P Achumse Yingbithongru
Much anticipated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)& investment conclave 2022 to be held in the first week of July has generated much déjà vu and excitement among the young and upcoming entrepreneurs to be attended by Union Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman.
The first of its kind in scale and scope to be organised by the state government under the guidance of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Gol, intent to provide a platform to rope in much needed resources from companies and corporate world for some critical social infrastructure projects that has been left unattended for decades in underdeveloped areas in Nagaland.
True to its democratic nature, India became the first country in the world on April 1 2014 to make it mandatory for companies having net worth of Rs. 500 crores or more to contribute 2% of its profit towards CSR for development of various social sectors in target state/districts across India.
However, up till now most of the funding under CSR goes to the developed state where most of these companies are based due to obvious economic reason.
CSR in the context of Nagaland
State of Nagaland has a meagre budget of approximately around 24,000 crores, mostly finance through central assistance by way of share of central tax and internal debts out of this 65% of the budget is spend on salary and pension of the government employees.
With the state of Nagaland having a budget deficit hovering at around 2,212 Cr due to its opacity and shabby financial affairs which has accumulated over the years, it leaves very little or no scope at all for the state government for the development of social infrastructure like schools, hospitals and roads.
To fulfil such gaps, in April 2022 Ministry of Finance, GoI has signed an agreement for USD 2 Million project readiness financing (PRF) loan from Asia Development Bank (ADB) for development of water supply, sanitation and solid waste management in all urban local bodies (ULB) across 16 districts headquarters and towns of the state.
State government desire to get additional funds from the companies under CSR during this event intended tobe used for welfare and development activities mustalso focuson the equally distribution of development in untouched and underdeveloped areas of Nagaland rather than fullyconcentration all development in few places which has been the practice and norm for decades.
Opportunities for enterpreneurs
Sources with knowledge of the upcoming conclave said Ministry of Corporate affairs has advised the state government that the event should also be utilised to showcase investment opportunities in the state to attract some private investment in-order to create employment opportunities for youths.
Accordingly,it said that special session has been earmarked to showcase investment opportunities and prospect of startup investment in the state before the probable investors. Similarly, it added that a session for bankers has also been earmarked.
Untapped resources in Nagaland
Nagaland certainly has rich oil and natural gas reserve and exploration of these resources with the consent of the stakeholders would not only yield much needed revenue to finance developmental activities in the state but also provide huge employment opportunity for the youths. Additionally, state also has vast opportunities in Agri& Allied sector which has the best possibility to invite sizeable private investment in the sector.
In this regard Land Resources Department (LRD) has done a phenomenal job where coffee grown in Nagaland is been exported to South Africa generating revenue and income for both farmers and government.
Need to improve Law & Order
But for getting investment, state government has to work upon improving law & order situation in the state, stop unabated/multiple taxation been collected by various naga political groups, ensure safety and security of employees working whether in big or small business entities.
Various local trade bodies, business house and local entrepreneurs have been vociferously voicing out about their plight emanating from this illegal taxation and has made it public how they are forced to increase the price of goods to compensate for the taxation they are force to pay which ultimately is passed on to the consumers who pay for services and goods at an inflated rate leading to lesser saving capacity.
Even state government employees (the only major source of employment in the state) are not left untouched with demand letter been served to employees of some government departments in Mon district by Myanmar base NSCN to pay annual tax and abduction are some of the few cases which highlight the need to have robust law and order in place to win the confidence of the probable investors.
Therefore, it is imperative and sacrosanct for the state government to accord outmost priority to stop illegal taxation been collected by various Naga Political groups and improve law & order situation in the state. It can only be done by improving the capability of state police force by providing better training, arms and equipment so that they may be able to contain activities of such elements.
Otherwise, such munificence initiative would certainly be considered as optimistic tokenism to reap electoral gains for the coming 2023 state assembly election.
