Manipur News

IMPHAL, October 13: The Teachers`™ Welfare Association of S Kula Women`™s College Nambol has submitted two memorandums to the Director University Higher and Technical Education alleging acute corruption practices in the college.

Speaking at a press meet at the Manipur Press Club today, the members of the association called for dissolution of the present governing body of the College and conduct of a special spot enquiry by the concerned authorities over corruption charges.

They also expressed dissent over the recent order of the government dated October 8 to open a B Ed course in their college and feel that in the absence of any infrastructural preparedness, it will merely put the present teachers available in the college to more disadvantages as the college already has 26 departments.

The association in their submission went further to say the photographs submitted to the authorities in pursuance of this B Ed course opening are fake and fabricated and that the college has insufficient class rooms at present.

The association further went on to mark Rs 2 lakhs in their account as a bribe and hinted towards a powerful nexus of people sharing the loot of the college fund.

The present Governing Body comprises of 10 member including Prof MC Arun and Prof L Leiren Singh besides local educationist and other representatives from the area, informed a teaching staff of the college.

The erstwhile private college founded in 1981 was converted to a Government Aided College in December 2011, he said.

The teachers also said their salary reduced by at least Rs 1000 per head per month since this upgrade and feel very deprived.

The main corruption allegations of the members present at the press meet were aimed towards N Ibomcha, Associate Prof, Chemistry, Nambol L Sanoi College, who they said is part of all the bodies, projects and programmes or the college.

He was inducted as a local educationist in the Governing Body of S Kula Women College, they claimed.

`He demanded that more than Rs.83,14,589/- were spent from his personal account during the construction of Working Women Hostel and forcefully reimbursed Rs.20,00,000/- from the college fund for himself and insisted on further recovery of more funds` remarked Dr M Ratankumar Singh, secretary of the association.

K Somorjit, who is the lone teacher representative in the present GB added, `The investigating team for the anomalies in the Star Project found interesting revelations.`

According to the documents provided by the association to media persons, S Kula Women College was awarded with Potential for Excellence (CPE)/CE Scheme since April 2014 for a period of five years.

The sanction amount from the UGC inclusive of capital assets and grand-in-aid is Rs.100,00,000/-. The college also received UGC`™s Community College Scheme in May 2014 which is an amount of Rs. 129,70,000/- for two years inclusive of scholarships for students amounting to Rs.30,00,000/-.

The Star College project which is for a duration of three years was also sanctioned by the DBT besides a sanction for construction of the Working Women`™s Hostel under the Ministry of Women and Child Development GoI, the documents said.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/10/s-kula-womens-college-teachers-associattion-alleges-fund-embezzlement/

IMPHAL, October 13: The United Committee Manipur today observed the last day of `Langban Thagi Heitha-Leithaba` and offered floral tribute to the souls of the `great martyrs`™ who laid down their lives during the June 18 incident at the Great June Uprising Memorial Complex, Kekrupat.

Speaking in the sideline of the occasion, UCM president Elangbam Johnson said the observation will once again awaken the spirit of nationalism and patriotism in Manipur.

He said UCM, AMUCO and CCSK have jointly launched a people`™s movement under the moto `Peoples movement for a common future of Manipur.`

And as a part of this movement UCM, AMUCO and CCSK will be organising public meetings and interaction programmes in the coming two to three days at the peripheral areas of the State where different communities co-exist.

`I am pretty sure that the Indian government must be aware of the discussions held during the inaugural function of `Peoples`™ movement for a common future of Manipur`™ held at Hotel Imphal,` he said.

`On the other hand, we have come across some disturbing reports of NSCN-IM recruiting new cadres in the hills districts of the State namely at Ukhrul, Tamenglong and Chandel,` he continued.

Similar reports of recruitment of NSCN-IM cadres at Eastern Nagaland were also reported in the dailies published in the North Eastern region, he said.

UCM cannot rule out the suspicion of whether this is happening with the consent of the Indian government, he said.

The State government has also not given any statement regarding this issue, he added.

If these reports are true this is not the right step, he observed.

They (NSCN-IM and Government of India) have been claiming that they are engaging in peace talks however recruiting new armed cadres cannot bring peace in Manipur, it could only lead to more flare ups among the different communities residing together, he warned.

He urged the State government to find out the truth and also demanded the State government to pressurize the Centre to put a ban on these moves of NSCN-IM in the State, in case the report comes out to be true.

The UCM president citing that all the communities residing in Manipur have equal responsibility in safeguarding the integrity of Manipur, appealed to all the leaders irrespective of the hills and the valley to refrain from making inflammatory speeches which could break Manipur into pieces.

He further demanded the Centre to stop trying to break the integrity of Manipur.

`If these things continue, the resultant peoples`™ uprising can lead to a very ugly situation,` he warned.

He charged the Kangla Fort Board, a management committee which has been assigned to look after the Great June Uprising Memorial Complex, Kekrupat, Imphal, of not performing its duties seriously.

`We wanted to take care of this memorial site however we are not allowed to enter here except on June 18 or on occasions like today. This site is in a pathetic condition as we can all see here,` Johnson said to media persons pointing towards the tall grasses in the complex.

He appealed the State Government to properly maintain the site under a specific policy.

`When people from other parts of the world come to see this memorial site it will be an embarrassment for us,` he added.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/10/ucm-expresses-concern-over-nscn-im-recruitment-report/

IMPHAL, October 13: The main problem for the sericulture farmers and silk weavers in the State is finding a market, and as such the State is mulling partnering e-commerce firms to showcase silk products of the State weavers, asserted Manipur Chief Secretary Oinam Nabakishore today.

He was speaking at the inaugural of the Sericulture Krishi Mela at the Directorate office Sangaipat.

Nabakishore said although the silk produced in the State is of high quality, the production is still unable to meet the demand of the State and as such silk cocoons were brought in from Karnataka through the National Handloom Development Corporation.

He said silk clothes are worn only on rare occasions in the State.

To expand the market for silk products from the State, the weavers should produce more common dresses like the salwar or chunni and market them through the e-commerce platforms like Flipkart, Amazon and others, he said.

Women`™s clothing like the `Rani Phee`™ should also be made available on these e-commerce platforms so that the Manipuris living outside the State may have the opportunities to buy them, he said.

At the same time to attract more buyers from outside the State, the weavers and designers should also incorporate designs of shalwar with ethnic patterns, he observed.

Partnering with websites to market the products will only benefit the farmers and weavers of sericulture, he added.

He said there are also plans to implement the Minimum Support Price which is announced annually for the benefits of farmers who are unable to sell their products.

Under this scheme, the concerned departments have to buy the unsold products at reasonable prices, he said.

The central Silk Board has to take vital role to innovate and motivate the weavers on how to make attractive designs for markets aboard, he said.

The chief guest also inspected the Krishi Mela which had 23 stalls of different Self Help Groups and entrepreneurs.

Several varieties of cocoons and silk products were also displayed in the Mela from the four valley districts.

The function was also attended by L Lakher Principal Secretary of Sericulture, H Nagesh Prabhu Member Secretary of Central Silk Board Bangalore Ministry of Textile Government of India, M Joy Singh Deputy Commissioner Imphal East District and W Ibohal Director Sericulture as president and guests of honour respectively.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/10/chief-secretary-mulls-tieups-with-ecommerce-firms-to-expand-market-for-silk-items/