State Devt report moots repeal of AFSPA, toe Reddy Commission report

Sources- the Sangai Express

http://www.thesangaiexpress.com/News_pages/Local_page-01.htm

IMPHAL, Oct 31 : The Manipur State Develop-ment Report, prepared by the State Planning Commi-ssion has come out with a number of significant re-commendations, which if implemented in letter and spirit could have far reaching impact. The draft report prepared by the State Planning Commission was discussed with Chief Secretary DS Poonia in the chair today and attended by top ranking Government officials. After going through the minutes of the draft report, the Chief Secretary instructed that if any Department wants certain changes or modifications in the report, then the same may be intimated to the Planning Department, said a source while speaking to The Sangai Express today. The draft report, a copy of which is available with The Sangai Express deals with core areas for immediate intervention in order of priority and covers a whole range of subjects such as infrastructure development, food security, sustai- nable natural resource management, employment and social security, decentralisation and governance etc.

Under decentralisation and governance, the draft report has recommended the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act as per the Justice Jeevan Reddy Commission recommendation.The Jeevan Reddy Commission was instituted following the huge demand to repeal the Army Act following the custodial killing of Th Manorama in 2004.The formation of the Commission was announced by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, when he visited the State in 2004.Other than this, the draft report also recommended extension of a more democratic and representative version of the Sixth Schedule to all the hill areas of Manipur. The 6th Schedule has been a long pending demand of a number of tribal civil society organisations. To give a boost to infrastructure and minimise room for incompetency, the draft report also suggested banning private contractors from constructing infrastructure. It was also recommended that each village be provided one telecom tower, reduce restrictions on provision of cellular services in border areas to the extent feasible in order to promote communication through cellular services (a Home Ministry order) and extending and improving broadband services in all districts.To improve road quality, monitoring the use of adulterated bitumen was also mooted. On economic development, special emphasis was placed on the power sector, with the draft report suggesting that strategies to reduce cost be adopted. This include reducing Transmission and Distribution losses and utilising capacity to its optimum level. The report also suggested making the idle plants operational reactivating the non-functional plants as most of the capacity created in the State are lying idle and serve as mere standbys to the regional grid. To avoid further cost and time over runs, the report also suggested providing adequate funding to complete ongoing small and medium power projects that are acceptable on eco-sociological grounds. Constituting a State electricity regulatory commission capable of evolving a fine balance between recovering cost and encouraging the use of power, has also been suggested. Protecting bio-diversity also figures in the draft report and towards this it has suggested stopping rampant exploitation by illegal traders and contractors. On agriculture, the report has suggested the setting up of a Land Commission to protect the access of women and other weaker sections to productive resources, land and forest. Taking on the entire expenditure on growth centres as Central assistance, with a ceiling of Rs 15 crores per centre, to promote industrialisation has also been mooted in the draft report. The draft report also suggested tapping the creative, traditional legacy of Manipur along the lines of countries such as China and Thailand and to penetrate international markets.The State must spearhead India's economic links with ASEAN and South East Asia, mooted the report. Encouraging adventure tourism such as rafting expeditions on the Barak river and trekking across frozen rivers on the way to Dzuko valley are some other suggestions mooted in the draft report. The report has also suggested adopting the mother tongue as the medium of instruction at the primary level, development of books in the mother tongue, increasing the State's budget in Education etc.

Pvt school teachers not given salary

2009-10-27 | 08:44:49

Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, October 26: Teachers of private schools have suffered a lot as they were not paid due to prolong closure of the schools owing to the indefinite class boycott stir of the three students’ bodies.

They had not get the pay for September payable in October as parents and guardians of the students had not clear monthly fees as schools remained closed without class. They are feeling apprehension of not getting for the month of October which would be disburse in November.

The meager income they got as salary every month, hundreds of private school teachers are maintaining their families. At the same time, they have been told of not enabling to afford the funds needed for payment of salaries by the school authorities.

School authorities told them that unless parents and guardians of the students clear the monthly fees which private school authorities utilized in the payment of salaries, some private school teachers said. On the other hand parents are facing problems in taking care of their children who remained 24 hour with them. They now could not able to advice their children for reading books.

When they were asked to read book, the only reply they got was how they can remain reading without assignments, the children inquired, parents said. On received of complaints from teachers on the non getting of their salaries, the central committee meeting of the All Manipur Recognized Private Schools Welfare Association discussed the matter today.

The meeting after threadbare discussion on the matter arising out of the deadlock has decided to convene a meeting of the private schools on October 10 at Manipur Dramatic Union (MDU). The meeting is scheduled to start from 10 am.

