People here are welcoming and supportive, say migrants in Nagaland

Shambhu Prasad, a native of Bihar, has been in Nagaland's Mon district for about three decades now, and wants his son to make a living in this northeastern state, too.

His wife, Basanti Devi, is also supportive of his idea and wants their three children to earn their daily bread in Mon.

"We have lived all of our adult lives here. There are problems at times. But then, is there a place without any problem?" Prasad said, seeking to refute a "perception" that survival of "outsiders" here is difficult.

Alam, 70, who came here from Assam's Karimganj decades ago, said he and his family can never imagine a life outside Mon, which has accepted them with open arms.

Alam, Prasad and several such migrants, who are now voters in Mon Town constituency, are keenly looking forward to the upcoming assembly elections.

The 60-member Nagaland Assembly will go to polls on February 27, while the counting of votes will be taken up on March 2.

Employment opportunities for the migrants are still few in Mon, Alam said, exuding hope the situation will improve as more development work is undertaken.

"Whoever comes to power, we hope our children get jobs and overall development happens," said Prasad, who came here from Bihar's Darbhanga with his elder brother about 30 years ago.

Basanti followed her husband to this eastern tip of Nagaland after marriage, and now visits Bihar once or twice a year.

"The journey is tedious. It takes more than three-four days for a one-way journey," she said, arranging the items on display at the small grocery and vegetable stall they manage.

Their eldest son is in final year of college, and the two other children are still in school.

"We will try to get him a job here. But, if he has to start his own business, we might send him back to the family in Bihar. We would want our children to be with us," Prasad said.

Alam, who moved to Mon in 1970, started working as an assistant at a shop.

"One of my sons is a doctorate degree holder and associated with a private college in Mon. Another had to go Dubai as he didn't get any job here," the septuagenarian said.

Prasad believes the increase in literacy levels in this northeastern state is one of the reasons for the wide acceptance of people from outside.

"People here have welcomed migrants like us, and we hope it remains that way in times to come," he said with a twinkle in his eye.