In Conversation

'Tourism has the potential to send the right message to the country and world about Nagaland'

Nagaland presents a bouquet of unique experiences to travellers. Yet, reasons ranging from political, social, bureaucracy to infrastructure have not allowed the state to unleash its true potential. Neiphiu Rio, the chief minister of the state speaks to Sanjeev Bhar on what stops Nagaland from achieving its rightful place under sun. Excerpts from the interview:

Nagaland's tourism has a lot of potential. Yet its visibility and performance is limited in the travel trade. Do you believe tourism could prove to be a force multiplier for the state?

Tourism has the potential to send the right message to the country and world. For all the wrong reasons, Nagaland is always in the news while for the right reasons, nothing is talked or written about which is very depressing. Yet, we are growing and giving people an experience about Nagaland through tourism. We think this will highlight the positives of the state and maybe through media and a lot of publicity programmes, we would be able to change the mindset of the people.

What are the challenges in bringing tourism to the fore?

The biggest problem is the mindset of the outsider about the safety in the state and their perception about Nagas; unless they come here and see for themselves, it is impossible to explain how people are quite happy and friendly by nature and love to mingle with others. It is up to the people and especially, the Government of India (GoI) to understand that because they have kept a lot of restrictions in this part of the country, it is failing to reach its potential.

For long, this state was kept as a restricted area and international tourists would need Restricted Area Permits (RAP) after getting an Indian visa if they wished to visit Nagaland. After fighting for our demands, the GoI relaxed these norms slightly and changed the restriction to Protected Area Permit (PAP). But sadly, the procedures remained the same therefore continuing to make Nagaland restrictive in nature. It is time GoI trusts its citizens and not does impose many such restrictions which puts the state in a negative light.

In this regard, what is your demand from the Centre?

The Centre talks so much about development of the North East but it doesn't provide fair opportunities. There is no free permission for any national or international citizen to move around in this state. If any PAP is to be imposed it should be monitored by the state. We can generate daily or weekly reports for regular updates on the conditions as the state takes the responsibility. This way, trust will be restored amongst the tourists and citizens. The present scenario is more like disbelieving one's son and not giving him the responsibility, which may eventually turn him into a liability. When you trust him, he may make mistakes but will learn to stand on its feet.

Isn't tourism infrastructure another major hurdle to your tourism dream?

We have one airport at Dimapur which doesn't get daily flight services and is a huge constraint for tourists. There is no point in having ATRs from Kolkata and other spots, as tourists travel with luggage. Further, they are not convenient as they take twice the usual time taken by bigger aircraft.

Further, we don't have good infrastructure and accommodation facilities for travellers. We would like to build better infrastructure but have very limited budgets. Nagaland's state budget is just Rs 1,500 crore of which one-third goes into the loan component. This leaves very little scope for the resultant capital for further state development. If you talk about cleaning of the Ganga River, the budget crosses thousands of crores and for a state budget we have a negligible sum to depend on where each sector has to be addressed. This doesn't make any sense. Yet we are progressing. The environment is peaceful and most important, the attitude of people is positive towards the future.

What are the hindrances to develop infrastructure through the PPP mode?

No private investor is coming forward because of various factors and due to unresolved political issues. Locals, on the other hand don't have the capacity to invest and build hotels or other facilities for tourist interests. Here, even offering loans is problematic and the credit deposit ratio (the proportion of loan-assets created by a bank from the deposits received) is merely 34 per cent whereas at a national level it is probably 70 per cent. If industries are interested to come here, they have all the exemptions. We have an industry policy in place, tax holidays, etc. They are always welcome.

Furthermore, the benefits of any North East programme or policy which comes into force, are first given to Assam. We have been approaching various industries for investing in Nagaland for long. Even in the case of the power sector, the state government cannot do much. Sadly, the Ministry of Power hasn't taken up any projects ever here when Nagaland's potential in the power sector is waiting to be tapped either by the private sector and/or the GoI. The hurdle is people have a mindset about this state and GoI is also not very positive to encourage anything.

What is being done to shape up tourism in the state?

We have taken up rural tourism very aggressively, as we have an abundance of nature. Initiatives are taken by the Village Development Boards in building strong village communities that play a crucial role in the progress of people, which eventually play a strong role in tourism. Special emphasis is laid on the backward areas within Nagaland, where separate funds are allocated. Also, each district has one or two tribes and they compete to be at power in every sector.

On the other hand, we expect a lot more from the Ministry of Tourism. We call Nagaland the land of festivals and often refer to the Hornbill Festival as 'Festival of Festivals'. But the slogan of 'Incredible India' for this region says - 'A Paradise Unexplored'; it should have been in affirmative like 'Discover North East'. Why is it unexplored? We might be over-critical but this is a wrong attitude. I am grateful to see domestic travellers visiting the state even if it is less in numbers than the international tourists at times. My question is what is wrong with Nagaland and its people? If safety of this land is an issue, then which part of the country or the world is safe? Mumbai had bomb blasts and terrorist attacks but it is safe and we are not. This is a sad mindset. We can only hope and move ahead in a positive manner.