Manipur News

By: – G.S.Oinam
Rise up! You must listen this time! `ANNA HAZARE, RTI activist from Maharastra, at 78 not fasting to death 4 himself, He is fasting 4 YOUR FUTURE. Will U sit at home and let him die? Take off from Ur office N reaches Jantra Mantra` SMS said. My heart says `god bless you Anna Hazari! Dr. Kiran Bedi, IPS, Swami Agnivesh and Arvind Kejriwal , champions of anti corruption are the playmakers behind the scene of campaign and civil lok pal bill. No political party members are allowed to meet Anna Hazare. Spiritual leaders like Shri Ravi Sanker, (Arts of living) and yoga guru Swami Ram Dev, Film star Amir Khan are supported the campaign of Anna Hazare! The main slogan is government must implement Civil Lok Pal Bill at the centre and Lok Ayukta at the state. The main argument is that government Lok Pal Bill is protecting politician. And, politician argument is that bill must be drafted by the government and must pass the bill in parliament. Second point is, elected leaders must get the opinion of the voters before drafting Bills. Once you are elected you can not do to your own will; and politician can not say wait for another term to choose your leader! `, Finally, civil society members are allowed to join in drafting Lok Pal bill, Shanti Bhusan will be co-chairman of the drafting bill and the bill will be table on the parliament of the coming monsoon season. It has been proved that effective civil society and young stars can bring a change. This is a great victory of the people after 43 years to free ourselves from the victim of bad system.

The objective is, we don`™t want to demolish the institution. But the system must be change and appropriate in time. Change is a process, mass movement is necessary for a break through and the movement is just beginning. About 98% of the educated youths want corruption free country. Politician must be on the side of the people. What do you feel when people say` hamara neta chor hai` perhaps, some politicians may anger. We know some good people after joining into politics could do nothing and finally indulge in corrupt practices. But it does not mean all politicians are bad. Political party & government, is a team work- must set goal, target, skills and new management skills is necessary. But, they try to defend because they think that anti corruption campaign is a weapon targeting against politicians in the coming election. Finally, `Corruption is a common enemy we must fight together,` Kapil Sibal said. Smt. Sonia Gandhi can speak against corruption. Narendra Modi, CM Gujarat can speak against corruption. Sushma Swaraj can speak against corruption. Why you can`™t speak? To do this, one must nurture the six key dimensions of life`”mental, emotional, physical, social, spiritual and financial. That is why, an effective law (civil lok pal bill) is necessary or existing anti corruption act is enough to curve out corruption unless our authorities have behavioural problem, attitude and working style problem, and new management skills. Before you speak on welfare of the people, you must improve yourself the knowledge management skills and innovation. This is the missing point of our politician.

Albert Einstein once said that anyone who has never made a mistake, has never tried anything new, thus making it clear that mistakes occurred when you try something new or when you try to break the conventional modes and try to achieve to success through new models and thought processes. However, many a times, the mistakes that leaders make are overlooked or neglected and this could hamper the organizational growth, say experts.

Yet, another decade awaits us pregnant with possibilities of next generation leaders, rapid growth of the internet and people across geographies working as a team, the concept of knowledge management has gained momentum in recent years. Today we talk about integration and collaboration of various departments, right? Has our complex, globally integrated world made effective leadership too difficult? Narcissism is one of the major reasons for leadership derailment. What causes failure are arrogance and narcissism.

How does one define star performance? Insightful? A good leader? Highly persuasive? Influential? Some what shrewd? Is the super talented leader who never misses his target considered a star performer? Or the capable team leader who always leads a bunch of happy colleagues a star? Expert says that answer to the above questions is an astounding `yes`! Everyone to work with a star and firms will try constantly to lure the best performers. After all they are always in demand! Example is Anna Hazare, RTI activist!

