Pact ends Manipur employees’ strike - Govt to pay six months’ arrears

Ibobi Singh

Imphal, May 19: Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh today made a peace deal with striking government employees by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.

The agreement was signed after the employees accepted the chief minister's offer to pay six months' arrears of the increased pay.

With the signing of the agreement, the over four-month-long employees' agitation was called off with immediate effect and the employees would resume duty from tomorrow.

The strike was launched on January 16 this year.

Earlier, the Ibobi Singh-government issued orders for payment of the increased salaries from April this year. The employees had rejected the offer and refused to call off the agitation.

A delegation of the employees accepted an offer by Ibobi Singh, who is also the finance minister, to pay six months' arrears from October 2009 to March this year. The agreement was arrived at a meeting with the chief minister today.

Before the delegation met Ibobi Singh, it held another round of meeting with government spokesperson N. Biren Singh, the state irrigation and flood control minister, earlier today.

The agreement said the six months' arrears would be paid in cash in two instalments. The first instalment would be paid in October and the second in June next year.

The arrears would be paid in cash on one condition that departments like the power department meet the target of monthly revenue collection.

"If the departments fail to meet the revenue collection target the arrears would not be paid in cash but would be credited in the provident fund accounts of the employees," Biren Singh said.

The government also agreed to consider the employees' demand that pay for work-charge and employees' muster roll be revised and their services be regularised depending upon the financial situation and recruitment rules of the government.

The government said no striker would be victimised.(The Telegraph)

Trucks roll on NH53 with security Food expected in two days

Imphal, May 19: Under strong public pressure, the Manipur government today sent more than 100 empty trucks from here to Jiribam, a distance of 222km, under security cover to bring in essential commodities though the blockade on the Imphal-Jiribam highway (NH53) is still on. From Jiribam, a small town in Imphal East district on the Assam-Manipur border, the trucks will proceed to Silchar, Guwahati and other cities in the Northeast to lift essential commodities while the security escorts will bring back about 100 loaded trucks, stranded at Jiribam for the past several days. The trucks are likely to reach here by tomorrow evening or the next day, reports said. The government has provided nearly 100 Manipur Rifles and India Reserve Battalion personnel to escort the trucks. This is the first time that the government has sent trucks on the Imphal-Jiribam highway since the All Naga Students Association, Manipur, imposed an indefinite economic blockade on it and the Imphal-Dimapur highway (NH39) on April 11. The association is protesting against the holding of elections to six autonomous district councils in the state's five hill districts. It intensified the blockade after the Okram Ibobi Singh government barred NSCN (I-M) general secretary Th. Muivah from entering Manipur and two of his supporters died in the police firing at Mao Gate on May 6, the day the Naga rebel leader had planned to enter Manipur. The NH53 is the second land route the government has opened to restore supply to the land-locked state, which has been starving for essentials since both its supply lifelines were choked over a month ago. Trucks have also started arriving here through the National Highway 150 that links Imphal with Silchar via Mizoram after a ministerial team, headed by works minister K. Ranjit Singh, inspected it last week. Official sources said some goods trucks arrived here yesterday through this route. The government has also been airlifting medicine and rice from Guwahati for the past two days. However, the government is not trying to reopen the Imphal-Dimapur highway as Nagaland has asked Manipur not to send trucks to it in view of the prevailing tension over Muivah's proposed visit. As trucks started rolling along the Imphal-Jiribam highway, seven Opposition parties today demanded that a special session of Manipur Assembly be summoned to discuss the ongoing econo- mic blockade, the situation arising out of Muivah's attempt to enter Manipur and the scarcity of essential items in Manipur. The Manipur Peoples Party (MPP), the NCP, the CPM, the RSP, the Forward Block, the Manipur State Congress Party and the JD (S) made the demand after revie-wing the situation in MPP's office here today. They said the people were facing "acute hardship" and the situation was "critical". They urged Governor Gurbachan Jagat and the chief minister to summon a special Assembly session to discuss the situation. The Opposition parties held home minister P. Chidambaram fully responsible for the crisis and demanded his immediate resignation. They reiterated that Muivah should not be allowed to come to Manipur. The meeting also accused Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio of interfering in the internal affairs of Manipur and asked Rio to desist from such activities in future. The meeting demanded that the Centre should reopen the Imphal-Jiribam and Imphal-Dimapur highways and ensure normal flow of supply by trucks to the state. (The Telegraph)