Kohima, Feb 15 (PTI) Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Saturday stressed the need for youngsters to get skill training and take up all forms of jobs for economic development and progress.

Rio said this at a function held to commemorate the inauguration of four major projects in Mengujuma village under Western Angami region of Kohima district.

Chief Minister inaugurated the Mengujuma village gate, village founder monolith, Village Agri Link Bypass road via Tsiesema and Mengujuma Village Council Hall.

Expressing that various student bodies have been demanding the implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Dimapur district to check the influx of illegal immigrants, Rio said the state government has notified its enforcement in the district, there are problems because Dimapur was declared a tribal belt only in 1979.

In this, he recollected that the British recognising the uniqueness of the Nagas had passed a law – Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act restricting of free entry of non-indigenous people into Naga areas, which has also been enforced post-Independence and Nagaland statehood.

Therefore ILP is still in existence and though it is different in urban areas, the traditional practices and customary law of the Nagas are being followed in the rural villages, he said.

ILP is being implemented to the possible extent but Naga youngsters have to be trained and skilled and prepared to take up all forms of work which will leave no scope for outsiders to stay in Nagaland for jobs, he said adding that ultimately they will have to leave without being chased away.

However, the Chief Minister lamented that despite government making efforts to promote industrial development and economic activities by creating space for Industrial Infrastructure Development Centre (IIDC) at Kiruphema and Industrial Growth Centre in Dimapur no local people came forward to avail the common facility centers with developed plots.

“We are a consumer state and non-producing state and if we continue like this, we would be left behind in all aspects,” he said, while also remarking that Nagas continue to remain unemployed while outsiders come here and continue to work and earn.

In the employment sector, the state government is following meritocracy through competitive exams being conducted by Nagaland Public Service Commission and Nagaland Service Selection Board and indigenous people have to prepare well for it besides being skilled and trained, he said.

Rio also emphasized the implementation of Registration of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN), an initiative of the state government to differentiate and protect the indigenous people of the State. PTI NBS NBS NN

Inner Line Permit enforcement in Dimapur paired with RIIN and skill initiatives to protect indigenous employment. The state enforces the Inner Line Permit in Dimapur to regulate non-indigenous entry while maintaining customary law in rural villages; it advances the Registration of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) to protect indigenous populations and stresses skill training, merit-based recruitment, and utilisation of local industrial infrastructure to enable indigenous economic participation and reduce dependence on outside workers.