Communication is the key to solving all major problems; in this case too, it is helpful to communicate clearly with your supervisors as well as colleagues and understand their point of view better. Don`™t shy or embarrassed to ask candid questions. Once you are clear about what`™s expected of you, set goals for the future and create specific action plans that will help you achieve them. These are known as S.M.A.R.T goal, i.e. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time bound. Leaders sometimes become too conscious about their position and try to make artificial changes to their behaviour. They may become less accessible/ reduce informal interactions with their team to demonstrate leadership.Followers usually see through these changes and they are likely to feel distanced from their leaders or lose respect. Fear of delegation`” some leaders thinks it is easier to complete a task himself/ herself than delegate. But this denies the team member the opportunity to learn, grow and develop. Also, in the process of doing the team`™s jobs, leaders miss out on focusing on their own key deliverables Missing team members`” If a new person is assigned to take over the vacant post, there are many issues to be considered w.r.t.`”work style, attitude and team compatibility. However, if it is the team leader who has moved on, the situation needs special attention. The point to consider is that the team members are used to a particular style of leadership, and hence, the sudden transformation has to be handled in a way that does not affect the productivity of the team as well as the team chemistry. Eureka factor`”Today`™s people demands a conscious, collaborative and coherent approach to drive performance through out of the box thinking. The key element of success for workplace innovation is to create a culture where its employees are creative thinkers willing to be open minded, curious, adventurous and committed to innovation. Negotiation skills: Clearly, negotiating today has become an art. Whatever be the reason, experts say that negotiation at work must be considered as a process to find a solution to a problem in a tactful manner. The best argument in negotiation is triple P`™`”Powerful Past Performance.

Conflict is an unavoidable part of one`™s professional life`”from simple disputes about office facilities to long running executive feuds that threaten to disrupt the entire operation of a business. This process of natural conflict becomes amplified by our ultra competitive society and business environment. If organisations repeatedly fail to manage and resolve such conflict, they risk becoming dysfunctional. Many leaders here tends to put`their heads in the sand` when a conflict arises at senior levels. Their denial can seriously disrupt an organisation`™s team work, trust and communication channels. Leadership is all about learning to deal with ambiguity and finding a middle path. That is where the real challenge lies`”in finding a sustainable solution, which overrides the apparent concerns of an ethical dilemma. And this dilemma can be handled best, if one focuses on the larger horizon and has faith. Every task assigned to your employees is important; however, in order to get the task completed, it is not necessary to always over exaggerate the importance of the same, or rather cry wolf.

The only solution is knowledge management`”means data collection, integration, transmission and finally, knowledge application in time. A knowledge base society will required an effective knowledge management unit. To raise you above the crowd`” you must be proficient in any of the modules of at least one packaged application mentioned`” understanding of business process, blue printing and knowledge of organisation verticals with change management experience. The thing that`™s important to be a member of knowledge base society / organisation is the non stop persuit of perfection. Every achievement will drive to do more. Each milestone pushes to be more. We will thrive on excellence and strive to relentlessly the best in everything we do. It`™s what we live for. And we do this by improving ourselves and our team, our services and products and our society. You can be better than what they already are. So, do you want to be at the top? Or are you ready to settle for the second best?

This philosophy has taken us to the forefront of the new economy and made us the partner of choice for leaders from other stream, across the world. If you have the vision than we`ll give you the mechanism and the growth. The important mechanism of `think globally and act locally` of the Manipur Vision 2020 is knowledge management. And, the only way to bring a change for the better is to lead from the front (leader must initiate and state government has to prepare this first innovative project on knowledge management or ask for consultation). Narendra Modi, CM of Gujarat says `Knowledge will create job and skills will get job`. Basic skills you can get from learning and advance skills will get from experience, expert advice and practices.

Barry Lowenkron, VP of Mac Author foundation, Chicago said `currently, the bulk of development leaders are trained in narrow fields, usually in the social science, such as economics. Master Development Practice (MDP) programmes combine training in the natural science, social science, health science, and management to help practitioners address global challenges such as sustainable development, climate change and extreme poverty. Many people working in the field of development are not sufficiently prepared to tackle the challenges they face.` Right method of resource mobilization providing with sustainable development in Manipur is to flow money to the hand of poor people and how to tape extra incremental surplus income increasing from salary and others sources and where the people spend extra money`”education, housing, cars. Jewellery, property, shopping etc has to be identifying first and prepare than, plan for job creation and a long term resource mobilization plan either owned by state authority or join venture project (PPP) or by private participation etc. which will able to attempt the state to recover from non plan state budgetary deficit and capital accumulation even the state budget goes to growth trajectory san fiscal consolidation. Now, identify where extra money of the people will go to (survey) and prepare a project for resource mobilization. Manipur will require a huge investment on infrastructure.

Service sectors are characterized by the production of services, knowledge assets, and other intangible goods. Some examples of verticals within the services sector are retail, ITES, banking, insurance, telecom, healthcare, leisure and lifestyle, aviation and hospitality. Career standpoint`”Most of the service sectors have come prominence only recently by the virtue of tremendous growth they have experienced in the last decade. This means that they have created the maximum number of job opportunities. Consequently, those who are part of the industry have experienced tremendous career growth.

