The stunted district
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: August 21, 2013 -

On October 18, 2010, a seminar to discuss various developmental issues related to Imphal East, the youngest district of the State, was held at Imphal with great promise.

It was no ordinary seminar that one come across every day, but a high profile one attended by the then Union Home Secretary GK Pillai, Secretary of DoNER Jayati Chandra, Chief Secretary of the State DS Poonia, DGP Y Joykumar, MLA Dr Ng Bijoy and other high ranking and senior officers from various Ministries and Departments of the Government of India and the Government of Manipur.

Apart from that, elected members like Adhyaksha, Up-Adhyaksha, Members of Zilla Parishad, Pradhans and Members of Panchayats, representatives from various NGOs, Academicians, etc, also participated in the seminar.

And, after a serious deliberation on various developmental programmes and schemes that were already under implementation or are on the pipeline, numerous recommendations were made at the end of the seminar with inputs from public and public representatives.

Whether it was in the domain of education, health care, rural development, telecommunication, tourism, urban development, horticulture, agriculture, fisheries, veterinary & animal husbandry, power, water supply, air connectivity, banking, sports, sericulture, etc, there was not an area which were left out from the recommendations adopted for the all round development of the district.

But how many of these recommendations have been actually implemented so far for the development of Imphal East district which came into existence on June 18, 1997?

We are recalling this particular seminar and raising this particular question, especially in the light of the fact that nothing much have been changed in the developmental pace of Imphal East district since that high profile seminar three years back.

Forget about opening a new Kendriya Vidyalaya, DIET Centre, maintaining pupil teacher ratio and bridging the infrastructural gap in all schools or construction of additional classrooms under RMSA, etc, as recommended, functioning of most Government educational institutions in Imphal East district continue to suffer from lack of adequate teachers and infrastructure.

Forget about establishment of Nursing Institute and District Hospital, providing quarters for doctors, enhancement of SGSY allocation and ensuring planning of manpower in health department, etc, access to basic health care still remains a distant dream for many people.

Entrepreneurship development to promote tourism, strengthening of Manipur State Employment Guarantee Council, proper mechanism for Solid Waste Management system, establishment of cold storage system, expansion of area under cultivation to increase productivity, preservation of pasture land for fodder development, establishment of model fishery estates, Pig Breeding Centre, construction of veterinary dispensaries, generation of employment for youths trough promotion of diary, piggery, poultry and goatery units, etc, have all remained nothing but some recommendations adopted in a seminar.

That is the precise reason why most places under Imphal East district seem to have remained caught in a time warp and people, who have never known the taste of tap water in their lifetime, long for Government’s attention.

Imphal East District may have been born on June 18, 1997, but it is yet to grow even after 13 years.