Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, October 12:
Governor Ved Prakash Marwah has supported early elections to the 8th Manipur Legislative Assembly and stated that extension of the President�s Rule regime depends on the ground situation of the state and the decision of the two houses of the parliament.
speaking to reporters during a press conference held at the Raj Bhavan today, Marwah said that most political leaders and experts have expressed their desire to hold the elections in February next year.
The matter will be highlighted to the union home minister at the earliest as the tenure of PR regime ends on December 2.He said that the process of the electoral revision is going smoothly under the directive of the Election Commission of India.
Exuding confidence that a popular government will come in the state in the near future, the Governor favoured a free and fair election.
He also sought the co-operation of the people in this regard.
Stating that repairing of the Chief Minister�s bungalow which was burnt down on June 18 has been completed, he said Rs 1 crore has been sanctioned for the repairing of the state secretariat building.
However, new construction of the secretariat building can not be carried out because of the fund crunch.
Disclosing that the government has cut around 14,300 posts of the 93,000 as an austerity measure, Marwah said that steps for downsizing the bureaucratic officers are under way.
He further said that normalcy has returned after the ceasefire uprising.
All corruption cases have been handed over to the CBI, he said and expressed confidence that the people will be able to see the result soon.
He said that insurgency has hampered development in both the hill and valley districts.
He further said that there was a deficit of more than Rs 1000 crores from the time of the previous government.
Marwah said that free movement of vehicles on the national highway number 39 and 53 is very much essential as the two are the lifelines of the state.
The two factors for the interruptions on the highways are political agitations and insurgency.