The problem is, out of 8771 small scale units operating in Manipur (30.86%) are found sick. Out of 79,555 Micro enterprises, 74,402 (93.52) are running without profit. 85% are running without power, and 25% are without own premises. The performance of State Public Undertakings recorded a negative return on investment (ROI). Banking sectors can be visualized broadly with reference to population per bank, credit deposit ratio and per capita credit. According to Assessment Report 2006 of H. Kamalini, SSM Collage of Engineering, population per bank in Manipur is 28,384 as against 8445 of Himachal and all India average of 15,070. One can not expected efficiency of service delivery. Secondly credit deposit ratio (CDR) is only 46% against RBI norm of 60%. In other words, the extent of credit deployment for every unit of resource raised is fairy low. Thirdly, the per capita credit was only rs.693 in Manipur as against Rs. 50, 381 of Chandigarh and Rs. 4,270 of Kerala. What is possibly required at the programme of training on `Banking, Finance, Project planning and Management`. It is therefore not a surprise that the quantum of the direct finance to farmers and small scale units of Manipur was also low. Total Target achievement of credit plans as on 30.09.2010 under ACP 2010-11 is 31% which includes agriculture & allied activities, SSI services, total priority sectors and non priority sectors. Credit flow to agriculture sector as on 30-09-2010 Axis bank(0% to total advance), Allahabad bank (5%), BOB ( 11%),CBI (11%), ICICI (0%),IOB (3%), PSB (3%), UCO(10%) and VJB(5%),Manipur Rural bank(7%), IUCB(1%), MWCB(0%) and MPCB (2%). Banks need to review their performance in this sector. Credit flow to MSME is comparatively poor such as AXIS (21% to total advances), ICICI (0%) and PNB (18%) in the state are required to review their performance in this sector. The member banks had been advised the necessary of the opening of more branches to extend banking facilities to all the unbank villages through the state. So far, no bank have committed to open any branch except SBI which have open two more branches in Ukhrul and Churachandpur.

Recovery is bad, hence, refinance is not possible Initial provision is not found for the same, and hence, refinance is not possible. The spiral of debt-burden stands in the way of taking fuller advance of the refinance market. Major three factors for over dues are lack of incremental income (60%), lack of proper facilities to repay (31%) and willful default (9%). No banking corporate communication office/ officers are sitting at Imphal. A big debate is required for business initiatives and banking awareness to the people and officials as well. By the way, franchise business can be deal mostly non power consumable one `“such as education, branded company products, retails etc. Advantage is that franchise owner are getting business and investment plan, skills training and trade protection by the mother company. Banks has confidence to finance loan to those reputed company business.

If you want world class training institution, we can bring in Manipur anytime. But, the state government has to provide consessional fees for students because training fees is high for world class institution. No matter, we believe that state government is capable to provide consessional fees for student and government is sponsoring students for skills development courses outside state. This is my response to Opposition Leader, Radhabinod Koijam, I. Hemochandra, Speaker, Manipur Legislative Assembly and Bijoy Koijam, Deputy Chairman, Planning Department. And, the credit will be yours, and people will say `This is it`™!

SPF government is very smart–your plan for river projects is not the same as I read engineering management books and my plan for desilation of the Imphal River has maximum utilisation of river water resources such as micro hydro power generation, water absorber plantation, water harvesting for lean season for drinking and irrigation purposes and income generation. Your electricity billing mechanism and tax collection drive will get feedback in the coming state assembly election unless government made correction`”absolutely different from my complete solution on power distribution and transmission management system. My youth programme design is experimentation. So, may I know the feedback of your youth programme, please? Still I am not taking I am giving you ideas even I have no connection, communication and relationship with state government. Any way, we have one common goal, that`™s development `”which is sustainable! Be it today or tomorrow, Imphal will witness `Urban Legends Longing`™!

We can do it, we can create conceptual plan. We can create job if the state government is ready to act. Why don`™t state leaders say Ibungo, Ibema sing, lao leibaksi amukta phahansi lao? Do you think that people will come and request you for the job? It is ridiculous! This is called lack of communication and lack of delegation of functions and power. Nobody will come to help your government unless your attitude and management is changed. State tax is highest in all India; remaining are Farting tax (yongchak charaga moi thokpa singe tax), Lady gaga tax (masak phajabi maunaha erang taubee singe tax), Cabin tax (lovers sitting in restaurant cabin tax). Well, in addition to this, Maiba- maibi tax (witch tax are collected in Romanian government) Dog tax, (all dogs are taxed in Switzerland and Netherland from the dog owner), Virginity tax (German government took virginity tax from 18 yrs old girl who sold her virginity auction), tattoo tax (anybody scratch body for fashion) etc.

