Power programme

Imphal, July 14: The state power minister T Phungzathang has said state government is preparing for the implementation for the Restructured Accelerated Power Development Reforms Programmes (R-APDRP) at selected 17 towns of the state.

Clarifying this in today's session of the Manipur Lagislative Assembly, the power minister however said the scheme is yet to be implemented.

The state power minister further mentioned that under the RGGVY scheme, state power department has plan for giving power supply to 30 villages and upgradation of power supply to another 43 villages in Bishnupur district, minsiter added while replying to a quiry made by MLA Y Mangi.(IFP)

Three more demands for grant passed

Imphal, July 14: Three more demands amounting a total of Rs. 379,25,22,000 have been passed as demands for grants 2010-11 after discussions in the House of the Manipur Lagislative Assembly today attended by the members of opposition except for O Joy Singh who continue his tirade against the Speaker, Dr S Budhichandra Singh. 

The demands for grant passed for the current financial year in House today include, Land Revenue Stamps & Registration And District Administration amounting Rs, 43,20,55,000, Public Works Department amounting Rs 318,83,22,000 and Administration of Justice amounting Rs 17,11,45,000 be granted to defray the charges which will come in course of payment during the financial year ending March 31, 2011.

The leader of the House, chief minister, O Ibobi Singh intiated the discussions and the voting on the demands for grants for the said departments today in the house in the opposition members led by the Opposition leader, Radhabinod Koijam, Dr.Ng.Bijoy and Dr I Ibohalbi jointly raised their motion for token cut in respect of Land Revenue & Registration and District Administration on account of unjustified creation of Revenue Adminstrative units of the state and lack of rationalization and land valuation.

Besides, the Opposition members also raised their cut motions with to the PWD on account of imbalance development/improvement of the roads and bridges, failure of development of NH-53 and lack of development of alternative roads from Imphal to Jiribam.
Initiating the discussion on demand for the grants, the Opposition MLA's, Dr. Ng Bijoy Singh mentioned in the house that complicacy on the demarcation of district jurisdictions in terms of revenue & administration have been existing in different parts of the districts at present.

Citing an example, the Opposition member said seven village lying under revenue jurisdiction under Imphal East are currently under administrative control of Thoubal and Sadar Hills. This has been causing grievances to the employees in terms of deliberating their developmental activities in these areas, which the concerned department needs to chalk out proper administration and land reform by creating a proper delimitation process.

Later, he also alleged that the PWD is not maintaining a quality control in the works being carried out in the city areas as many of the constructions carried out by the PWD are in a deploring state. With the NH-39 not being used for the various reasons, NH-53 is now the lifeline of the state and with the pitiful conditions of the road, transportation of goods is be crippled currently, Bijoy said.

He also observed that the NH-53 & NH-150 needs to constructed on time and be made ready for transportation while at the same time NH-39 cannot be brushed aside. The Government should take up proactive steps to ensure that an unbiased approach is taken to improve and maintain all the highways. The road leading from Bishnupur to Nungba via Khoupum to Jiribam, known as the Ganja road also needs to be improved, the Opposition member maintained.

The other opposition members also stated that Jiribam which is currently under the jurisdiction of Imphal East needs to be declared a district on its own. With the administrative office in Imphal East, a lot of inconvenience being faced by the people due to the distance. They further questioned as to why Jiribam along with Sadar hills failed to declare as full-fledged districts.

Participating the discussion from the ruling side, MLA's namely N Mangi, L Nandakumar and Kh Ratan Kumar also spoke with regards to the Land Revenue and the current issue of National Highways and gave their concerned views and opinions. They also said the work along national highways be carried out in a proper manner in the interest of the general public.

The PWD Minister, K Ranjit giving his clarification in house regarding the works carried out by the department  on the National Highways, 39, 53 & 150. He also all these highways are vital and are the lifelines of the state. He also stated that the prolonged economic blockade called by the Naga bodies against the ADC elections and the ban on the entry of Muivah into Manipur for more than 68 days caused many grievances to the public.

Following instructions from the CM, works minister along with other ministers, MLA's conducted a survey on NH-53 & NH-150. The NH-53 was found that at about seven different places, seven contractors have been aligned and about 235 laborers along with machinery have been placed. He mentioned that they are looking at the maintenance of the roads to facilitate transportation of goods along the road. As of now, although the construction of NH-53 is under the BRO, the state government is currently working to get the PWD of the state to work on the same project. In this regard, the CM and the PWD minister met the Prime Minister and the Highway Ministry at New Delhi recently, he stated. State government officials have also informed the BRO that the work carried out in the past and currently underway is not satisfactory and they have not been maintaining the quality. The PM after consulting the reviews has sent a letter to the concerned authority to hand over the work to the state PWD and same would be obtained within a short period of time, Ranjit stated.

The works minister further stated that there have been no instances of corruption or mishandling of funds and materials in the construction of the NH-53. At present, truck owners and drivers on their own efforts have been helping the government in the construction of the NH-53 roads by carrying stones and other materials to speed up the construction work.

The Zeliangrong Youth Front on the other hand has decried against the construction work being carried out by state PWD. Although at first they believed that BRO would maintain quality, it is evident that the quality is not up to the mark. The reason for their grievances is possibly due to the fear that the local people are currently being employed as laborers by the BRO in the construction of the highway, this has been currently bought to a settlement by the PWD and the same laborers will also be given priority for the work to be carried out.

Regarding the NH-39, Mao-Maram to Moreh, the PWD minister said the upgradation of the road is currently underway and the construction will start very soon. To enable construction on the Imphal- Moreh road,  two hot mixture plants have been placed one Heikakpokpi and another Saivom.

On the NH-150, Imphal-Churachandpur road, the minister said one hot mixture plant has been put up at Yaingangpoki and another at Tronglaobi. The same have been instructed to maintain quality and to be completed by January, 2011, he stated.

Regarding the bypass road on NH-150, a proposal has been sent to the concerned Union ministry.

Along with the highways, roads in the Imphal areas and other districts, potholes and maintenance of the roads will be taken up at the earliest, the minister assured the House.

Th Devendra, minister, law & land revenue in his clarification stated that there would be a new family court, providing more efficient services to the public. A proposal has been sent to set up and construct five new family courts in five different districts in the state, he said.

Under the 13th finance commission, along with the proposal of the construction and set up of the family courts, a proposal of a requirement of three senior judges, six junior judges and three others totaling to nine judges to be appointed for the same has been mentioned. A proposal for the construction and maintenance of the current Cheirap Court has also been sent, Devendra maintained.

With regards to the problem of the Border Pillar at the boundary, the Land & Revenue Minister stated that revenue alone cannot work around the state boundaries and so the issue will be put forward to the cabinet to look for a solution to maintain the state boundaries. He also said that the state cabinet had decided to form a high level committee to take a decision in this regard and is currently looking at resolving the land issue.

The minister further stated that he would look into the illegal forest land allotment and said that the decision of Jiribam becoming an independent district is underway, although there has been no decision taken as yet with regards to the same.

Following an appropriate explanations and clarifications from the concerned ministers during the discussion hour the mover on the motion on token cuts has been withdrawn by the concerned members and finally the demands for grants in respect of Land Revenue Stamps & Registration and District Administration, PWD and Administration of Justice were passed in the house today.(IFP)