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05/30/2007: "Fulfil Atal’s promises: Rio Nagaland Post"


Fulfil Atal’s promises: Rio Nagaland Post
Dimapur, May 29 (NPN): Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has urged the Central government to fulfil the commitments made by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his visit to the State in October, 2003.
An official release said addressing the 53rd Meeting of the National Development Council in New Delhi on Tuesday, Rio urged the Centre to implement commitments such as revival of Tuli Paper Mill, four-laning of NH-39 from Dimapur to Kohima, creation of 25,000 employment opportunities for the youths of Nagaland, upgradation of Higher and School Education for Science Education and facilities for girls in Mon and Tuensang districts, Regional Institute for Information Technology and extension of railway line from Dimapur to Kohima.
Rio requested the intervention of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who chaired the NDC meeting, in expediting sanctions for the projects so that commitments made by the former Prime Minister were given due importance and respect by all concerned.
Highlighting some issues of policy affecting the northeastern States, Rio said the recent change in the pattern of raising loans for financing of development projects, whereby the States are required to raise the ten per cent loan component of schemes funded by NEC/NLCPR/CSS/NCA etc, had caused considerable problems and delays in implementation and completion of the projects.
He said this was because the States had no idea of how much loans they would need to raise each year in respect of NEC/NLCPR/CSS schemes, as there were no indicative outlays for these schemes.
"In fact, the States would be able to assess the loan requirement for the year only at the fag end of each financial year. That means, the loan component can be raised and released by the States to the implementing agencies only during the next financial year."
Rio predicted that the recent decision of the Centre to fund SSA on 50:50 basis between the Central and State governments would spell doom for its implementation in the north-east. He said in view of this all Chief Ministers of the NE had made a joint petition to make it 90:10, which had been strongly supported by the Ministry of DoNER.
Pointing out that the benefits of fund allocation by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs under the Tribal Sub Plans were not being extended to the fully tribal States of the NE region, Rio demanded that "fully tribal States" of the region should be eligible to receive their due and proportionate shares of the funds. Finally, the Chief Minister felt that Ministry of Panchayati Raj should work out special schemes for implementation through the Village Councils of the NE States.
Nagaland MP fined by court OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT The Telegraph
New Delhi, May 29: The lone Lok Sabha MP from Nagaland, Wangyuh Konyak, is getting embroiled in one controversy after another.
Konyak was today fined Rs 1,000 by a local court here in connection with a case related to a bounced cheque. However, he was let off for remaining absent from the same court.
This was, sources said, the 26th hearing in the case filed against the MP by a Yuva Janata Dal (United) leader, Amit Lamba. Konyak had allegedly paid him a cheque that bounced.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for July 23. The MP has filed a counter complaint against Lamba for allegedly stealing a file from his office.
An inquiry by the CBI is also pending against Konyak on the basis of a complaint filed by Lamba, sources said. Lamba has reportedly been meeting MPs from different parties, seeking Konyak’s expulsion from Parliament. When contacted, Konyak refused to comment and said he was in Guwahati today. Two years ago, Konyak was granted bail by a Rohtak court. He had been accused of taking bribes for arranging government jobs.
Rio reminds Delhi on Vajpayee’s package The Morung Express
DIMAPUR, MAY 29 (MExN): Chief Minister of Nagaland Neiphiu Rio used the platform of the National Development Council (NDC) to once again appeal to the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre for implementation of the commitments made by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his visit to Nagaland in October, 2003. “However, in spite of the best efforts on the part of the State Government, they are yet to be sanctioned for implementation”, Rio reminded during his address at the 53rd Meeting of the NDC held today at New Delhi.
According to Rio, the non-Implementation of Prime Minister’s Package for Nagaland include the revival of Tuli Paper Mill; the four-laning of NH-39 from Dimapur to Kohima; creation of 25,000 employment opportunities for youths in Nagaland; upgradation of higher and school education for Science Education and facilities for girls in Mon and Tuensang districts; Regional Institute for Information Technology and extension of Railway Line from Dimapur to Kohima.
“I would request the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s intervention in expediting sanctions for the above projects, so that commitment made from the highest executive office of the country are given due importance and respect by all concerned”, Rio said.
Regarding the pattern of funding of various CSS schemes, Rio said that the State Government had all along been pleading that in respect of special category N.E. States, the pattern of all CSS schemes be standardized, and fixed at 90:10.
“The recent decision of the Government of India to fund one of its flagship scheme, SSA, on a 50:50 basis between the Central and the State Governments will spell doom for its implementation in the North East. All the Chief Ministers of the North East States had made a joint petition to make it 90:10, which had been strongly supported by the Ministry of DoNER”, Rio informed.
Rio also called for other corrective steps to be taken by the Government of India through the intervention of the NDC on other issues of policy affecting the NE States. In this regard, one of the point raised by the Chief Minister was the recent change in the pattern of raising loans for financing of development projects, whereby the States are required to raise the 10% loan component of schemes funded by NEC/NLCPR/CSS/NCA etc. Rio said that this was causing considerable problems and delays in implementation and completion of the projects and strongly pleaded for reversal to the earlier system, whereby, the 10% loan component was raised and passed on by the Central Government to the States.
Rio also raised the subject of the abnormally high transmission tariff of 35 paisa charged by PGCIL in the North East compared to about 11 paisa and lower in other parts of the country by the same Central.