Principals and headmasters of the private schools will be asked to attain the meeting and discussed on the complaints of the private teachers. The meeting also resolved not to consider any complaints coming up from those schools which do not send their representatives in the meeting, source said.

Child Rights Delegate from Manipur meet Kolkata Community Police Officer

AFSPA and its impact on children - Sumang leela (street play) org. by MACR

Which is precious: right to education and right to life

by Keisam Pradipkumar-

source- Imphal Free Press

Recently a study report of Manipur Alliance for Child Rights (MACR), appeared in few local newspapers, unveiled the failing situation of government schools in Manipur. The study report revealed certain statistics of typical government schools virtually plagued with scourges like students less schools, teacher less classes, room and toilet less schools, collapsing huts, the so called kitchens for serving midday meals etc. The abysmal photographs of the schools without walls and those toilets without doors simply made mockery of the recently passed right to free and compulsory education bill of incredible India, which is celebrating the 62 years of independence. However, such an appalling report is not a new thing in the saga of education department, which has appeared in media with the largest fake appointment scams in the state.

The study report induced us to take stoke of the prevailing situation of education in the state, in the wake of the ongoing indefinite class boycott stance. MACR report perhaps unveiled the infrastructural snags and administrative seepages, as the rights body’s underlying objective was to bring quality education. However, any suggestion made for quality education is now seemed to be irrelevant and oblivious to a citizen of Manipur, at least for the present juncture, when education in the state remains under complete siege for the last two months. Now the common worry is not for the quality education but for utter failure of assessing to education. Some says the ongoing boycott agitation is not a state issue, since students’ bodies’ dominance is limited upon the four valley districts only which has no impact in hill districts. Geographically speaking it might be true that valley constitutes merely the ten percent of the whole state. However, it is also a fact that the valley portion of the hilly state, is harboring a large population, which is nearly the seventy percent of the total population of the state. We need to redefine the issue of total stoppage of classes, as a political issue, beyond any geographical and ethnocentric barriers, because it is the issue that would perpetually give a long term effect on several lives of children.Now, the two basic inherent rights – right to education and right to life, literally pull the opposite ends of the academic career of thousands of students, that supersede the spectrum of the ongoing agitation, in the aftermath of 23/7 shootout incident. Campaigns for not to stop education for children even in war time and making it a free zone from any interference, has been a universal voice, and Manipur is not an exception. History has proven that education made the children equipped with more about human rights, culture, humanity, ethical values and self dignity besides academic knowledge, it empowers a person to exercise his inalienable rights and liberties. Education inculcates the sense of duties and to respect to others rights and liberties. So, it is reasonably relevant that right to life is defined as much important as right to liberty and right to life.

Those children who got education through UNESCO,s Teacher‚s Emergency Pack( T.E.P) known as “School-in-a box” used in Somalia in 1992 and later in Rwandan refugee camp at Ngara Tanzania, found to be better-off than children who have not been given such facilities. Under the present situation of Manipur, are we really facing that great threat or warlike situation which compelled us to close our schools? Or is there any alternative way for safeguarding the right to life of the students without sacrificing the right to education or right to attend classes? These are the common questions being pouring out.

Students bodies say students’ right to life (including everyone’s right to life) under the prevailing tyrannical regime of CM O. Ibobi is no longer safe and secured, hence there is no meaning for going to educational institutions if students are to be killed mercilessly when they are grown up. That means Right to life must be safeguarded first and foremost since Right to education can be obtainable only by a living man not by a dead man.

Students’ bodies step for indefinite class boycott is a kind of an utmost self penance or somewhat identical with indefinite huger strike or fasting unto death. It can be taken as the most extreme form of agitation. It shows the psychological level of their anguish and frustration, of course the gravity of the turbulence. Fasting unto death, to the state authority, is an offence which is tantamount to committing suicide, however it is the bravest non violent agitation (Satyagraha Andholan) to an indefinite hunger striker like Sharmila, the iron lady. Herein, the most agony is that, government remains adamantly indifferent to her demand even she is completing the eight years of hunger strike, together with global solidarity. Similarly, in the case of indefinite class boycott, the government is apparently tuning a blind eye to the lasting solution of the crisis, but applying a policy of repression which would rather aggravate the situation. Forcing for an unnatural death of the boycott agitation or Apunba Lup’s unbending protest, without resolving the main issue, i.e. delivering justice to 23/7 incident, will not be a wise policy.