Our demands are for Manipur, assert JACs

Imphal, September 29: Taking strong exception to the assertion of the people of Thoubal Leishangthem and Thoudam that they never took part in the people's movement, the Khurai JAC and the Lamshang JAC reminded that their demands are for the rights and welfare of all the people of Manipur.

A joint press release issued by the two JACs said that they were well aware of the divide and rule policy being allegedly played by Chief Minister Okram Ibobi against the people of Manipur.

Yet, the people of Manipur were cautious enough not to fall prey to such diabolic policy.

Apparently referring to the pamphlet distributed by some people of Thoubal Leishangthem and Thoudam yesterday, the JACs asked whether they could speak against the mass movement in case the tragedies befalling upon the families of Rabina and Sanjit fall on their own families.

"Should not they launch similar protest movements, if the victims belonged to Thoubal district and the Chief Minister happened to be someone from Khurai or Lamshang?", they questioned.

Questioning their capacity to distribute pamphlets at Imphal Bazar yesterday without any permission from Imphal West DC, Imphal East DC or Thoubal DC, the JACs said that some people would have been shot dead by police commandos belonging to Thoubal district in case any group belonging to other districts were distributing pamphlets.

As long as such attitude of the Government persists, development and progress would continue to remain out of sight, they asserted.

The JACs also condemned the gate-crashing and raiding the house of the Khurai JAC convenor by police commandos at about midnight of September 26 .

The state Government's treatment of the issue in such manner was nothing but stirring a hornet's nest.

Saying that they took serious note of some people openly belittling and challenging the mass movement though mass media, the JAC decried the alleged stepped-up activity of the Government to arrest protesters.

"The SPF Government should know that the people's movement cannot be suppressed even if the JAC convenors and all the members are put behind bars", they asserted.

It further alleged that the police and IRB personel recruited recently were not for protection of people but for guarding the relatives and family members of Chief Minister Okram Ibobi.

Chief Minister Ibobi may be very dear to the people of Thoubal district for the benefits and advantages provided by him but to the larger population of the state belonging to other districts, O Ibobi is the most unpopular Chief Minister, they added.

District council engg cell to be abolished

IMPHAL, Sept 28 : Finalization for total abolition of the existing District Council Engineering Cell/ Section (Wing-I & Wing-II) under the administrative control of the hills department government of Manipur will be made with the completion of works under taken up by the DCECs which are scheduled to end during the current financial year.

Disclosing this, a highly placed official source said that, the decision for abolishing of the said engineering cell of the ADC was taken during a Cabinet meeting held on April 29 this year, by incorporating the laid down policies to merge the two engineering cells of the District Council (Wing-I & Wing-II) with Manipur Tribal Development Corporation Ltd and the same has bee reaffirmed by the recent sitting of the state cabinet.

The official source further mentioned that the decision was made by the state government following the accumulating instances of no further deposit work have been taken up by the two engineering cells of the district council from any other department of the government and which tend to the lack of viabilities in resource mobilizations.

It may be mentioned that, six Hill Autonomous District Council of Manipur has established a District Council Engineer Cell/Cell/Section (Wing-I & Wing-II with Manipur Tribal Development Corporation Ltd. and no further deposit will be taken up by the two engineering cells of the district Council from any other department of the government.

In fact the two wings of the engineering cells of the District Council Engineering Cell-Wing I & Wing II are currently undertaking the following Deposit works of various state government departments, and government is awaiting for the completion under taking works by the both engineering cells of the District councils including constructions of auditorium of the Arts & Culture Deptt. at Hapta Kangjeibung (Palace Compound), Imphal, Construction of 2900 Nos of IARHs (Prehab), constructions of 42 Nos of CRCs (Prehab) constructions of 18 Nos of CRCs (Brick), constructions of IARHs (Brick), constructions of veterinary hospitals at Churachandpur, Ukhrul, Chandel, Tamenglong and Senapati, constructions of CHCs/PHCs and PHSCs of Health department at Wangoi, Sevon and Tousem, constructions of CMO office at Porompat taken up by Engineering Wing-II, construction of ITI block at Phaknung, construction of type-III quarters at CMO office Senapti, construction of Veterinary hospitals at Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal and Bishnupur districts.

