NEC Secretary reviews development projects in Mizoram’s Champhai, urges faster completion

North Eastern Council (NEC) Secretary Satinder Kumar Bhalla on October 15 inspected several development projects in Mizoram’s Champhai district and directed officials to expedite pending work to make the facilities operational at the earliest, according to an official statement.

Bhalla, who began a two-day visit to the eastern district bordering Myanmar on Wednesday, inspected the proposed Ginger Unique Selling Proposition (USP) main processing hub at Mualkawi and the Ginger Spoke Hub at Zotlang.

He was accompanied by Horticulture Department Secretary Maria CT Zuali, Champhai Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Aaquib and Senior Research Officer Lalnunsiami.

The proposed ginger processing facilities will have machinery for cleaning, grading, slicing, drying and packaging. During the visit, Bhalla directed officials to complete the remaining work expeditiously and interacted with local ginger farmers to understand their concerns.

He later visited a passion fruit processing unit being established with NEC funding and reviewed the work required to make it operational. Emphasising the need to produce high-quality passion fruit juice, he directed officials to maintain quality at every stage and identify qualified personnel to manage the facility.

Bhalla said installing machinery alone would not ensure the project's success, stressing that proper management and continued operation after inauguration were equally important.

The NEC secretary subsequently visited the Champhai Winery at Tlangsam and held discussions with representatives of the Champhai Grape Growers’ Society, which manages the facility.

Society representatives highlighted the difficulties faced by grape growers due to frequent changes in government policies related to wine sales. However, they said the establishment of the winery had helped improve the situation of grape growers.

Mizoram is the only state in the Northeast with a grape winery. The facility currently produces around 150 cases of grape wine per day, with discussions underway to increase its capacity to as many as 600 cases daily, officials said.

Bhalla encouraged officials to continue efforts to improve wine quality and strengthen farmers’ livelihoods.

He also visited the oak tasar seed farm under the Sericulture Department and reviewed silk production activities. Officials informed him that Champhai is the only place in Mizoram where all four varieties of silk—oak tasar, mulberry, muga and eri—are produced.

Bhalla stressed the need to secure better market prices for silk yarn so that silkworm rearers could derive greater economic benefits from their produce.

Later, he visited Zokhawthar along the India-Myanmar border and held discussions with officials at the Land Customs Station.

During his visit, Bhalla also inspected the Zomi Culture Centre in Champhai, which is being constructed with NEC funding, and participated in the Hnahsin Kut, or Cosmos Flower Festival, on Wednesday, the statement said.