“It is high time that this discriminatory transmission tariff be immediately rectified with retrospective effect by the Government of India and the problem not left to the regulatory mechanisms like the Central Electricity Regulatory Common (CERC) alone, as this is a matter of policy being wronged to the region”.
The Chief Minister also said that the State was “in broad agreement with most of the recommendations of the Sub-Committee of NDC on Agriculture and Related Issues”. Rio said that to rejuvenate the agriculture sector, it is necessary that all stake holders, including the farmers, the Central and State Governments and the Indian Industry should work together hand in hand. On marketing reforms & contract farming, Rio said the State was in agreement with the suggestion that the National and State Level Contract Farming Policies need to be framed early. “We also agree that contract farming is a better option than corporate farming to protect the interest of the farmers”, he said while adding that the State Governments need to be associated in all agricultural trade related policy matters, including matters relating to WTO.
Rio also highlighted on the Bamboo Mission taken up by the State both as a resource and an enterprise; converting the Bio-diversity of North East into economic benefits; removing bottlenecks in infrastructures – roads, railways & airports; Hydro- power development; Tourism & RAP/PAP; Industrialization, Trade and Look East Policy; Youth Empowerment and Employment; promotion of border trade and construction of roads in Border Areas.
FGN clarifies- Nagaland post
The FGN clarifies to all the citizens of Nagaland about the incident of one Nishena Zhimo, peon of Government Middle School Ighanumi village, on the way of his journey, where under the command of S.S. major Obet Sumi, the FGN severally gave him alert for his precious life and forgave him as a brother, at last seeking attribution which keeping some of his boys after it proved and is known by the government.
Therefore, I on behalf of our government as well as the nation workers clarify to all the concerned public in general to have understanding about what is true, and what is not for the betterment of our present society.We do remember of course, not forgetting their family but let it come as a better example to all the citizen in the near future in Nagaland.
Brig. Tokugha Zhimo, 6th B/commander cum supervisor, Sumi region FGN
Jami lashes out on ransacking of daughter’s house The Morung Express
Dimapur, May 29 (MExN): An unhappy AZ Jami today minced no words in slamming ‘some’ members of the NSCN-IM for ransacking his daughter’s residence recently in Dimapur. “The matter rests there” if the NSCN-IM as an organization claims responsibility for the ransacking, the NSCN-K Kilonser stated. But “I treat these as personal or individual cases,” he stated in a response to the refutation of the “CAO” of Lotha region, NSCN-IM.
Jami stated that some members of own community in the NSCN-IM have maligned him and have “made enough character assassination against me.” The NSCN-K leader said the extent has been that his children and relatives are now being harassed “with wild charges.”
“My elder daughter Mrs. Mhono is not known by even a single cadre of the NSCN working in and around Dimapur,” Jami stated adding that not a single cadre of the organization even knows where the family stays.
The Kilonser also made clear that he knows the person under whose leadership and instigation Mhono’s house was ransacked and “who is always writing against me and my family in the name of the Lotha region. “Your ‘long surveillance’ is because she is my daughter and you are trying to assassinate all my children. Even if you don’t declare your selves, I know you in detail and your intentions. If Mrs. Mhono is sheltering NSCN cadres, their neighbors will speak out. If you have ‘hard facts’ against her, speak to your minds and examine yourselves from what motives you are charging others,” Jami stated adding that “everyone” knows who the men were and the vehicles involved in the ‘firing, looting and arson’ in Mhono’s house.
“I am keeping mum because a time of reckoning may come,” he stated.
Lone Meitei nurse gives hope to remote Chaton village Sapam Aruna Kangla on Line

