Day: December 23, 2012

The post Normal life affected in Jiribam appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

JIRIBAM, Dec 23: Following the call for a general strike protesting against the alleged assault of a film actor and firing to two other artists in Chandel by Film Forum Manipur and other organizations, normal life was affected in Jiribam. While offices, educational institutions, Oil pumps, markets and shops remained closed while loaded trucks meant to go towards Imphal and passenger vehicles heading for Silchar were all held up. However, there are no casualties with regard to the bandh so far. Though vehicular movement on the roads was limited, the bandh was peaceful.

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The post Curfew re-imposed in Imphal appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

IMPHAL, Dec 23: As the protest escalated in the greater Imphal area, Imphal West District Magistrate has been re-imposed curfew from 2pm Sunday till 6 am tomorrow.

Meanwhile, curfew has been also imposed in Thoubal starting from 5 pm today till 7 am tomorrow.

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The post DGAR greets on Christmas appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

IMPHAL, Dec 23: Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, AVSM, SM, Director General Assam Rifles, Major General UK Gurung, YSM, IGAR(South) and all Ranks of Assam Rifles extend warm greeting and sincere goodwill  to the people of Manipur on the occasion of Christmas. The General Officers in their message said that, Christmas is a time of great joy, cheer, hope and happiness. It proclaim Lord Jesus Christ’s message of love, sacrifice and forgiveness, compassion and service, courage and humility, peace and harmony. They pray to Almighty to keep a benign eye on the people of Manipur to bring peace, prosperity and tranquility in the days to come.

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The post RPF`s greetings appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

IMPHAL, Dec 23: A press release from the Revolutionary People`s Front (RPF) has sent its greetings to all communities on account of the holy occasion of Christmas. Signed by Roben Khuman, Secretary Publicity of RPF, the short statement called upon different communities living in the hill and valley districts of Manipur to imbibe the spirit of brotherhood, love and forgiveness as preached by Jesus Christ and to be able to live in harmony with one another.

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The post Association formed in Jiribam appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

JIRIBAM, Dec 23: A new association called the All Jiribam Contract Lecturer Association (AJICLA) has been formed in order to work for the welfare of lecturers on contract basis. Kh Indikumar Singh, Lecturer Pol. Science has been appointed as president, M Romeo Singh, Lecturer Geography as general secretary and N Sanjeevkumar Singh, Lecturer as finance secretary.

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The post Tribal Safeguards Remain in Limbo appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

By B.G. Verghese
End-year reports suggest that the Naxals are regrouping  in Maharashtra while not losing steam elsewhere and are penetrating deeper in Assam.  A few months ago, they threatened  tribal leaders in Gadchiroli who had commenced a successful non-violent Gandhian movement for winning back their traditional community forest rights. The village of Mendha-Lekha led the way. Others followed by empowering gram sabhas to establish gram swaraj as embodied in an elaborate code of governance set out in the Fifth Schedule and elaborated under the Panchayats (Extension to Panchayats)  Act, 1995, or PESA which, between them, constitute India`s Tribal Charter. 
Mendha-Lekha challenged Naxal supremacy. Followed a warning to their leaders against “waylaying tribals from the path of conflict” for trifling rights to minor forest produce instead of struggling for larger rights to jal, jungle, zamin. Jairam Ramesh, Rural Development Minister, who extolled this initiative in shutting out the Maoists, was criticised by the latter for acting against true tribal interests in concert with corporate interests and corrupt local leaders!

And so it continues: the blatant rape by the Central and State governments of tribal constitutional rights embodied in the Fifth Schedule as a solemn social contract. Ignorance  combined with crass indifference has marked the attitude of all administrations across political labels since Independence.  Nudged by reminders and protests to live up to its dharma, the Government in 2010 announced the constitution of a National Tribal Advisory Council under the Prime Minister, with all concerned Ministers and Chief Ministers of 5th Schedule States as members, in order to take stock of the ground situation, guide future action and monitor progress.  What happened ?

In reply to a Question asked by H.K. Dua in the Rajya Sabha on December 6, 2012, the Minister of State for Tribal Affairs replied:

(a): Till date no meeting of the National Council for Tribal Welfare constituted under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Prime Minister has been held.

(b): In accordance with the Para 4 (1) of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution,  Tribes Advisory Councils (TAC) shall be established in the States having Scheduled Areas therein. The relevant areas of the States of Andhra Pradesh Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan are covered under the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution. The Fifth Schedule to the Constitution enjoins upon the Governors of these States certain responsibilities and powers.

(c): As per the information available in this Ministry, the Chief Minister of the States are the Chairpersons of the TACs constituted in the States of Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha. The Ministers of Tribal Welfare Departments in the States of Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan are the Chairpersons of the TACs in these states”. 

