Mizoram's 2019 growth at 14.82 pc best in India: Guv

Delivering his customary speech on the opening day of the Assembly's Budget Session, the Governor said that various sectors -- which will ensure continued growth of the state -- have been incorporated in the government's flagship programme 'Socio-Economic Development Policy (SEDP)'.

He said that the SEDP aims to accelerate progress in key state sectors and transforming Mizoram into a welfare state.

"For successful implementation of SEDP, 14 boards comprising Ministers, MLAs, experts and officials have been created and 25 aligned departments distributed under these boards for supervision and monitoring of the implementation of SEDP projects," Pillai said.

The state government's emphasis has always been and will continue to be on agriculture and allied sectors, in which a majority of the state population was engaged.

The 5th session of the 8th Mizoram Assembly began here on Monday. The Budget Session will continue till March 14, with a break in between.

Chief Minister Zoramthanga, who also holds the finance portfolio, will present the Budget for 2020-21 on Wednesday.

The Governor said that to tackle problems faced by Mizoram's farmers, the government had set up state- and district-level coordination committees led by the Chief Secretary and Deputy Commissioners respectively to ensure doubling of their income by this year-end.

He congratulated Mizoram's Olympian hockey player Lalremsiami for getting 'FIH Rising Star of the Year 2019' award.

Lalremsiami, who made her international debut in 2018, was part of the team's success at the Hockey Series Finals in Hiroshima in 2019. She also played a key role in the team's performance at the Olympic Qualifiers in November last year where they edged out USA to earn their ticket to 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Pillai also informed the Assembly that an agreement was signed recently between the Centre, state governments of Mizoram and Tripura, and the Reang tribal representatives to peacefully resolve the 22-year-long Reang refugee imbroglio.