CHATON (Tamenglong dist), May 29: Visiting Chaton village, a remote settlement located in Tamei subdivision of Tamenglong district as part of a tour accompanying Tamei MLA Awangbou Newmai, a media team from Imphal met that rare bird, a government employee who is actually serving at his, or in this case, her, place of posting in a remote hill area.

P Nirjalata from Kwakeithel in Imphal, was posted as a nurse to Chaton village some years back. Since then, despite the remoteness of the place and lack of facilities, she has been serving the villagers in the best traditions of her profession.
Nirjalata, who is still single, says initially she faced tremendous difficulties even getting to the village, as it is connected to Tamei subdivisional headquarters by only a 35 kilometre foot-path, but she has stuck it out. `Time and place should not matter in my profession,` she says.

Nirjalata, speaking to the media team, lamented the lack of proper medical facilities in the village. `Women in particular suffer because of the lack of proper facilities, especially in child birth`, she observes. Without proper facilities, there is only so much a nurse can do, she said She also observed that most villagers who fall ill tended to bear it silently, only seeking medical help in extremities. She also noted that there is a high incidence of malaria in the surrounding area.

Nirjalata, who informed that another Meitei nurse, one Kh Bedharani from Kumbi is currently serving at the Tamei primary health centre, also expressed the need to construct nurses quarters, particularly for women nurses.
Lamenting the lack of more people serving in the remote areas, she commented that even people from the hills avoided postings in the hill areas. Even within Tamenglong district, people tend to stick to the district headquarters, and refuse to be transferred to the interior areas, she says.

On the other hand, if the presence of Nirjalata provides the one bright spot, in other respects, life in the village is depressingly similar to that in other remote areas which have suffered from decades of government indifference and apathy. N Wigonbou, a local spokesperson, points out that the only road link of the village is the foot-path connecting it to Tamei village, which is not suitable for plying of vehicles.
`The one main dream of the villagers is the proper development of the road link so that one day there can be regular plying of vehicles,` he says, `but no one knows when that day will come.`

According to Wigonbou, yongchak grows profusely in the village, some portion of which is taken to Tamei on foot for sale, but due to lack of proper transport, a good part of each year`s crop is simply left to rot. He also informed that the village is not self-sufficient in rice, and face constant difficulty in bringing in enough from outside to meet their needs. He also pointed out that the local government junior high school is in bad shape, while the village health sub-centre has no building of its own. Wigonbou further pointed out that conditions in Tapon village, located on the other side of the state boundary with Nagaland, offer a sharp contrast to life in their village.

Despite being located in a border area, the Nagaland government has ensured that there is good road connection to Tapon. There is also no question of lack of electricity at Tapon, whereas on this side of the border, people have learnt to live in virtual darkness, he lamented.

In such circumstances, it is natural that people in the area grumble that they would be much better off in Nagaland, he said, expressing resentment at the Manipur government`s policy of indifference and neglect of the remote areas.
Somra villagers brave harsh terrain to do trade with Chingai N Biswajit Kangla

CHINGAI (Ukhrul dis), May 29: Chingai, a sub-divisional headquarters in Ukhrul district is no Moreh, nevertheless, it is one of several points near the border where there is regular, if strictly unofficial trade, with the neighbouring country of Myanmar.

