Tag: kanglaonline

IMPHAL, June 13 (Newmai News Network): Communist Party of India (CPI) Manipur unit will exert pressure on Central and state governments to initiate political dialogue without any precondition with underground outfits of the state to resolve the insurgency problem, said the party’s outgoing general secretary Langol Iboyaima. 

Speaking at a press conference at Irawati Bhawan Monday, the CPI Manipur outgoing general secretary said that the party has unanimously resolved on five resolutions during the 20th state conference in the presence of its national general secretary AB Bardhan. The three-day-long state conference that started on June 10 concluded Sunday.

The state unit of the party will exert pressure on Central and state government for the repeal of AFSPA from the soil of Manipur, according to the resolutions adopted at the conference, while also resolving that the party will attempt at forming a left and democratic alternative government in the forthcoming general assembly election due early next year, said Mr Iboyaima.

CPI Manipur has been fighting to safeguard the territorial integrity of the state since its inception in 1948 and will continue to do so into the future, inform the outgoing state general secretary about the other resolutions.

The nature of distribution of power between Centre and state as informed by the Constitution of India is unitary in character, and CPI has resolved that the Constitution should be amended to usher in federal polity, he said, while adding that Manipur should be given a special status by the Central government.

Besides the resolutions, the conference also demanded from the Central government the fast tracking of process for the establishment of separate High Court for Manipur and the raising of highway protection force.

It also demanded the handing over of maintenance work of National Highway 53 and 39 to state Public Work Department from BRTF as also public declaration of assets of ministers and MLAs.

During the conference, the state CPI elected Dr M Nara as its new general secretary while L Koireng and Th Nabakumar as its assistant secretaries.

At the press conference, Dr M Nara said that the era of coalition politics is here to stay and the party needed to change its paradigm and strengthen its stand.

A very strong coalition government is indispensable in Manipur in order to solve the problems besetting the state, he said.

Touching on the formation of the state unit of the Naga People’s Front (NPF), the ex-minister said that the party does not agree with the “divisive ideology” propounded by NPF which, he said, is bound to have adverse political ramification for the state. CPI national general secretary AB Bardhan had also publicly articulated his reservation on the formation of NPF in Manipur few weeks ago.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/iliSxq1Rqq8/

IMPHAL June 14: United NGOs Mission, Manipur has appealed to the Chief Minister and the Governor of the State to make immediate alternative arrangement for the evicted families of Lamphel Yaipha Leikai at the earliest.

A press release of the secretary of the organization U Nobokishore stated that the conditions of the fifteen evicted families are now in a deplorable condition. As the families are left without proper shelter and living in makeshift shelters, the aged persons and the children are suffering from starvation and water borne diseases, the children are also not able to attend school, it maintained.

The press release further thanked the organizations and individuals for partaking in the protest rally and public meeting held on June 12 addressing the escalation of crime against women and children.

Meanwhile sources stated that the makeshift shelters constructed anew along the Lamphel roadside have also been removed by security persons.

Local MLA W Brajabidhu is also reported to have met the evicted families and told them to shift to another adjoining area, but the families have stated that the area is unfeasible as the said place is a marshy area.

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The question that haunts many in Manipur today is undoubtedly: which way Manipur? For many the hunt for the answer verges on despair. The fact is there seems to be too many answers but not a single clear cut one. There are too many unsettled issues of awesome magnitude, their problem potential accentuated and amplified further by the fact that they seem to share no point of confluence. Our mainstream established politics is totally in a mess; our society has no clear focus on any particular goal; our civil society is so hopelessly divided that it is questionable if there is anything that can be termed as civil society at all; reciprocal to this division is also the underground politics, multiple-fractured and threatening to tear Manipur along the many fault-lines they have introduced on sectarian lines; law breaking has ceased to be the preserve of those who consider themselves out of the purview of the law of the land, but also the law enforcer as well. It is aptly a situation in which anarchy has spiralled out of control of any centralized command. 

