Kumram village under Phungyar subdivision of Kamjong district was launched by Lok Sabha MP (Outer) Lorho S Pfoze as a model village under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).
Located in a remote area of around 118 km from Imphal, it is the first ever village to be developed as a model village for the district.
The launch organised by the District Administration Kamjong was held on Tuesday at the Kumram village playground. It was attended by Lorho as the chief guest; MLA of Phungyar assembly constituency K Leishiyo as the guest of honour; deputy commissioner Rangnamei Rang Peter as the president; and village headman N Isaac as the special guest.
Giving his chief guest speech, MP Dr Lorho instructed the DLOs of the district to play their roles effectively to develop Kumram as a model village. He said that each household should have a good sanitation system, good power and water supply, and health and hygiene and all the children should be educated with a good education system including smart classes. But above all of these, all the villagers should undergo a change in their attitudes to become ‘model citizens’ to other villages and to the rest of the state and the nation.
He appealed to the villagers not to resort to poppy and ganja cultivation for easy money and keeping in mind the harm it will do to the future generations, and urged not to degrade the natural ecosystem and our environment.
On the other hand, MLA Leishiyo expressed his gratitude to the MP for selecting to adopt Kumram from all the rest of the villages in the hills to develop as a model village. He said that Kumram used to be lacking in every aspect of infrastructure, but with this project, it will be a developed village with all the modern amenities.
He added that Kamjong is a very vast district of around 2400 sq km but with little population of around 50, 000 and all the parts of the district still remain highly backward, and there is not a single urbanized village yet. The MLA also expressed his wish of creating a special economic zone (SEZ) in consultation with the state government in one of the areas of Kamjong.
Deputy commissioner Rangnamei, in his speech, said that he and the DC office is only the intermediary in this process of developing model village, and the success of the project depends upon the support from the higher-up level such the MP and MLA and co-operation from the lower level i.e the villagers and the line departments. He also appealed to the villagers to take active roles and participate and not to solely rely on the MP, MLA, DC or the DLOs.
State nodal officer of SAGY, Kh Ibochouba Singh, who gave the keynote address of the function, said that the launching of Kumram as model village comes under Phase II of SAGY and added that about 80 per cent of the Indian land still remains rural. He also enlightened the villagers on the various insights and objectives of this Yojana.
As a part of the programme, the dignitaries planted trees and unveiled the launching plaque right at the beginning of the event. Cultural dances and entertainment programs were also showcased.
It is worth mentioning that the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) is a rural development programme broadly focusing upon the development in the villages which includes social development, cultural development and spread motivation among the people on social mobilization of the village community.
The programme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Narayan on October 11, 2014. On the sidelines of the function, the dignitaries also inaugurated the new building of the Kumram Primary School.