The reply  confirms constitutional violation, stark negligence on the part of the concerned Governors, usurpation of the duty and powers of Governors to preside over Tribal Advisory Council meetings by Chief Ministers and State Tribal Affairs Ministers, and helplessness compounded by total apathy on the part of the Government of India and Parliament. What can be done?

The Courts have begun to murmur against such official dereliction, mostly through obiter, but gradually taking the substantive issue on board, even if only tangentially in the absence of any direct suit against the authorities responsible. A Consultation of Concerned Citizens on the Persisting  Violation of the 5th Schedule under the auspices of the Centre for Policy Research in Delhi last month brought together scholars and past policy makers  to review the situation. It was a sorry stock taking.  

The new Tribal Affairs Minister, Krishna Chandra Deo has left no stone unturned to bring matters to the notice of all concerned, Central and  State, pointng out that sheer neglect has resulted in rising Left Wing Extremism.  Letters have been addressed and directives issued by the Ministry under relevant sections of the Fifth Schedule and PESA but to no avail. They have been contemptuously set aside.

At one time it was argued that even under the 5th Schedule, Governors had to act as Governors-in-Council and not as independent executive authorities reporting directly to the President of India. Following a query raised at the annual Governors` conference in 2008, the President referred to the matter for expert legal advice. The  Attorney-General duly examined the matter and opined in writing  that “in performance of the functions and in exercise of the powers under the Fifth Schedule, the Governor is not bound by the aid and advice of his Council of Ministers”.  Nevertheless, nothing has changed and Governors have failed to exercise their inherent, independent power for  peace and tranquillity, better governance and development of the scheduled areas.

The Delhi Consultation confirmed that the required  annual reports of Governors were not being regularly made, or in time, and were not acted upon in any manner. PESA has not been applied to urban areas – a huge gap – while the notification of clusters of villages as gram sabhas with powers to administer customary laws, land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation, mining, minor forest produce, sale and consumption of liquor, control of money-lending and markets and oversee social sector institutions, remains incomplete.  State Acts are not PESA compliant.

The Tribal Affairs Ministry is urging the establishment of a cell in the Governor`s Office specifically to handle Fifth Schedule  responsibilities. This would be most desirable, as would a dedicated cadre of officials to administer scheduled areas and the institution of a field based, single-line or single window administration. The prematurely-abolished Indian Frontier Administrative  Service could serve as a model, with appropriate modifications.

Two other issues came up at the Consultation. First, the Scheduling process is itself defective with significant tribal areas/populations excluded from such notification. Secondly only nine  states have Fifth Schedule  Areas. This excludes Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, all of which have significant tribal belts.

Secondly, many questioned whether Governors could or should be entrusted with Fifth Schedule guardianship considering that, barring exceptions, they are often ill-selected and sometimes decrepit and partisan party hacks or possess a law and order/security background. The role some Governors have played as ex-officio Chancellors of  State Universities  is a not encouraging.  Better selection of Governors and providing them with  an Instrument of Instructions defining their Fifth Schedule responsibilities and a high-powered, specialised Secretariat to assist them discharge these obligations may be one answer.

Let the 2013 Budget Session mandate a full day debate in each of the two Houses on the working of the Fifth Schedule on the basis of a Special Message from the President. This should be followed by consideration of such recommendations as might emerge by a meeting of the so-far abortive National Tribal Advisory Council and, thereafter,  a special Governor`s conference on the Fifth Schedule to be convened by the President. All this should be completed by March, notwithstanding budgetary and other legislative business. The fortunes of 100 million most deprived Indians and the nation`s gravest security treat are involved, no less. No cleverly dishonest pleadings should be allowed to prevail to postpone such immediate action pending “preparations”, “consultations”  and suchlike humbug.

www.bgverghese.com

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The post Single Issue Management: Root of micro and macro governance collapse appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

By Amar Yumnam
Manipur is unwell. So is India. Looking at the turn of events, mostly negative and absence of successful management of these – this is there at the country level and worse so at the provincial level, one is reminded of the lessons of a strand of Development Economics adopting the human body metaphor in analysing issues and conveying articulations for societal development. This can be traced to the Greek tradition and Roman law and through the Renaissance and German economist Albert Schaffle towards the end of the nineteenth century. The most prominent of this is the root in the order issued by Justinian in the sixth century for the codification of Roman law, which led to the evolution of a tradition called body politic. This approach is best described in Catherine de Pizan’s 1994 book explaining early fifteenth century root thus: “For just as the human body is not whole, but defective and deformed when it lacks any of its members, so the body politic cannot be perfect, whole, not healthy if all the estates which we speak are not well joined and united together. Thus, they can help and aid each other, each exercising the office which it has to, which diverse offices ought to serve only for the conservation of the whole community, just as the members of the human body aid to guide and nourish the whole body. And in so far as one of them fails, the whole feels it and is deprived by it”.