Social missing point: There are certain areas women writers must fill up such as women and children problem, life style, relationship etc. Sociologist, psychologist, sexologist and home scientist must took active participate in the discussion. Madhuri Dixit, film actress says `I wan to be a good mother`. To be a good mother and to be a good wife can`™t go together at one time. Mahatma Gandhi`™s greatest disappointment was his loving eldest son Harilal Gandhi and his follower Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Harilal was out caste from Hindu Samaj and converted into Muslim, and despite of his name changed to Abdullah Gandhi, could not changed his bad behaviour and moral (please see the movie `Gandhi, my father`™). One ex MP did send his wife outside state in the time of election because his wife always speaks nonsense to the visiting women workers. She fear and hates any women attach and closer to her MP husband. Finally, her husband`™s political career was declined to finish!

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By Joshy Joseph
At the outset, let me confess that I am not a Bengali and I don`™t understand the inner most nuances of the language. But we Malyalis have an umbilical cord relationship with Bengal and Bengalis through Cinema, Literature and Politics. I have read the best writers of Bengal in my mother tongue Malayalam. Now for more than a decade through my quest to know how much this cultural osmosis has impacted Bengal from Kerala, I should confess that the graph is not so encouraging.

Some of our writers like Thakazhi and Basheer are familiar in Bengal through some literary bound marriages between Bengal and Kerala. Consequently, the Malyali bride learning the Bengali language bridging the languages and cultures but never the vice versa. Even when vice versa wedlocks happened very strangely and mysteriously the doors always opened only eastwards. My emphasis on the act of Malayali learning Bengali language should not be confused as southward parochialism.

It comes out from a single fact that we were generally watchful of the happenings in the east. But south was identified as the direction through which ` YAMRAJ`™ appears or from where Rajnikant comes. In cinema the cultural exchanges happened irrespective of any matrimonial connections. It is part of our common city lores like the GURU `“ DISCIPLE relationship of Ritwik Ghatak and John Abraham or mentor `“ follower equation of Satyajit Ray and Adoor Gopalakrishnan. Mrinalda was in anyway left to the left. The International Film Festival of India `“ 2010, at Goa, at least to the Malayali delegates gave a new face for Bengali Cinema `“ RITUPORNO GHOSH. There were three films, `ABOHOMAN`™, `NOUKADUBI`™ and `JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY`™.
The first two were directed by Rituporno and the third one saw him as an actor and creative director. I can`™t speak for the entire Goan delegates. But the Malayali intelligentia was awe-struck. The country bars at Panaji witnessed late night open forum sessions both open-for-Rum and debates. Some months back I had read an interview by ace documentary maker and cameraman Ranjan Palit `“ `I find contemporary Bengali films, whether its Rituporno or Anjan, extremely `Nyaka`™. I can`™t sit through them.

`Nyaka`™ and pretentious is a dangerous combination.` Instantly I could identify with Ranjan Palit although we had certain differences of opinion in the past. Later, in some Kolkata open-for-Rum `adda`™ sessions. Ranjan`™s words were in circulation, I realized. Incidentally, in one of the recent articles in Malayalam, I dubbed Rituporno as `“ `an overrated pulp fiction maker`™. But I was in trouble with myself at Goa. 90% through the film `ABOHOMAN`™ I was feeling artistically safe and comfortable as a viewer in the hands of my chosen director. If the film was not encompassing you at some level, you didn`™t have to sit through fastening your seat belt in Goa.

Just get out and have drought-beer. Vijay Mallya had facilitated for it at half the price of a coffee available in the same venue. Since the overall quality of festival films was average or below average (except the retrospective session) the frequency of walk-outs created seeming beer-bellies around me. But `ABOHOMAN`™ hooked me up to the point where the protagonist senior filmmaker, who is in a delirium asking his son played by Jshu Sengupta `“ `Tumi eto lamba hoye gechho!`™ (You have grown so tall!). I thought the emotional and cinematic graph reached its zenith and was not mentally prepared for a lesser experience there after. Rituporno need not have looked for any walking-sticks in Rabindra Sangeet or otherwise. `ABOHOMAN by then started tremoring with a classic cinematic ecstasy.

Somehow my personal observation is that, it is a typical Indian problem. We run out of creative stamina by the end. The way Marathi filmmaker Umesh Kulkarni realized his film `VIHIR`™, reverberating the celebration of sinple and rustic life with its unpredictable tragedies, transformed me into an open-jawed typical Indian viewer, until the typical Indian phenomenon of running out of stamina towards the end, killed my happiness. I was more or less convinced about this `stamina issue`™, after watching Iranian master Abbas Kirostomi`™s `CERTIFIED COPY` at IFFI, Goa. He started it well. It got thickened through the journey. It paused where it should, by transferring the aftershock from the theatre screen to mine, expanding the running time of the film beyond its physical. I am elevated.

