Alongwith with the rest of the country,  Mizoram also celebrated the 66^rd Republic Day. The Ceremonial function in Aizawl to mark the 66^th Republic Day was held today at 9: 00 AM at the AR Ground (Lammual). The function started with the Governor Dr. Aziz Qureshi unfurling the National Flag which was followed by the Ceremonial Parade. Chief Minister Pu Lal Thanhawla, his wife Pi Lal Riliani, the Speaker Pu Hiphei, a number of Ministers from the Council of Minister, Parliamentary Secretaries and MLAs besides senior state government officials and school children from various schools also attended the function.

Addressing the Republic Day Ceremonial Function the Governor said “Let us on this occasion offer our sincere gratitude, profound respect and humble homage to the founding fathers of the Nation and to all those who toiled hard to give us the Constitution. Let us re-dedicate ourselves to nurture, safeguard and strengthen the democratic systems and values enshrined in our Constitution”.

In his speech, the Governor highlighted the vision and some of the achievements of the State Government for the benefit of the people of Mizoram.

About the flagship programme of the State Government – New Land Use Policy (NLUP), the Governor said NLUP has made good progress in uplifting the economy of the state and in providing sustainable means of livelihood to the people. He expressed the commitment of the government for continuing the flagship programme and said that the Government will extend the project beyond this year. He said state government’s roping in the UNO for the first time in Mizoram under the umbrella of NLUP and signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations on 16 October, 2014 called "Joint Initiative on Eco-System based Livelihood Promotion in Mizoram" is indeed a remarkable achievement.

Speaking about Agriculture and allied sectors, the Govenor said “these sectors provide sustainable livelihood support to people in rural areas and are key to economic development. Hence, farmers and people engaged in these sectors are being empowered with new technologies and harvest methods to increase crop production and productivity”  The Governor highlighted the commissioning of Oil Palm Mill at Bukvannei, Kolasib District with a capacity of 5 MT per hour, the proposed establishment of another two Oil Palm Mills at Lunglei and Serchhip and the proposed commissioning of Indigenous Milk Product Manufacturing Plant with a capacity of 5000 litres per day at Mizoram Milk Producer's Cooperative Union Limited (MULCO) Complex. He pointed that under NLUP passion fruit, squash, pineapple and orange growers and broom cultivators have already started earning regular income from their harvests since last year.

The Governor said that improving connectivity is one of the top priorities and the Government is doing its utmost for the maintenance and improvement of roads. He highlighted the declaration of four new National Highways - NH-306A, NH-302, NH-6 and NH-102(B) in Mizoram during 2014 and the improvement of air transport facilities, with 10 Helipads to be constructed for which sanction has been obtained from Ministry of DoNER. The Governor said that Mizoram has a vast potential for generating hydroelectricity and all possible options to increase power generation and reduce Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) loss are being explored. He mentioned that under Rural Electrification, 111 un-electrified villages have been provided electricity, 378 villages have been covered under Intensive Electrification and 15,893 BPL households had been given free connection. He said that providing safe and sufficient drinking water to all the people is one of the important commitments of the Government. He highlighted that with funding from Special Plan Assistance (SPA); Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR); Ministry of Urban Development and North Eastern Council (NEC) a total of 28 schemes for water supply are being taken up.

He mentioned that providing affordable healthcare and improving healthcare facilities are given top priority by the Government and said that Mizoram will have its ownMedicalCollegevery soon. He said that the Government has been giving thrust for rural development and upliftment of the rural poor and mentioned that Under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), 1,94,686 number of job cards have been issued and 1,52,519 number of households have been provided wage employment during 2014-2015. He said that education is one of the important parameters of growth and development and expressed the Government’s commitment towards development of human resources. He announced that KG-I and KG-II classes will be introduced in Government Primary Schools from the next Academic Session (2015-2016).

The Governor iterated that the Government continues to promote various sports disciplines and aims to provide ample sports infrastructure to the youth and the sporting talents of the State. He mentioned that Full fledged stadiums at Champhai Zotlang and Lunglei Serkawn are functioning and catering to the needs of youths and nine sports stadium are being constructed across the state. He said that improvement of urban infrastructure and urban amenities is one of the areas the Government is striving to strengthen. He said that various Urban Infrastructure Development projects and Slum Area Development Projects are being implemented under 10% Lumpsum Grant provisions for North East India both under the Ministry of Urban Development and the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India. He highlighted the Computerisation of the Targeted Public Distribution System Operations in the State and said that currently 2,15,463 out of 2,41,272 Ration Cards (89.30%) have been digitized.

He said that Finance Department has been putting in utmost efforts to augment the State's own Tax and Non-Tax Revenues and to achieve this; targets have been fixed for all Government Departments for the financial year.

He mentioned the passing of The Lushai Hills District (Village Council) Act 2014; The Mizoram Election to Village Council Rules 2014; The Mizoram Animal (Control and Taxation) Act 2014;  Lokayukta Bill, 2014 and The Mizo Marriage, Divorce and Inheritance of Property Bill, 2014 by the Legislative Assembly.

He also mentioned about the constitution of Task Force on National Railway Project to function as a mechanism of continuous interaction between the Railway and the State Government so that the construction of the new railway line from Bairabi to Sairang can progress smoothly. He said that Adventure Tourism and Eco-tourism have been identified as potential areas for attracting tourists to Mizoram and thrust is being given to develop this sector.

He expressed his gratitude to all the NGOs, the Churches and the general public for having reposed faith and confidence in the government and also for extending to it utmost co-operation in all its endeavours for the development of Mizoram.

The Republic Day Ceremonial Parade saw the participation of 27 Contigents  -  4 armed contingents, 7 unarmed contingents 13 school contingents besides 3 Band Parties. The Governor handed prizes to the winners of the different contingents. He also distributed prizes to the winners of Hockey tournament which was held to mark the Republic Day.