The official source said the since the above mentioned works have been executed under an agreement signed between the District Council Enggineering Cells with the concerned department, the two wings of engineering cells are bound to complete of the on-going deposit works after-mentioned within the current financial year.

On the other hand to avoid the legal complicacies, it is imperative to complete at least the ongoing works by obtaining deposit for the on going works and complete the works in hand and handed over to the depositors, the official source added.

In the meantime, referring to the recent comments made by the state Finance department in connection with the abolishing of the two engineering cells of the District Autonomous District Councils of the state, Finance Department has commented that, the proposal talks of completing on-going works by District Councils Engineering Cells (DCEC) and then merging with Manipur Tribal Development Corporation (MTDC). If all on-going works are completed then its is presumed that there will be no balance works with DCEC. The proposal also mentioned reappropriating the regular staffs to the respective district councils. In other words, once the above is completed, the DCECs have neither any pending works nor regular staff to be taken care of. The only residual transfer is of contractual staff, who is any case do not have any claim to merge with MTDC. The opinion of proposal is ab-initio impracticable and lopsided.

The official source further mentioned that, in order to facilitate the process to merge the district council engineering cell into the MTDC Ltd. no deposit for fresh works should been entrusted with the DCECs.

The official source also mentioned that, those regular employees of both Technical and non technical from the six ADCs utilized in the CDECs excepting the Executive Engineering whose service belongs to Sadar Hills ADC, may be reappropriated to their respective district councils and those contractual staffs may be transferred to MTDC after completion of the on-going works in consultation with MTDC.

The official source also further mentioned that, the official merger and modalities of the DCEC with MTDC regarding status of officers and staff may be worked out within the current financial year, the official source added.

HIV among high risk groups falling in Manipur

IMPHAL, Sept 27 – HIV/AIDS prevalence rate among the high-risk groups like Intravenous Drug Users (IDU), Men having sex with Men (MSM) and Female Sex Workers (FSW) has come down in Manipur during the last one decade.

Officials of the Manipur State AIDS Control Society (MSACS) claimed this during a State-level workshop on HIV/AIDS for media persons here recently.

Dr Kh Pramodkumar, Project Director (Technical) said, the prevalence rate among IDUs has been reduced from 70 per cent to 17.9 per cent in the last one decade. Likewise, such trend is also seen in other high risk groups, he cliamed.

However, HIV/AIDS being a very complex epidemic on it’s dynamics, infection rate among the pregnant mothers is comparatively increasing in Manipur Hills though it has decreased in the Valley districts, he said.

But the prevailing infection rate among the FSWs and MSMs are not encouraging as the prevalence rate among these groups is slowly rising in Churachandpur and Imphal West districts.

According to MSACS’s latest sentinel surveillance reports, Manipur with as many as 25,655 HIV positive cases, has become the second Indian State having very high HIV prevalence among female sex workers (12.9 per cent) after Maharashtra (17.91 per cent). In 2006, the prevalence rate was just 11.6 per cent. Similarly, the prevalence rate of MSM in 2006 was only 12.4 per cent but it reached 16.4 per cent in the following year.

Project Director Pradeep Kumar Jha of MSACS said getting HIV/AIDS does not mean it is the end of life. He also sought support from the media while covering 80 per cent of the State’s population under National AIDS Control Programme III which is being implemented in the region.

In this new programme, National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) is trying to focus more on the district level activities than the State by instituting district AIDS control units.

Such district units were formed in Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland as the epidemic continues unabated in these States. But some NGO leaders and media persons demanded immediate review of the 13 year-old State AIDS policy to accommodate the present requirements.

MSACS officials confirmed the receipt of a recommendation by a review committee.

Central team assures action

Imphal, September 27 : The official team of the Central Vigilance Committee which is currently at Imphal on a three-day visit to the State to oversee the mechanism of Public Distribution System has given its assurance to help in setting up fair price shops by the women-folk of Luwangsangbam Awang Leikai under Heingang Assembly Constituency in Imphal East District.

For the second day, the official team of the Central Vigilance Committee which arrived at Imphal yesterday, conducted public hearing at Hotel Imphal here today.

During the public hearing, representatives of the Imoinu Self Help Group, Luwangsangbam Awang Leikai complained that they have been receiving only 10 kgs AAY and BPL rice each and one or 2 litres of kerosene oil.