I walk past the beer bars drunk without drinking and without a bulging belly or holes in my pocket. Then I watched `JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY`™ directed by Kaushik Ganguly. I had developed a liking for Kaushik Ganguly after assessing his short film as the best one out of six, in `EK MUTHO CHHOBI`™. But I thought his `SUNNO A BUKEY`™ was basically flawed. The sculptor protagonist of this film was agonized about the small breast size of his wife after their first night. First of all, to me, this fellow is a pitiable joker and a poor sculptor who had to undress to see the anatomy of a girl with whom he was roaming around so far! When our film `ONE DAY FROM A HANGMAN`™S LIFE`™ was theatrically released at Nandan, we tried to parody the title of this film in our posters which had later inconvenienced Chief Minister Buddha Babu. We were told that he saw some political underpinnings in our essentially an undergarment take `“ `Kar Bukey a Sunnota?`™ (Whose Bossom is Empty?). I have problems with Kaushik Ganguly`™s film `JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY`™ when it comes to the sepia tone enactments of yester years`™ artist Chapal Bhaduri, who performed female roles in `Yatra`™.

It is a film within film structure. Rituporno as a filmmaker, making a documentary on man-woman overlapping story of Chapal Bhaduri. While Rituporno as a creative director of `JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY`™ blurs the dividing lines between Rituporno on-screen and Rituporno off-screen so naturally and convincingly, I said to myself that Bengali Cinema at last is breaking away from its `Nyaka`™ art film pretentions. It is one thing for any other actor doing the role of a homosexual filmmaker in a Bengali film and a totally different thing while Rituporno himself is doing thatt role, dressing like off-screen Rituporno addressing the unique nature of a sexuality and thereby undressing a `Bhadralok`™ mask staright away. I murmured in Goa `“ Bravo! The Malayali voyeurs in the late night bars wanted to know from me whether I knew Rituporno personally or not. I gave them an expression which could be edited by my friend Amlan into a wedding sequence or a funeral sequence.

Let them interpret the sexuality of that moment till the next film festival. Rituporno stated in an interview `“ `We don`™t realize that it can also be a state of being`¦ that one functions in all areas from this state of being. Homosexuality evokes very strong images of homoeroticism in our minds. The divide between homosexuality and homoeroticism is blurred in us`. In the `Sumang-Lila`™ (Courtyard theatre) performances in Manipur even now the female roles are being performed by male artists. I have met dozens and dozens of Chapal Bhaduris in Manipur. While shooting a film entitled `MAKING THE FACE` with Tom Sharma, a makeup artist in Imphal, I learned a little more about the lives of homosexuals which are tucked down the carpets in Manipur or even in its representations in cinema. It was by default `MAKING THE FACE`™ became a film as it is today. While proposing the film to the public broadcaster, Doordarshan through PSBT, we were metaphor ridden at the proposal stage. I had met Tom Sharma long ago during a marriage function in Imphal as he was making up the bride which took hours. At the end the bride looked like a Raslila dancer ready to enter her stage. I was introduced to Tom. We shook hands. I felt a different touch. We were so nadve to propose a film on a transgender, Tom, as a metaphor as my friend Subhajit Dasbhaumik wrote an even more confusing proposal to PSBT. He wrote `“ `The proposed documentary on Sharma will have to be shot candidly as well as calculatively by following Tom Sharma for a period of 2 months. Liberalization of media (the formats and technical apparatus available in now a days) and its power distribution over enlightened areas will be brought in subjective camera movements. The approach of being an image and the transformation of an image will be marginal dialectical to the film itself.` Finally, we landed up in Imphal for shooting. The very first day of the shooting, I realized that Tom Sharma is not a transgender person but a homosexual. The assignment in hand is on transgender and how do I change his gender identity, now in Imphal? Rituporno says that `the divide between homosexuality and homoeroticism is blurred in us`™. But I had to blur everything, including my original self for this film. There were several objections to several scenes in the film by Doordarshan and Censor Board. When the film was completed I wanted to show it to Tom. It was he who made it possible for the film to enter into the interiors of his life. Tom is a woman caught in a man`™s body. The emotional response while he had to attend to the marriage ceremony of his partner was so fragile. Tom got drunk and puked. While we were shooting the film, Tom Sharma, his ex partner and his wife, all were staying together as business partners. Tom Sharma as a makeup artist for Meitei weddings and Devjit as a photographer. I found that Meitei marriages are so colourful and musical. I could effortlessly foreground Tom and his partner, one making up and the other photographing. The film on a homosexual won the national award as the best family welfare, non-fiction film in 2007. Tom was naturally impatient to see the film. He came to my hotel room and we saw the film together with other common friends. Tom was sitting beside me on the bed. I was nervous. When Tom was uttering candid dialogues like the one that he felt like 50-50 or where he broke down while talking about his partner`™s marriage, on screen. Tom pinched me very dearly. Each pinch conveyed differently each time. Then we went with him to his house where we saw him caring and cajoling his partner`™s new born baby with radiating tenderness. Homosexuality of Tom Sharma was almost asexual. Everything looked natural and normal to me. When Rituporno on-screen, who was obviously upset with the news of pregnancy of his homosexual partner`™s wife and yet sends a pillow from his hotel room to the pregnant lady for padding up while travelling, I felt the tender care of Tom, which very often escapes our macho mindscapes. Rituporno in `ABOHOMAN`™ dealt with such cinematic class the failing wriggle out of a `Bhadralok`™ filmmaker from an extra marital affair within the action `“ reaction pattern located in Bengali upper middle class ethos. Not with contempt but with care. And in `JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY`™ he confronts these structures. I feel I know him little better after watching his iconoclastic avatar in `JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY`™ which should fetch him legitimately a national award as best actor of 2010 with its eloquent pinches. That`™s the punch line.

