Manipur News

IMPHAL, March 31: The Manipur State Haj Committee has lauded the State Government for opening the passport Seva Kendra in Imphal.

Parliamentary Secretary Amin Shah, who is also the chairman of the State Haj Committee, addressing a press meet held at MOBC office said that the passport Seva Kendra is very important for the people of Manipur and especially for the Haj pilgrims of Muslim community.

He said they faced various problems while applying for passport at Guwahati besides spending huge amount of money and times before. He said that every year around 500 intending Haj Pilgrims of Muslims from Manipur go to Assam for obtaining their passport.

There was instruction from the Haj Committee of India, Mumbai to organised passport Mela exclusively for intending Haj Pilgrims every year however such programme couldn`™t be organised earlier due to nonexistence of Passport Seva Kendra in Imphal, he said.

MLA Fajur Rahim and Member of Parliament of Rajya Sabha Abdul Salam have also expressed happiness for opening Passport office in Imphal.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/03/state-haj-committee-lauds-govt-for-opening-passport-seva-kendra-in-imphal/

IMPHAL, March 31: The Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF) has stated that on March 30 a fierce gun fight broke out between the Front and NSCN-IM at Taosang Khunou in Tamenglong.

According to a release of the ZUF, the showdown hitched up when the cadres of Front met NSCN-IM during regular round of patrolling in the area. On the shoot out one NSCN-IM cadre, Joshua Thangal was killed and the deceased body was attended by the villagers of Taosang Khunou.

It said several others of NSCN-IM cadres were also injured in the fight.

The NSCN-IM men were sharing the temporary camp of Gurkha Regiment which is station at Taosang in recent past to cordon the influence of the front, it claimed.

The Indian security forces continue to join hands with NSCN-IM in hunting the cadres of the Front, it said. The infiltration of NSCN-IM and frisking of Gurkha Regiment has brought immense inconveniences to the villagers. In one instance, village authority, Bamsuang Kamei s/o Lt. Gaigengpou Kamei was beaten black and blue by the Gurkha Regiment falsely charging him of supplying food to cadres of the Front and now undergoing treatment at RIMS, it said.

The NSCN-IM cadres continued to forcefully use the villagers as sentry, shamelessly drag away and loot villagers`™ rations and livestock of Soubunglong, Taosang, Lungrang and the vicinity villages at gun point, which trespassed the right to livelihood and demean the customary laws, the release charged.

They also brutalized the villagers under the pretext of Naga Nationalism, the release said.

The villagers could not go to field because of large presence of Gurkha Regiment and NSCN-IM both in village and surrounding jungles. Many villagers of surrounding areas have fled their villages, particularly Taosang looks deserted as the village is being occupied by Gurkha Regiment and NSCN-IM sharing camp. The Gurkha Regiment, security forces for national security joining hand with NSCN-IM who fight for succession from India is another seditious measures vying to the powers of some vested politicians and their higher-up, it said.

In the recent past the Zeliangrong area has unexpectedly created chaos and insecurity. Hence the ZUF is closely monitoring the situation and the involvement of local politicians is narrowly watching over. The Front will deal to whosoever without any hesitation if they don`™t refrain from their evil ways. For any untoward circumstances in the future the NSCN-IM and the politicians shall be held responsible, it said.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/03/zuf-claims-worsting-nscnim-at-taosang-khunou/

IMPHAL, Mar 31: Statements of a DSP of NIA and an SDPO of Manipur Police Department were recorded today as a part of the prosecution witness deposition in the ongoing trial of UNLF supremo RK Meghen alias Sanayaima and his associates at the NIA Special Court at Guwahati.

Anil Kumar, Deputy Superintendent of Police, NIA and Maibam Rameshwar Singh, MPS, Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Manipur Police Department, who is now posted at Mayang-Imphal, gave their statements as a prosecution witness in the case.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/03/two-police-officers-statements-recorded-in-unlf-meghens-case/

IMPHAL, March 30: The Chief Minister, Okram Ibobi today inaugurated the passport office at Imphal.

On the occasion, he reiterated his government`™s pursuance of Visa on Arrival at Imphal and Moreh and upgradation of Imphal airport to an operational international airport.

`All necessary facilities, infrastructure and human resource are already in place, we are only awaiting the positive response from both the Ministry of Home & Ministry of External Affairs,` he stated at the Inaugural function of Passport Seva Kendra at Imphal Hotel.

`This has been such a cherished dream for all of us. It is indeed a historic moment for us after a long anticipatory wait. We can finally avail citizen passport at our doorstep in a convenient manner and need not travel to Guwahati anymore,` Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam added.

Muktesh K. Pardeshi, IAS, Joint Secretary (PSP)& Chief Passport Service Officer, Ministry of External Affairs.

The state officials has been extremely supportive in attaining such expeditious progress of setting up a PSK in Imphal within a year. The issuance of passport is one of the major and most visible citizen centric service render by the Ministry of External Affairs. The government`™s passport network comprises of 37 Passport Offices and 77 Passport Seva Kendras till June 2012. It is a very expansive passport service network, supported by 183 embassies and consulates abroad. Presently we are working on 18 additional PSK in several parts of the country and Manipur is one of them. The ministry is committed to provide closer and better Passport services to our fellow citizens in NE. Hence PSK centres are newly set up in Aizawl, Shillong and it is in full swing for the other four states as well.

Presently India is the third largest country in terms of passport services globally next to China and USA. About six crores Indian citizens hold valid passports. In 2014 more than one crore passports applications were serviced. In the NE about 85,000 passport applications were serviced for the eight states. With the upcoming PSKs we hope to increase this figure.

IT driven citizen centric Passport Seva Project is implemented by the Ministry of External Affairs as part of the national e-governance plan. It has comprehensively over-hauled the passport delivery system in the country. All the processes are online and streamline towards transparency and accountability in the delivery of government service. Verification of documents and granting is done in the presence of citizens to ensure transparency. The IT network connects Speedpost Centre India Post, India Security Press Nashik, Immigration Check Post and Embassies abroad. We plan to integrate with CCTNS to create a seamless IT enabled platform which can be easily accessible by all citizens.

Citizens can also access service from national call centre available for 24/7, for further assistance. Passport portal also provides comprehensive information about how to summit application and procedure for payment of passport fees on line.

PSK is a cashless operation hence there is no exchange of money at the PSK to promote complete transparency. CCTV are installed to ensure that citizens are not harass for some undue payments. We envisage that 400 Common Service Centres in rural hinterland of Manipur, can provide affordable internet service for filing applications on line and seeking appointments.

Most importantly we expect state government to finish police verifications in 21 days, then we can certainly give passport to citizens in 30 days. So if police verification is improved and fast track here, it will significantly speed up the process.

Some states have shown commendable progress on this front. For instance, Delhi police is able to finish verification in 12 days. Likewise Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Haryana in 17 days, Chandigarh in 18 days and Telengana in 19 days.

In all 600 out of 725 police districts in the country are integrated with passport systems online, this facilitates instant transfer of forms/files. Manipur have completed some of the requisite procedure for integration so that the police authority can receive and submit online. Such procedure will save time and ensure complete accountability of each application form unlike cases of misplacement in the hitherto manual system. With this online system the state home department will also have access to the dashboard and can monitor directly and extend support towards speedy verification.

The historic function was attended by Members of Parliament, Ministers, MLAs and Chief Secretary, Principal Secretaries and various other officials of the state.

The portal`™s URL is as follows: www.passportindia.gov.in

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/03/passport-seva-kendra-imphal-inaugurated/