Kohima, Feb 21, 2023, IANS

Kohima, Feb 21 (IANS): Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday that the Central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has continued the Naga peace talks, adding it will be a successful one.

Addressing an election rally in Tuensang Sadar in Nagaland, the Home Minister said that the Narendra Modi government has taken forward both peace and development in Nagaland.

"Naga peace talks are going on. What PM Modi has started will be successful, and Naga culture, language, attire, tradition and history would be protected and developed in the coming days," he told the gathering.

The Home Minister, expressing his happiness about the Eastern Nagaland People's Organisation's (ENPO) withdrawal of the vote boycott (February 27), said that all the issues of ENPO had been discussed and an agreement would be signed after the assembly elections.

"Due to the model code of conduct of the assembly elections, an agreement could not be signed. After the February 27 assembly polls, an agreement would be signed by the Union Home Ministry ensuring the Naga people's rights and development," Shah said.

The influential Naga body, ENPO, after getting an assurance from the Home Minister on February 4, withdrew its call to boycott the February 27 Assembly polls in support of its demand for a separate 'Frontier Nagaland' state.

The Home Minister said that the Armed Forces (Special Power) Act (AFSPA) was withdrawn from 15 police station areas of seven Nagaland districts, and within three to four years, the AFSPA would be withdrawn from the entire Nagaland.

As the Modi government has done a lot of work, including peace accords with several militant outfits, incidents of extremist violence have been reduced by 70 per cent in the entire northeast region during the past eight years, he said.

Shah said that the killing of civilians reduced by 83 per cent and the killing of security personnel came down to 60 per cent in eight years.

He also said that Narendra Modi is the only Prime Minister who has visited the northeast more than 50 times and took the development of the region to a new height.

Noting that for the first time in 75 years, a poor tribal woman became the President of India, the Union Minister said that the Central budget for the development of tribal areas and tribal people was Rs 21,000 crore before 2014, and now it has been increased to Rs 86,000 crore.

The Home Minister said that to develop the remote and far-flung areas of the northeast, satellite-based surveys and monitoring are being conducted for 130 infrastructure projects.

Since 2015, 53 large infrastructure projects have been completed and 142 such projects are now in the pipeline in Nagaland, he said, adding that 14 lakh people of Nagaland are getting 5 kg of rice per month free of cost.

The Home Minister also highlighted the Centre's help in providing housing, water supply, cash transfer to farmers and health support.

The Home Minister addressed an election rally in Nagaland's Mon town on Monday and spent the night in Mon town. Shah also met representatives of ENPO and other organisations during his stay in Mon district, bordering Myanmar.