Every few days, a dozen or so Myanmarese nationals, mostly belonging to Somra village, come to Chingai to sell local produce, mostly livestock, including poultry, and pigs, as well as dogs meant for the pot.

From their village, it is a 100 km trip to Chingai through jungle trails, but people from Somra regularly make the two-day trek since there is no other convenient outlet for local produce.

One such visitor, who identified himself as Soni, admitted that there is no place to sell their produce in their own country.

"Getting to any major urban centre located within Myanmar is even more trouble than coming to Chingai and other settlements in Manipur, so we prefer to come here to sell our produce and feed our families", he said. Such trade has been going for years, ignoring all laws and regulations on the crossing of international frontiers, particularly in the absence of anyone to enforce them.

This would not ordinarily matter, but with the dreaded bird flu phenomenon having reached Myanmar, this is something that should not be ignored any longer. Despite the ban supposedly imposed on the import of poultry products from Myanmar, there continues to be thriving trade in poultry at Chingai and many other points along the international border. This is something the state and Central governments need to pay attention to.

Located not far from Chingai is Ngahuei village, also known as Awang Kashom junction, which have become a major market centre for the pinewood trade.

The main occupation of the villagers of Ngahuei is the collection and sale of pinewood from the nearby forests to traders coming mainly from Dimapur in Nagaland.Pinewood is also regularly brought from nearby Chinagi, Chillou, Pai, Kuingai and Huisu villages etc, and sold at Ngahuei.

Sold at Rs. 3 a kilo, the pinewood is carted away on trucks to Dimapur, from where they are sent to other states for use in extraction of aromatic oils.
Accrding to locals, a deligent worker can earn as much as Rs 1000 a day selling pinewood.

