Waiting for PMP Bill : Need to fill the vacuum
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 20 2018 -
In effect only two days Assembly sitting but important decisions to be taken.
One obviously is the Bill proposed to be introduced on the floor of the House to regulate the inflow of non-local people into Manipur.
Significant to note that the State Cabinet has decided to introduce the Protection of Manipur Peoples’ Bill 2018 during the Monsoon session of the Assembly which will start on July 20.
Necessary homework must have been done before the Bill was prepared and one hopes that it does not go the way of the three Bills passed by the State Assembly on August 31, 2015.
A pity it is that the Assembly session will see only two days sitting and it remains to be seen how minutely the Bill can be discussed amongst the legislators of the
State before its passage, but here is hoping that everything passes off fine and there is no backlash as the one at Churachandpur three years back.
And when one talks about such a Bill then one cannot help but remind all that while the State Government is seeking to pass a Bill that will seek to regulate the entry of non-locals into the State, Parliament at New Delhi seems set to pass the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill again during the Monsoon session.
Chief Minister N Biren does not seem to be unduly worried about the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, but strong apprehensions have been raised by the Congress and many civil society organisations in Assam and Nagaland.
Even in Manipur, apart from the Congress, the North East Students’ Organisation has already aired its apprehension and with good reason too.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill seeks to grant citizenship to any Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who had earlier entered the country illegally.
So a Bill here in Manipur which seeks to regulate the inflow of non-locals into the State and another Bill at Delhi which has already been passed and is awaiting enactment to give free way to many.
It is against this backdrop that the BJP led Government here is seeking to pass or introduce the The Protection of Manipur People’s Bill, 2018.
The State Government too must have taken a lesson from 2015 and reached out to all stakeholders and not only the JCILPS.
Take the hill people along, refer the Bill to the Hill Area Committee. In short do not bypass anyone.
This is the bottomline. At the same time, the people too must seriously think why Manipur is such an attractive destination for so many non-locals.
A point which has already been touched many times in this column, but yet there is nothing much to suggest that things are improving for the better.
Vacuum in the labour market continues to exist and as long as this vacuum exist, it is but natural for others to rush in to fill this vacuum.
This is exactly what has been happening in Manipur.
The vacuum and the good climate plus the extremely hard living conditions in some parts of the country where finding any work to sustain oneself is extremely difficult push them to places like Manipur where
job avenues are aplenty, plenty because the locals do not want to take up these works.
Let the Government work on a Bill to regulate the inflow of the non-locals and let the people ensure that no space is provided for the non-locals to rush in and fill up .
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