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by Hoihnu Houzel
The boss of DONER prefers the focus to be on the job – development of the North East – rather than on her position.
Jayati Chandra guards her privacy. She`™s media shy and does not believe in parting with personal information. And she`™s quite firm that she does not want to be photographed nor is she willing to part with a photo of hers.

However, as the secretary for the Ministry for the Development of the North-East Region (DONER) Chandra will never disappoint anyone wishing to gather information on her department. So, in a way, it`™s easy to gauge Chandra`™s level of efficiency and professionalism.

She promptly answers queries on email. She communicates through her staff which is rather polite and courteous. Perhaps, briefed by her to be just so.

A 1975 batch of Uttar Pradesh cadre, Chandra is a seasoned bureaucrat who has served in different ministries. She was the Secretary in the Department of Youth Affairs in Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. She was also the Principal Adviser, Planning Commission, among others. At the helm of DONER, Chandra is known for her pragmatic and hands-on approach. She tours the region frequently and monitors the pace of development in every state. A no-nonsense lady, Chandra oversees each project at DONER which is an important ministry that was set up in September 2001 under the Vajpayee government. The ministry acts as the nodal department of the Central government to deal with matters pertaining to socioeconomic development of the eight states of North East i.e. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. Touted as the as fulfillment of a long-felt need of a region that is often been neglected and cut off from the rest of India, DONER has since then initiated many channels to enhance the region`™s connectivity with the rest of India whether by road, rail or air.
Hoihnu Hauzel catches up with Jayati Chandra to discuss DONER.

Current: The very purpose of why DONER came into existence in 2001 was to act as the nodal department of the Central government to initiate socio-economic development of the eight states of Northeast India. Looking back, do you think, it has served its purpose?

Chandra:It is serving its purpose and is continuously striving to do better.

What are the many challenges in your role as a bureaucrat?

I would say it that is the same as any other bureaucrat`™s.

Are there much room for innovation in executing or initiating projects and schemes?

Certainly more than innovation `“ our job is to enhance motivation, commitment and dedication in anything that we do including planning, executing and putting to use whatever projects and schemes that are taken up.

What is your personal contribution to the ministry or what are the changes that you have brought to the ministry of DONER.
I am as good as the team with whom I have the honour to work.

What are the challenges in working with the eight North Eastern states?

Getting everyone together (physically) in one place most of the time! Otherwise it has been a pleasure and privilege to work with them.
Do you think people from the North East are too dependent on Central funds for development?

The Volume I of the 11th Plan document states that `for the special category states of NER, the per capita volume of Central assistance is among the highest in the country. Against the all- India average of Rs 683.94 the per capita Central assistance in the NER was Rs 2574.98 in 2006-07. But you have to understand that unlike most other states the level of private sector investment in the NER is almost zero. It may be observed that the per capita Central assistance is the highest in the state of Sikkim.

Is it true that 60 lakh was left unspent from the general advocacy fund for the North East in 2009-10? If so, was it because there was no convincing proposal or activities?

