Logistics Division, Department of Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), Sumita Dawra was held at the Secretariat Hall, Civil Secretariat on Wednesday.

Commissioner & Secretary, Industries & Commerce, Kekhrievor Kevichusa welcomed all attendees and thanked Sumita Dawra, Special Secretary Logistics Division, DPIIT for accepting the invitation to come and conduct GatiShakti workshop cum interaction with the officials of the state. He thanked her for leading the One District One Product (ODOP) drive. He said that apart from interacting with the Department of Industries & Commerce, Dawra also took the time to interact with the Agriculture Department and Horticulture Department.

Kevichusa said that the State appreciated the efforts made by the Government of India to improve the connectivity and logistics of the state.

Chief Secretary, J. Alam during the meeting said that the GatiShakti is a project which is very dear to the Prime Minister of India, and therefore it has been taken earnestly by the state of Nagaland. Alam said that some progress was made after the intervention of the government of India and that 22 Departments have provided layers and data till date which is a great achievement.

Alam said that PM GatiShakti is not only about developing layers of data for planning purposes but there are many other aspects to it and that lots of progress have been made like logistics policy, and logistic infrastructure. He said that a number of projects have been sanctioned for the State of Nagaland and the projects are in good progress.

He mentioned that Nagaland is not an industrially advanced State, but the State is taking baby steps toward attracting investors. He said that there are numbers of homegrown entrepreneurs, who have started their own businesses and that by giving them the right support and the right amount of guidance many of the entrepreneurs will grow faster.

He said that such a visit by the Ministry officials is an indicator of how much importance the GoI is giving to Nagaland. He thanked the Ministry for providing all the support to Nagaland.

The Chief Minister extended his gratitude to the Special Secretary, DPIIT, Sumita Dawra for taking the time out to come all the way to Nagaland and for spending her time with different sections of people.

Special Secretary, Logistics Division, DPIIT, Sumita Dawra, IAS during her interaction with the officials present in the meeting thanked the government for making it possible for her to participate in such a program. She said during an interaction with farmers on 20th  June 2023 with the production organization an organic certification drive was taken up and 15 chili farmers were able to get certification for organic farming another 15  farmers were  in the process due of documentation.

Dawra said that the Nagaland government has requested to make the certification process easier for the farmers and she said assured that the Ministry will work on it as soon as possible. She also said with the certification the farmers will get easier access to markets in Europe. She said that some  important points were raised by the officials of the Agriculture and Horticulture  Departments on 20th June 2023 regarding logistics support to production units which were located in far-flung villages  and that the distance contributes to the cost of the products.

Dawra said that to make it simpler, prearrangement will be made at Dimapur Airport so that customs clearance will be made easier. Udaan scheme connectivity and the Kisan rail wagon can be attached to the railway services which will help in the movement of the products. She said that she has spoken with the respective Departments in the Ministry and hoped that it will improve the logistics of the products.

She said that GatiShakti also maps warehouses and therefore suggested that the Government of Nagaland map the areas where there are high productions along the villages.

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