Apparently, however, this thriving trade has not yet come to the notice of the state government. As such, not only is the government missing out on what could be a lucrative source of revenue, without any government regulation, there is the danger that such trade can lead to environmental degradation if carried beyond sustainable limits.
ATSUM makes stand clear on reservation Newmai News Network
Imphal Reacting strongly to the press statement issued by the Women and Children Welfare Council, Imphal regarding the reservation issue that had appeared in a section of an Imphal based newspaper on May 27, the All Tribal Students Union, Manipur (ATSUM) termed it as the most unfortunate, uncalled for, malicious and without substance.
Joseph R Hmar, who is an information and publicity secretary of the tribal students body, said that it was advisable for Women and Children Welfare Council, Imphal “to first verify what they meant to say before jumping and criticising others on issues such as the Reservation which is more famous in its misuse rather than its organisation seems to be ‘ women and children’ and therefore it is not surprising to see such and insane and absurd comment from an organisation whose field of activities is not ‘reservation’. It is a different matter if somebody is poking their nose too far just for the sake of doing it or for self publicity”.
ATSUM then said that it would, in the meantime clarify that the tribal students “has not any point of time demand ‘50 percent Reservation for STs in government jobs’. In fact, the question of ‘ 50 percent’ is a distant dream for STs as we are nowhere near even to the 31 percent mark in occupying government jobs and opportunities offered in the state”.
The apex body of the tribal students’ body further clarified that from 1996 till the year 2005, tribals are mischievously denied the opportunity to go for post graduate courses in medicines as the government order which was to be enforced from its publication in the official gazette has been intentionally hidden for that one whole decade. “We as such in 2005, demanded that the tribals are compensated in some way or the other but we failed”, stated the ATSUM.
“Recently, when the education department came out with its official figure of its total employee, it came to light that tribals constitute a mere 25.01 percent. In the meantime, a community that constitute a little more than 50 percent of the total population of the state occupy a whopping 71.66 percent. Remember tribals are as qualified as others in all categories of post in education department except science graduate, that too, when one intentionally said, mathematics.” pointed out the ATSUM statement.
The tribal students body then stated that the ATSUM in the first place was thinking of demanding the recently conducted recruitment for graduate teachers to be exclusively for STs so that the loss the tribals suffered in the pass be slightly recovered. ATSUM then categorically stated that the tribal students’ body did not go ahead with that point as the government had promised to look into the issue and agreed that, “Wherever there is backlog of ST reservation exceeding 50% of the vacancies taken together with normal percentage of reservation for ST available in the current recruitment, the ST vacancies will be filled up to 50% of the advertised vacancies”.
ATSUM further pointed out that the “Constitution of India guarantees its citizens the Right Freedom of Expression and also, the freedom to form an organisation to ones liking but, that freedom should not be interpreted as the freedom to say anything one likes; more so if we do not understand what we are saying and at the most if we are criticising some one else in the open on an issue which is not our subject”.
The tribal students’ body also stated, It is also high time, for the people of Manipur to introspects ourselves and think over the number of NGOs we have and whether these has really do us any good than others. Unless, we are heading for some kind of social unrest and chaos where everyone is the leader and none the lead. We also take this opportunity to remind one and all that, “ We shall, in no way be cowed-down by some unsavory remarks and criticism of our stand for we are fully convinced that what we demand and pursue are just and genuine in all respects”.
ULFA demands independent enquiry into killings The Morung Express
Guwahati, May 29 (NNN): The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) has asked for an "independent enquiry" to the recent series of killings in Assam. However, the ULFA did not deny its involvement in the series of bomb blasts in Assam particularly in Guwahati of which the latest blast had occurred three days ago in Guwahati. It also did not condemn the incidents.
Through a press release sent to the media via email today signed by "major" Raju Baruah, a military spokesperson of ULFA, it said that "a group of intellectuals and the colonial rulers always blame ULFA for such killings, as it had happened in Guwahati in recent days, for their vested interests".
According to the ULFA spokesman, there should be an independent enquiry to the killings in Assam. It is to mention here that there were plenty of bomb blasts for the last few months, and more recently last week at Athgaon in Guwahati, as many as seven people were killed in a bomb explosion and more than 30 injured. It is worth noting that the people had come out openly in large numbers in protest against the killings and condemning ULFA in Guwahati two days ago.
KLA deputy kills commander, five others, decamps with 50 weapons The Imphal Free Press

IMPHAL, May 29: The deputy commander of the proscribed Kuki Liberation Army, KLA has reportedly defected with around 50 weapons after killing the chief commander of the militant group and at least five others today, a highly reliable source said.

Police authorities here in Imphal have reports of exchange of fire among militant groups at Bongjang area in Saikhul sub-division but could not immediately confirm which groups were involved in the clash and the toll, if any in the clash. Reliable reports received here on the other hand said a factional clash occurred among the KLA militants who were camping at Bongjang village in the wee hours today at around 1 am. In the clash, the chief of the KLA, Letkholun Lupheng along with five others were slain. The rival faction also took away as many as 50 weapons. Another report said the clash occurred as a group of KLA militants led by the deputy commander named Thunder revolted against the leadership of Letkholun at the camp of the group located at Bongjang village. Thunder, along with his supporters, deserted the camp after killing the commander and his five close followers. They also took away around 50 weapons, the report said. However, the report could not immediately be confirmed and it is not known yet whether all the KLA militants had left the camp.

China asks India not to harp on differences Assam Tribune
BEIJING, May 29 – In the backdrop of denial of visa to an IAS officer from Arunachal Pradesh, China today said bilateral differences should not be brought to the fore till a fair and reasonable settlement of the vexed boundary issue is reached. “We hold that the boundary issue between China and India should be settled fairly and reasonably at an early date through friendly consultations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Jiang Yu said, reports PTI.