However, after 10 years and on learning about the visit of the Central Vigilance Committee, they were given 5 kgs of APL rice yesterday.

Further, pointing out that they have no place where they could lodge complaint in connection with denial of PDS items, the women representatives requested permission for opening a fair price shop to be run by themselves.

After listening to the complaint as well as request, the Committee chairperson explained that atleast Rs 1 lakh would be required for opening a fair price shop.

When the chairman inquired whether they would be able to arrange the money, the womenfolk promptly replied in the affirmative.

To this, the chairman suggested that opening of just a fair price shop selling only PDS items would not be enough and they should consider including everyday items like soaps, utensils, etc.

The chairman asked the womenfolk to submit an application if they intended to open the fair price shop.

Accordingly, an application in the name of Imoinu Self Help Group had been submitted.

Taking a cue from the proceeding hearing, the Luwangsangbam Matai Women's Welfare Association also submitted a similar application requesting for opening a fair price shop.

Representatives of Kongpal Mutum Leikai, New Checkon, Tamenglong Public Forum and social workers from Churachandpur district were among those who attended the public hearing.

From the side of Tamenglong Public Forum, it was complained that the PDS items allocated to Tamenglong district are being sold in black market and earning profit by the staff of SDO office.

It was also pointed out that last year, NSCN (IM) intercepted 10 rice laden trucks from Noney along National Highway 53 and the same were seized by the FCS Minister the following day and kept inside the police station.

However, no action had been taken up by the police and how the matter had been resolved is not known.

The complaint from the side of the social workers of Churachandpur district noted that PDS items are not being received by the people in time as there is problem of transportation.

In another complaint, it was pointed out that families under polling station no.4/3, Kongpal Mutum Leikai in Imphal East district are in possession of APL, BPL and Annapurna cards together.

The PDS items like rice and sugar were not provided to the beneficiaries in accordance to the cards with the agents maintaining that the card system is not applicable any more.

After the public hearing, the Central Vigilance Committee visited some of the fair price shops in Imphal East district and interacted with their agents to understand how the PDS items are being made available to the people and the difficulties being faced by the agents apart from explaining the measures to be taken up by the Government to improve the PDS system.

Impact of conflict on women discussed

Imphal, September 25 2009: Understanding the existing laws is essential to overcome difficulties being faced by women in conflict situation, Judicial Magistrate A Nautuneshwari Devi has stated.

Speaking as one of the guests of honour at the 14th foundation day celebration of All Manipur Democratic Women's Association at Manipur Press Club here today, Nautuneshwari observed that Manipuri women have been suffering under the impact of various conflicts right from the family to the issues of the State.

Ill-treatment and harassment is one of the biggest conflicts that womenfolk have been encountering in the family.

Over and above this, there is the conflict of lack of adequate food provisions, conflict of unemployment, armed conflict, etc.

In all these conflicts, it is the womenfolk who suffer the most.

In order to overcome these problems, every person and the womenfolk themselves in particular need to understand the existing laws, she said.

The foundation day function held under the theme of 'Problems of women in conflict situation in Manipur and education & social change' was attended by head of Political Science Department, Manipur University Prof Ksh Bimola Devi as chief guest and president of All Manipur Democratic Women's Association Y Romola Devi as functional president.

Principal of Standard Robarth Higher Secondary School, Canchipur Ph Landhoni; former presidents of All Manipur Democratic Women's Association Th Thambalngoubi Devi and M Landhoni Devi; vice presidents of the Association L Taruni and Y Chandrabala Devi were also present as guests of honour.

In her address, Prof Ksh Bimola explained the word conflict has positive as well as negative connotation.

"If the conflict is positive, then it would lead to the path of development and if it is negative nothing but disaster.

"Since 1980, people of Manipur have been reeling under the impact of negative conflict.

Associate Professor of Economics Department, Manipur University Chinglen Maisnam, who attended the function as one of the resource persons, pointed out that over 6 lakh women in Manipur are still illiterate.

All Manipur Democratic Women's Association should pay attention towards the education of these illiterate women so as to utilise their power and strength.

Many advocates, college teachers and Meira Paibi leaders who were invited as resource persons also spoke on the theme of the conflict and the problems being faced by the women in Manipur.