Nothing moves, and nothing can move in any positive direction in such a situation. Because the society is so badly divided, there will always be somebody or the other who will not be happy with any decision meant for everybody. Take the controversy that the recent downsizing of the oversized ministry has evoked. It is sad to know that it did not need to be so bitter had the chief minister been a little more sensitive about regional representation or else acted by a definite, neutral formula. He introduced an arbitrary element in his choices for reasons that are matters of speculation. Since the administrative division of the state into its nine districts has little to do with administrative convenience, but are more in the nature of drawing ethnic (communal) geography, the chief minister should have realized there is a certain inevitability about ensuring an even, district-wise representation in his ministry to the extent possible. Unless the criteria was picking legislators with proven integrity and merit alone, there could have been little other reason than personal for him to have thought of giving two to some and nil to others.

Take again the question of territorial integrity. There is no point in ignoring the fact that the term is being interpreted in diametrically opposite ways by the hill population, in particular the Nagas, and the valley, in particular the Meiteis. It is another matter what history and politics say, but the urgent point of concern is, there is a great divide in the present times with extremely grave implications for everybody, and all of us, in the hills as well as in the valley, should be worried about this. The same divide is there in almost every other issue in the state. We have seen the ugly sectarian controversy even on the selection process for MBBS studies. We have seen the binary division on the issue of the Timapmukh multipurpose dam; we have seen similar friction on the construction the Sana Keithel; we have even seen imminently avoidable controversies on the manner the Kangla was proposed to contest for inclusion as a world heritage site. On the last issue, it is of relevance to note that while Manipur debated on whether the British colonial legacy imprinted inside the Kangla should be preserved or destroyed, it missed being included in the UNESCO’s list of new sites this year, unlike two other sites in India including the Victoria Railway Terminus in Mumbai. Now that the Assam Rifles has vacated the fort, there should be more hope for it to enter the UNESCO’s list. The question is who is pushing the issue, or is it being pushed at all still after the initial flutters.

We need to disentangle all the entanglements first before we can hope to find an answer to the onerous question, which way Manipur? This disentanglement, we are convinced, can come about only across the negotiation table around which the different sections of our divided society sit and thrash out a common denominator on which to build all our future social arbitration mechanisms. Each section must realize that the only choice we have before is this common denominator or continued anarchy and mayhem. The choice, to borrow a catchy advertisement line for a soft drink, should be clear.

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Leader Writer: Paojel Chaoba

Recently a friend came back from abroad, after spending some weeks here. I was given a detail on how things which are supposed to be mandatory for a civilized society are much at lacking even in the State capital itself.

One at the foremost was the erratic power supply issue, the public is more than aware of the present status, sometimes it becomes a task to charge one’s mobile phone, carrying a mobile charger has become routine and to look at other localities or offices whether if power is there. All these just to charge a phone, the myriad ways that the commercial enterprises must be suffering are left to one’s imagination.

The effectiveness of the Power Department recently concluded drive also fails to address the woes of the public. The drive carried out had disconnected scores of lines of the defaulting consumers and arrested several persons for illegal connections, tariff were collected to the tune of several crores. But ,despite the supposed all out effort of the State Power Department has yielded but naught and the supply remains erratic as ever.

If we dig deeper and the concerned officials are approached for their departments non performance, the reason is always pointed towards one thing only,i.e. the prevailing law and order situation of the state.

It is observed that most of the top executives of the State may ride in fancy cars, have fabulous mansions and have numerous bank accounts with bulging balances, but they lack the air of a contented person. Most have a worn out and apprehensive look, truth be told, they cannot sleep with their gates open nor travel without security escort. And the blame for their condition is still on the law and order, the scare tactics and threats of the UGs.

The blame game is open to both sides, the officials on their part stating that the UG interference and extortion have affected the workings and proper implementation of many schemes aimed at public welfare, whereas the UGs also in their circulars charge the official of high corruption and the blame game continues.

It is pertinent to mention that the factionalism trend of the UG outfits still continues unabated and the extortionist approach sometimes gives the benefit of the doubt to the state officials.

It is heard in many occasions for the insurgent groups need to come under an administrative umbrella as they all have a common objective. A united front if emerged into reality would be beneficial to all. Their struggle for independence would gain momentum and it may be easier for the government to address a political solution which may come in the form of a plebiscite or otherwise. Moreover, public servants cannot blame their shortcomings to a vague splinter organization.