Before the boundary settlement, the differences should not be brought into the front, affecting exchanges between the two nations, Jiang told PTI here when asked to comment on Beijing’s refusal to grant visa to an Indian IAS official from Arunachal Pradesh. “China welcomes the friendly exchanges between the two nations,” Jiang said without confirming the denial of Chinese visa to Gonesh Koyu, an IAS officer of the Arunachal Pradesh cadre who was a part of a 107-strong delegation of IAS officers who planned to travel to China. “We welcome the Indian personnel to come and visit China and participate in the training programme,” she said, apparently referring to New Delhi’s decision to cancel the visit of 107 IAS officers for mid-career training in China. She did not indicate the reason why the Chinese visa was denied to Koyu or whether China is willing to reconsider its decision to deny visa to the Indian official from Arunachal Pradesh cadre.

The 107 IAS officers were set to leave on a two-week trip to China as part of the training of officials of the level of joint secretary. They were set to leave on May 26 and were supposed to spend a week at the prestigious Beijing National Academy of Administration and a week in the Communist giant’s sleek commercial hub, Shanghai.

Beijing has always claimed that Arunachal Pradesh as “Chinese territory”. Just ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to India in November last year, Chinese Ambassador to India, Sun Yuxi had triggered a diplomatic row contending Arunachal Pradesh as “Chinese territory”, a claim strongly rejected by India. So far, the Special Representatives of India and China have held ten rounds of negotiations and have worked out the political guiding principles to resolve the border issue.
Both sides have kept mum on the outcome of these in-camera negotiations, which have so far come out with the “guiding principles” to settle the boundary issue that has hampered the normalisation of India-China relations. The guiding principles commit both India and China sides to arriving at a “package settlement” of the boundary question in a spirit of mutual respect and mutual understanding.

Wanted : Transparency Sangai Express Editorial
Justice delayed may not necessarily be justice denied but in many ways delaying justice means adding salt to the wounds of the wronged party and perhaps nothing illustrates this better than the situation in which the parents and relatives of Hriini Hubert and Muheni Martin find themselves in today. Not only the next of kins of the two murdered kids from Senapati, but to the whole people of Manipur, the inordinately long time it has taken the NSCN (IM) to come out in the open and make known its findings, has started to sow the seeds of doubt and apprehension that the case may go the way of Lungnila Elizabeth with no one able to make head or tail out of it. We are not jumping the gun and saying that all the accused in the custody of the outfit are guilty of murdering the two kids, but at least we expect the leadership of the IM group to pull up its socks and deal the matter with the urgency it demands or is the gruesome murder of the two children too minor an affair to merit serious attention of the outfit ? Adding fuel to the growing apprehension of the people is the report that one of the accused has managed to escape from the custody of the outfit at Camp Hebron. Many questions, but till date no answer, is the fitting phrase to describe the investigation being conducted to crack the kidnapping and later murder of the two school kids. Given the ground reality and the growing listlessness of the people, especially among the people of Senapati, we can understand their frustration and even anger with the never ending process of investigation by the NSCN (IM) and the word of caution sounded by the Chairman of the now dissolved Fact Finding Committee is pregnant with meaning. We agree that solving a case like this will not be an easy task, but the least the NSCN (IM) can do at this moment is to maintain a certain degree of transparency instead of continuously seeking an extension of the deadline to solve the case.
That there is a limit to the patience of the people is a fact that should not be lost on anyone, especially to groups which were founded on the principle of waging a war for the people. It is now more than 60 days since the skeletal remains of the two children were found abandoned on a hillock near the district headquarters of Senapati and while the people of the district were prompt in forming the Fact Finding Committee to not only probe the matter but also to pile on the pressure on the NSCN (IM) and the SPF Government, it is rather unfortunate that nothing concrete has come from either side all these days. We understand the obstacles being faced by the Government agencies, but the NSCN (IM) should not face such a problem for the simple reason that the main suspects are in their custody. If the outfit has not been able to make any headway then it should have the moral conviction to say so. On the other hand it stands true that failure to maintain transparency will only erode the image and standing of the outfit among the people which it claims to represent. A white paper on the progress the outfit has so far made should be made public. There is no reason why everything should be kept under wraps for ultimately the matter concerns the conscience of the whole society.


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