Central vigilance team to overview PDS in state

Imphal, Sept 24 : A team of the Central Vigilance Committee will overview the reported irregularities prevailing in the publict distritbution systems, PDS, in the state during their two days visits to the state.

According to an official source, the Central team is head by Justice DP Wadhwa, chairman of the committee along with four other members, including Dayan Krishnan, head of the committee’s legal team, Meenakshi Chauhan, Maomi Chandra and Shohit Chaudhry all member of the legal team.

The team will arrive in Imphal on September 25.

Official sources further said that the team will hold of public hearings at State Guest House Imphal at 4pm in the evening of September 25, in which interested holders of PDS card, representatives of fair price shops, FPS, dealers association, NGOs, women self-helf groups, transporters and well wishers are invited to participate.

The team would also be inviting suggestions and remedial measures for irregularities and failures of PDS in the state, they said.

An official order issued by the under secretary, department of consumer affairs, food and public distribution said the vigilance committe team will also hold official meetings with the chief secreatry, principal secretary, department of food & civil supplies, officers of state civil supplies corporation as well as other concerned officers, regional heads, FCI etc at confernece hall, Manipur secretariat.

The official, order also further mentioned that the central team will visit fair price shops and will have interaction with members of general public in Churachandpur district head quarter on September 26 morning.

It will also hold formal meeting with the district administrators including, collector/DSO/AM,m FCI and inspection of files pertaining to a minutes of the vigilance committee for the last five years, identification of BPL families for issue of ration cards, camplaint mechanism/enforcement mechanism, appointment of FPS dealers and the commission payable to them and award of tenders for transportion of foodgrians etc.

The order further mentioned the the team after the meeting at Churachandpur will return to Imphal and further have interactions with the owners of fair price shops at Imphal East.

The team will depart Imphal for Kolkata on September 27 afternoon.

Manipur girl molested in Delhi

IMPHAL, Sep 23 : A girl from Manipur was reportedly molested after being beaten up by her neighbours at Munirka, New Delhi last night. According to information received from North East Support Centre and Helpline, the incident occurred at around 11.30 pm when the girl turned off the light in the veranda before going to bed. A lady living downstairs told the girl to keep the light on. Thereafter an argument broke out between them. The girl alleged that the lady’s son came out and beat her up severely and then molested her.

She sustained injuries and was taken to a local hospital for treatment and later on lodged a compliant report with the local police.

The elder sister of the victim informed the North East Support Centre and Helpline that the lady along with her husband, son and daughter also threatened to chase out all the Manipuris from Munirka.

Meanwhile, spokesperson of the North East Support Centre and Helpline Madhuchandra has spoken to Station House Officer (SHO) of Vasant Kunj Police Station Palbinder to look into the matter.

The police officer also informed the North East Support Centre and Helpline that the second party has lodged a counter complaint of alleged rape attempt by the younger brother of the victim.

This is not the first time that girls from the North East have been assaulted and molested in Delhi.

A number of girls from Manipur have been molested and assaulted by their landlords at the capity city.

Insecure citizens to keep own vigil against gangs

Imphal, Sept 23 : Exposed to constant threats from extortionists and armed gangs, the idea of the civil society arming themselves is become current.

Gaining currency is also the idea of citizen vigil by various localities.

Locals of the New Lambulane area Imphal east district, left with a sense of utter insecurity, have decided gear themselves up to tackle such incidents of intimidation by barring entry of outsiders in the area from 7:30 pm and patrolling duty by the women folk at night in the surrounding area, with the motive to control such menace.

The development came close on the heels of the incident of the attack of a resident contractor and vice president of the Kuki Inpi Manipur, L. Haojakhup on the night of September 17 at round 8:30 pm, by armed miscreants.

While talking to IFP, Tong, an active functionary of the Tribal Youth Club,TYC, New Lambulane, revealed that the decision was adopted by three civil bodies of the locality.

“There was no choice left but to handle it ourselves. This is not the first incidents in the locality. A number of similar incidents including a bomb attack at the resident of a high ranking police officer has taken place,” he said adding, “we are really living in a mess because of such armed gangs, but we are not sure how effective it would be.”