The State government also needs to come clean in addressing the insurgency issues and the recent surrender of PULF cadres which according to Tehelka Magazine was a farce is factually evident by the series of events in itself. If a media house based on its sources announces that a jailbreak will occur and so many prisoners including a high profile convict will escape on a particular date, and later if the jailbreak occurs. It clearly shows that the media house knows about the system working inside the jail and the weaknesses and covert schemes of the concerned jail authorities. Quoting a line from Reggae music legend Bob Marley, “You can fool some people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all of the time” should be acknowledged from all quarters that if the public stands up for their rights, then there will be no stopping them and they are not afraid to lay down their lives for the just cause. A significant example is the observation of the Great June Uprising Day which falls today. The 18 martyrs are the ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice neither for money nor independence but for the real love of the land.

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NEW DELHI, June 20 (MIC): Government has released Rs. 77.50 crore to different states under the Rain-fed Area Development Programme (RADP) in 2011-12 so far. The budgetary allocation for the current financial year is to the tune of Rs. 250 crore. Rain-fed areas of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are covered under RADP. 

RADP is a sub scheme under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). The programme aims at improving the quality of life of farmers, especially small and marginal farmers, by offering a complete package of activities suitable for rain-fed areas. The scheme is implemented by State Agriculture Department, the nodal agency for implementation of RKVY.

All the rain-fed areas (i.e. areas which are not covered under assured means of irrigation) having large extent of cultivable land and potential for increasing agriculture productivity are covered under RADP. Within the rain-fed areas, priority is given to arid, semi-arid and sub-humid ecosystems.

Rain-fed areas constitute about three-fourth of the land mass under arid, semi-arid, and dry-humid zones and account for nearly 57 per cent of the agricultural land spread across large parts of the country. These areas are significant in terms of ecology, agricultural productivity and livelihood for millions of rural households in the country.

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Leader Writer: Hrishikesh Angom

In the midst of stringent movement for “quality education” launched by various students’ bodies in the state, many educational institutions are fast moving in the so called trend of “commercialized education”. One may find large colourful ads on some popular local papers about this and that school with lucrative offerings to the students. It’s quite commendable for the proprietor to make such big offers which could bring a big change in the education scenario of the state. But then looking at the commercial side of education, one may obviously sense the motive for making such advertisements by these schools. Often it happens with less popular schools which want to draw public attention by repeatedly casting some of their bright students on newspapers and television. These institutions are more or less business establishments where everything is meant for profit-making only.

From where does the need for making advertisement in education arise? Why do less popular schools spend huge money on ads? Are they simply making for the sake of students? These questions will surely haunt the commonsense of the people who see the ads of schools and coaching centres everyday. Quite simply “profit making” is the motive behind such ads. Moreover, the lucrative offers are designed only for some meritorious students who will indeed be the name and fame of the school. The school will then make money from numerous average students enrolled with the hope of getting quality education. Here, one may investigate the actuality of these schools. The essence of education seems to be lost by making such advertisements. There is no need to spend huge amount of money on making advertisements to seek more enrolment of students. The education institutions have been turned into business hubs by some commercial mined people. It is an undeniable fact that nothing in this world works without money and so is the education. But, the trend of commercializing education is a stumbling block in the path of achieving quality education. Moreover, most people of our state are economically backward and they would not be able to afford so much on education. The higher cost of education in private schools is due to huge expenditures made on advertisements. If the advertisement is made once or twice for announcing new admission by highlighting some of the facilities of the schools, then it is quite acceptable. But casting some bright students time and again on newspapers and television irritates the people. It seems the students are models promoting some kind of commodity called “education” in the market.

As far as possible education should not be considered as a “commodity” as claimed by many people. It is true that we pay money for education but that does not necessarily mean that it should be commercialized like in other business sectors. The purpose of “education” should be made clear so as to sensitize the people towards achieving quality education in the state. A good school will be good and it will be noticed by people without much publicity and advertisement. On the other hand, the schools run by profit mongers will try to catch the public attention by making all sorts of publicity and advertisement in the media offering to sell their product of purported “education”. It is high time for the people to come to senses and look thoroughly to the actuality of schools and coaching centres which make attractive advertisements on newspapers and television luring the students to get enrolled at their schools and coaching centres. It will be good for the school management groups to invest more in enhancing education than in making advertisements to get more enrolment.

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