The plan scheme of Advertising & Publicity has been formulated to project the inherent potential and achievements of the North Eastern region and to create an awareness of its unique and distinctive features. It also seeks to highlight the role of the government in facilitating development processes through appropriate strategies in the region. Under the scheme, various events and programmes are organized within and outside the region which include trade expos/ fairs, seminars, publicity of the potential of the region through media etc.

Yes there was some underutilization of funds. The Thrust to make North East self reliant reasons are many, but chief among them is that this amount is given programme wise and the fund is released in two installments `“ the final one after the conclusion of events. Sometime events are rescheduled and/or the original scope is curtailed leading to savings.

Moreover the avenues for raising the states`™ own resources are, at this time highly limited. Gradually as the status of basic infrastructure like power, roads, connectivity etc. increases, this scenario would change.

There is a perception that DONER only doles out money but rarely monitors the execution of a project till the end, thus, lacking in real commitment. Please justify this perception. And what is DONER`™s policy on follow-up and accountability for all the funds and schemes assigned to different projects meant for development in the North East.

The perception is erroneous. First of all these projects are implemented by the state governments. The funds are released in three installments. The release of 2nd and 3rd installment is made against the report of the state government. This report includes physical and financial progress, comments of nodal officers and photographs. Select projects are physically seen by the ministry`™s own representatives. Periodic reviews are carried out by me and other officers too.

Does DONER encourage entrepreneurs to approach the ministry for assistance? How do you judge the work of an entrepreneur or is there any yardstick in order to get support or financial assistance from the ministry?

This Ministry does not have any scheme for funding entrepreneurs etc. We would advise entrepreneurs to approach the state governments and NEDFI. However, they are always welcome to approach the ministry for policy clarification and/or facilitation with state governments.

There are some externally aided projects by organizations like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and IFAD. What is the status of these projects?

The broad objective of ADB assisted North Eastern state roads project (NESRP) is to facilitate regional integration and trade flows in the North East. The project also seeks to develop institutions for capacity building of state PWDs for effective and efficient management of road assets. It is proposed to cover a total length of 433 km at a cost of US $298.6 million. ADB will contribute US $200 million by way of loan. However, the proposal is yet to be finalized as loan negotiations with ADB will be undertaken after obtaining the government of India`™s internal clearances.

IFAD assisted North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCRMP) is under implementation since 1998 in two districts each in Assam (Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills), Manipur (Senapati and Ukhrul) and Meghalaya (West Garo Hills and West Khasi Hills).

The project being implemented in collaboration with NEC through local communities, aims at improving livelihoods of the people through capacity building and introduction of new technology and techniques for sustainable growth. The project, costing Rs 159.36 crore with IFAD`™s contribution of Rs 109.92 crore, seeks to improve livelihoods of the poorest in targeted villages.

Are there any upcoming projects with any of these global organizations?

North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project for Upland Areas (NERCORMP) is a jointly funded project of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and North Eastern Council, Ministry of DONER, government of India. NERCORMP is a livelihood and rural development project aimed to transform the intervened lives of the poor and marginalized tribal families in North East (NE) India, and thereby become a developmental in the region.

NERCORMP is operating in three states of Assam, Manipur and Meghalaya in North East India, covering two districts in each state. These are Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills districts in Assam, Senapati and Ukhrul districts in Manipur, and West Khasi Hills and West Garo Hills districts in Meghalaya. The project is working in 860 villages, covering 39161 households, 1012 Natural Resource Management Groups (NaRM-Gs), 3168 Self Help Groups (SHGs), 103 NaRM-G Associations and 103 SHG Federations.

NERCORMP aims to synergize the best strengths of the government. IFAD (an international organization with rich and long global experience), partner NGOs, a dedicated project team and the inherent remarkable strengths possessed by communities. Fortunately and gladly, this has happened. Most of the proven and well known modern community and rural developmental tools were employed. Further, innovative and creative solutions kept emerging along the way in NERCORMP.

The overall objective of NERCORMP is `to improve the livelihoods of vulnerable groups in a sustainable manner through improved management of their resource base in a way that contributes to preservation and restoration of the environment.` Another IFAD loan of $20 million which will partially cover the cost of expansion of NERCORMP in the adjoining villages has been sanctioned. NERCORMP-II is going to cost Rs 200 crore (Rs170 crore for new villages plus Rs 30 crore for handholding on tapering basis in existing villages). It is proposed to cover 20,000 household in 400 new villages assuming 50 household per village over a period of six years.