Here it needs to examine what is happening to the body politic of India and more so at the level of Manipur. In this context, it would be necessary, illuminating and rewarding to appreciate the estate where the weakness lies, disease located and most disjointed from the whole body. Without mincing words, I would identify it as the civil administration component of the estate of government. For the last two decades or so, the security component, as exemplified by the provincial police forces, has been so doggedly engaged in ensuring the personal safety of the persons involved in civil administration (necessarily and most importantly includes political administration). This insurance of safety has, very unfortunately, lulled and dulled the thinking capacity, orientation and application of mind of these individuals engaged in civil administration. The proof of this negative impact of personal security at the cost of public resources to enable meaningful rendering of public services is most visible at busy traffic points, airport, public gatherings and above all when crisis situations arise in Manipur.

The latest unfolding of events establish this fact beyond doubt. The primary role of police is to ensure routine social order and take care of immediate problems of law. But it would be very wrong if we leave it to the police and expect social problems to be resolved by them. The fundamental principle is that the security forces are there to assist the civil administration in smooth and effective functioning. The first and predominant role for ensuring social peace and stability lies with the performance of the civil administration. But the culture of administration over the last few decades seems to have made the civil administration unmindful and unconcerned about the larger social issues. This has made the persons manning it be happy and satisfied with the disconnect with the society and thus sustain a convenient environment for personal aggrandisement. In this process, the civil administration has developed a culture of uncaring and non-concern with the social issues arising from time to time and the larger social dynamics. It has imbibed a habit of banking on the security forces when the crises deepen and hoping the temporary suppression of people would be a solution to any crisis whatsoever. Naturally it has not worked. We cannot make the police always subject to the principle of ‘heads I win and tails you lose.’

The present crisis of bandhs, violence and curfews is just a new testimony to the collapse of civil administration in Manipur. As mentioned above, when the problem has deepened it has now resorted to the use of security forces to suppress the anger of the people. The question however remains as to how long the people of the land have to bear with the incompetence, non-commitment and non-concern with the social issues of the civil administration.

The time has been long and the events far too many for the civil administration to acquire skills and capability to address any likely social issue from blowing into full scale crises. The society has over the years given ample opportunity to it to appreciate the diversity and the complexity of issues emerging from time to time. It is the mandatory responsibility of the civil administration to develop the skills and the responsiveness to prevent events evolving into social crises. But the single issue management approach of using the security forces as regular means to maintain administration has only deepened the inner divide in a pluralistic society and deepened the inter-ethnic divide. The time is not far when even the security forces would utterly fail to sustain governance for no fault of theirs and the resulting social chaos would be very costly in every conceivable term. The time is now and now only for the civil administration to live up to the responsibilities and responsiveness as and when demanded, and ensure a semblance of governance. Sustainable governance can be ensured only by the civil administration connected with the society and never by the security forces.

Looking back at the history of development and Development Economics during the last five hundred years, one is struck by the failure of single issue management approaches at the policy level to deliver development. The subject as well experienced crises within during such periods of single agenda analyses, the latest example being the fall-outs of the Washington Consensus. The fundamentality of appreciating complexities and diversity and timely attendance to the emerging issues are imperative for social progress and stability. This is exactly the area where the civil administration of Manipur is found wanting repeatedly and continuously.

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The post What is Christmas Season? appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

By Ashang Kasar
Christmas season is a joyous, Happiness and peaceful season in all over the world but is it Peace existence in our State? Everyone should hope something good when Christmas season comes and posses peace during Christmas season coz “Christ is the Prince of Peace”. Christmas is not for hardship, trouble, tensions, fighting etc but for Peace & Tranquility in every home. During Christmas season everyone shall try to do change something in our life, from darkness to Light, from bad things to new things, for all these purposes God sent His only begotten Son in this world and we celebrate Christmas for it, let us try to purify our heart and let us try to cleanse our dirty things as like God cleansed us through Jesus Christ.

Reason for Christ’s coming to the Earth. Christmas is the celebration of the incarnation of God in Jesus the Christ, the self-revelation of God to the world in human form for the reconciliation of humanity to Himself. What does the Bible say about Christ’s coming? * To Reveal God. John 14:9. * To Redeem Man. Ephesians 1:7, 1 Timothy 1:15. *To Rule the Earth. Zechariah 6:13, Matthew 2:6, Revelation 12:5. * To destroy the devil’s work. 1 John 3:8, John 12:31, 16:11. * To fulfill the prophecies. Matthew 5:17. * To save sinners. Matthew 9:13, Mark 2:17, Luke 5:32. * To save the lost. Matthew 18:11, Luke 19:10, John 3:17. * To serve, and to give his life as a ransom. Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45. * To do the will of the Father. John 6:38-40. * To give abundant life, John 10:10. * He came as the Light of the world. John 12:46. Today we cerebrate the Christmas, it was revealed before Christ was born in the book of Isaiah 7:14, 9:6.

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