He further revealed that the women folk would be guarding the surrounding area from 7:30pm onwards to check movements of any outsiders with the assistance from local clubs.

Meanwhile, denouncing the attack at the residence of L. Haojakhup, around 200 women folk of the locality staged a sit in protest today at the local market place.

The protestors held placards like “we want peace” “gun is not the solution” “stop gun culture” “live and let live” etc.

According to family sources of L. Haojakhup, the incidents was carried out by three unknown youths around 8:30 pm.

Three rounds fired by the miscreants hit the gate of the residence however there was no casualty or damage.

Further the sources said that there has been monetary demand of Rs. 5 Lakhs from a hill based militant outfits however it was not clear who carried out the incident, said sources.

Manipur hampered in fight against HIV/AIDS

Imphal, September 23 : Manipur has 25,655 HIV Positives reported till date since the year 1986 while number of deaths is 625 and the number of AIDS cases is 4363 in Manipur. Some seven ART centers including one private center in Churachandpur district (south Manipur) where 16000 people living with HIV have registered and more than 5000 are undergoing ART treatment, stated the project director, Manipur AIDS Control Society (MACS), IAS Pradeep Kumar Jha.
He was speaking at the “One-day state level media workshop on HIV/AIDS” on Tuesday at MACS conference hall. Informing that Manipur is one of the six highest HIV/AIDS prevalence states in India, the project director of MACS said that though manpower is very low in MACS the state government is working with the assistance of more than 90 NGOs to control the spread of HIV in Manipur.
Speaking about the achievement of MACS, he said that in the last ten years the spread of HIV through injecting drug users (IDUs) have come down by 17.4%, which is considered to be a big achievement in Manipur considered to be a transit point of drugs smuggled into India from the ‘golden triangle’. The state will open four more new ART centers for which permission has already been granted by National AIDS Control organization (NACO), to enable HIV/AIDS patients to get ART treatment without having to travel long distances, said Pradeep Kumar Jha.
He disclosed that MACS is going to sponsor the “C. C. Meet” which is the biggest football tournament in Manipur, so that MACS can campaign for awareness of HIV/AIDS throughout the state. The brand ambassador of MACS, Pradeep Kumar Singh, ex-senior Mr. Manipur who is a HIV-infected person is getting a stipend of Rs 6000 per month from MACS, he added.
The media guidelines of the Press Council of India for reporting on HIV/AIDS will be translated into the local vernacular and distributed to all the local daily newspaper of the state as soon as possible for the benefit of journalists at various levels, stated the project director of MACS. The Imphal correspondent of Times of India, K. Sarojkumar Sharma spoke on “Issues and challenges faced by media in reporting issues on HIV/AIDS” and highlighted the fact that one of the main challenges faced by the local media in reporting issues on HIV/AIDS is financial constraint as a result of which the quality of reporting is wanting. Most of the local newspapers also do not have reporters for health care issues though they have reporters for other fields, he added.
The editor of local vernacular newspaper “Ireibak” Irengbam Arun Singh said that All Manipur Working Journalists Union (AMWJU) will try to keep a reporter for reporting health care issues in future and urged MACS to distribute the media guidelines of PCI for reporting on HIV/AIDS as soon as possible. He also urged MACS to hold another workshop to discuss translation of the media guidelines of PCI and added that MACS should check, monitor and update their awareness program and its impact from time to time.

38th foundation day of RIMS celeberated; CM exhorts doctors

Imphal, September 15 : The 38th foundation day of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal was celeberated in grandeur at the Jubilee hall of the institute today.

Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi who was the chief guest at the celeberations inaugurated the newly constructed semicircular main gate of the RIMS.

He also opened a three-day medical exhibition at the institute.

As part of the foundation day celeberations, graduation certificates were distributed to 91 students by the Chief Minister, Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Mukul Sangma who was the guest of honour and state Health Minister Ph Parijat who presided over the function.

Director of RIMS, Dr L Fimate administered the Hippocratic oath to the MBBS graduates.

Speaking at the function, Chief Minister Ibobi exhorted the doctors to perform their duty in the interest of the humanity.

He said, Manipur government at present requires at least 400 more doctors.

Because of shortage of doctors, the district hospitals are facing various inconveniences.

Therefore, the government is taking steps to fill up the vacancies, he said.

The Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) is the pride of not only Manipur but of all the 'Seven Sisters' of North East India and Sikkim, said the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister further said that RIMS is today one of the premier medical institutions in the entire country and the doctors of the institute can compete with their counterparts from other institutes of India.

The institute cannot produce many post graduates and specialists due to lack of faculty and infrastructure, but the state government will continue to urge the central government to provide all the facilities lacking in the institute so that it can bring out more specialist doctors and post graduates in future, he said.

Congratulating all the graduate students, he expressed happiness at observing that most of the students who graduated today are females because the government of India has issued clear instructions that each public health service centre should have at least two female doctors.

Deputy chief minister of Meghalaya, Dr Mukul Sangma who graced the occasion as the guest of honour recalled his days as a student in RIMS and said that there were much less privileges and facilities when he was a student of the institute.

He declared that he was proud to be a product of RIMS and stated that whatever he is today, it all started from RIMS.

He asserted that RIMS is the best medical institute in the North East as he has visited and seen all the other medical institutes in the region and added that doctors who had graduated from RIMS are all doing very well in their respective states.

He stated that RIMS is going to be the best institute in India in the near future as there is a lot of room for growth of the institute and the privileges and facilities are increasing more than ever before.

State health minister, Ph Parijat who graced the occasion as the president said that the state is very lucky to have an institute like RIMS which provide doctors to the North Eastern states and the rest of India.

He disclosed that the government of Manipur, as per a cabinet resolution passed recently, is going to recruit 300 doctors through the Manipur Public Service Commission for filling up the vacancies of doctors in the health centers of the state that has been lying vacant for the past many years.

Giving the vote of thanks, the medical superintendent of RIMS, Y Mohen drew the attention of the chief minister and health minister of Manipur to the fact that RIMS has storage capacity for 6 dead bodies only in its mortuary which is not good enough as the number of death bodies sometimes exceeded the storage capacity due to the fact that dead bodies are not promptly taken away by family members and relatives leading to decomposition of the dead bodies and air pollution in the area surrounding the mortuary.

Rebels kill 4 soldiers in northeast India

GAUHATI, India — Separatist rebels ambushed a paramilitary vehicle Saturday, killing four soldiers and wounding four others in India's insurgency-wracked northeastern state of Manipur, police said.

Heavily armed rebels hiding in dense jungle alongside a road fired at the truck from both sides killing the soldiers instantly, Karanjit Singh, an inspector general of Manipur Police, told the Associated Press.

The wounded troops were hospitalized in the state capital, Imphal, he said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack which took place near Oksu village, 25 kilometers (15 miles) east of Imphal, early Saturday, he said.

At least 17 separatist rebels groups are active in Manipur, which shares a border with Myanmar. The rebels frequently engage in hit-and-run battles with government soldiers.

The militants say New Delhi exploits the northeast's rich natural resources while paying scant attention to the welfare of the indigenous people.

Manipur has been in turmoil for several weeks after a young man was killed in Imphal by government forces in what human rights activists say was a "fake encounter," where police kill a suspect and claim the victim died during a shootout.

Since 1984, a stringent anti-terror law has allowed soldiers in Manipur to make random arrests, search people without a warrant, or even shoot a person suspected of being a terrorist.

CRPF civic action programme

Imphal, September 12, 2009: Battalion CRPF organised a civic action programme (CAP) at Komkeirap, Churachandpur today with DIGP MS Raghava as the chief guest.

The DIGP handed over mountaineering and adventure equipment worth Rs 5, 94, 000 to MMTA Lamdan and sports goods worth 50, 950 to three clubs namely, Leimatak Area Sporting Club, Lower Keirap Welfare Club and Potsangbam Youth Improvement Union, Bishenpur.

The DIGP also inaugurated a football coaching programme sponsored by CRPF for 25 local youth and distributed banners to 10 villages at the are of responsibility of the Battalion.

It further said, in his welcome address, 32 Bn Commandant BB Vaid highlighted the inherent spirit of CAP as a welfare project to the local populace.

MS Raghava while speaking in the function said that CAP is a step towards showing humane face of the force to the general public.

NHPC General Manager DK Ray, office bearers of MMTA, senior officers of CRPF, heads of various villages and villagers were present in the fucntion.