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by Bobo Khuraijam
Taste of life. Is not it a wonderful thing? There have been thousands of enquiries on it. As a fall out of this enquiries there are again myriad of interpretations. Each interpretation has got different stances, some totally different and some crisscrossing each other. As a matter of fact, we are not in a better position to dwell into it. But on one aspect we can dwell on it with elan. For that one does not need to turn the pages of the book of wisdom. That we human are endowed with senses which are amazingly different from other living species. Each of the senses interrelates with each other. Among all the senses what has been a fixation for all our Leipung member is the sense of taste. We would agree that animals have also got the sense of taste. Just look at our pet dogs. You can see their change of preference the immediate following day after having a nice meal of chicken. The sad part is that they cannot prepare their own food. They have to eat whatever we offer to them. Well for us, we know the fine art of food production. We grow them or rear them for our consumption. We follow certain rules of permutation and combination. A slight alteration in the amount of the selected ingredient would directly affect in the taste. There are curriculum and institution which impart the knowledge of food preparation. Call it by any other name; we at the Leipung are least interested in that kind of learning. We excelled in eating anything that is eatable. We have no hesitation in declaring what is haowi or haote after any mouthful sessions. That is our forte, we should say.

THOSE SESSIONS: to be honest, we have been a regular visitor to the food festivals. This festival has become a regular feature every year. It got instant recognition from the sarkar and its department concern. They were invited to be part of the Sangai Festival which is held to promote tourism industry in the state. As expected, in each of the festival held so far, the food court has been a major attraction. We would like to give full credit to the group of young innovative people who came out with the idea; the idea to hold food festival. It has not even been half a decade that they first came out with their idea. Before their idea was actualized, they took out a survey to different part of the state. They went to places like Ukhrul, Chandel and Senapati etc. to mobilize our friends from the hill. We could see their presence in quite a good number from the first festival itself. They visited different parts of the valley as well, places like Sekmai, Andro, Phayeng, Moirang and Nambol etc. Each one of the places has got verities of food and beverage which are unique in taste. Remembering all those cuisines we are already carried away to those ahaoba days. Have you tasted: Ngamu sanggom, a variety of fish found in Barak River `“ a special cuisine of the Liangmei community, Changalme from Churachandpur, Utongchaak and sandang from Chandel , Oksha makhong special of Paomei community, Ukhrul`™s Eroi athongba special, Manungshaa ayaiba from Andro, Chahao tan of Waikhong, Mangra heingaan of Wabagai ,Cheng bora of Kakching, Chawai singju of Awang Sekmai? `¦well the list is endless and mouth watering. After having a glance at these items and if you do not feel anything in your mouth, please stop reading. Go see a physician at once. Some of our members opined that people come to this festival with a different look. Whenever there is a mela or anything of that kind, they come with the a priori notion that they are going to negotiate a heavy price for anything they buy. So you can notice a skewed look in many of the visitors. Whereas in food festivals, people turn up with a `ready to nourish`™ and `ready to eat`™ face, therefore a warm face `“ as warm as and as enjoyable as Maroi ga bori ga thongba of an Ushob.

FUTURE SESSION: has got more things in store. We can well assert that these cuisines we enjoy today are gift from our forefathers. They must have gone through an uneasy `fooding journey`™ in order to be able to come out with all kinds of dishes. Some of them must have gone through hardships like food poisoning in their attempt of innovating new Chinjak. Some of them must have even sacrificed their lives for a better and tastier food. We salute to those unsung heroes. We can be proud of the varieties which are available today. We have been told that it is the gift of the civilization. Every civilization has unique stories with unique food. For a tiny population and the kind of dishes we have, we can be certainly proud of it, without being jingoistic enough. We have heard and seen, as they are beam directly through the satellite television, the kind of food that has gone global. Chinese food is already everywhere. So are foods from other countries. In simple term, their foods are an inseparable menu in the hotels and restaurants of good standards. Our friends who have tasted Thai cuisines in five star hotels have claimed that those cuisines are not that finer from our Kangsoi. If that is the case, it is time that we give a thought on how to promote our own cuisines. The coming venture of the innovative youth brings some promises. We are told that the regular food festival which was held at the state level is expanding. They are now ready to go global. They have invited countries like China, Thailand, Korea and Vietnam to take in the food festival. And their acknowledgement of participation has been already made known to the organizers. We hope it would be a new beginning, an opportunity to learn from these countries of how their foods are being packaged and stylized to reach the global standards. We at the Leipung are already prepared to overwork our mouth, this April. How about you?

FOOTNOTE: this time around, we have seen events where mobs go on riot. They destroy houses, to the extent of burning down and even killing the people supposedly involve in the crime. Leipung Ningthou calls it, `khaambi mei gi ngaoramchat wayel`.

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