A project to help 300,000 families in the northeast

A World Bank funded project that would benefit 300,000 families would be implemented in four northeastern states, officials said here Saturday.

World Bank funded North East Rural Livelihood Project (NERLP) would be executed in four northeastern states - Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura - to uplift the economic condition of the rural people, officials said.

"Under the NERLP, various livelihood generation schemes including farming would be undertaken in the selected districts of the four northeastern states," an official said.

He said: "The NERLP would be implemented in two districts each of the four states -Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura - covering three lakh families of 1,624 villages in 58 blocks."

The NERLP would be administered by North East Livelihood Promotion Society under the union ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and would be supervised by Guwahati based Regional Project Management Unit.

Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla Friday launched the NERLP for Aizawl and Lunglei districts here.

Introducing the NERLP in the two districts of Mizoram, the chief minister said: "NERLP is an excellent programme, like the Mizoram government's flagship plan NLUP (New Land Use Policy), for improving the economic condition of the rural poor, especially women, unemployed youths and weaker sections of the society."

"The project need to be carried out involving government officials, NGOs and local people without any dishonesty," he added.

Mizoram's Rural Development Minister R.Lalzirliana said the state had been waiting for long time for such a project to provide economic security to the rural people.

The Mizoram government launched Rs.2,873-crore NLUP in 2010 to solve food scarcity due to shifting from "Jhum cultivation" (slash and burn method of cultivation) to stable farming.

NLUP aims to support 125,000 "Jhumia" (shifting cultivator) families in four phases to settle them under stable agriculture.