Source: The Imphal Free Press
Imphal, November 27:
The extension of President's Rule in Manipur for a further six months was approved today by the Rajya Sabha.
Apart from MPs of the ruling NDA, the MPs of the Congress(I), who are in a majority in the Rajya Sabha, gave their assent to the extension of Central rule in Manipur, though they sought a concrete commitment from the government that elections in Manipur would be held in February or March, according to reports from New Delhi.
Speaking during the debate on the resolution for continuation of the Presidential proclamation for Central rule in the state, Manipur MP W Angou Singh maintained that due to prolonged neglect by the Centre, many youths in Manipur no longer believed in the Indian mainstream.
This is the major factor in the rise of insurgency in the state and its neighbors in the north east, he said.
Angou charged that the provision for providing employment to Manipuris contained in the Merger Agreement of 1949 had never been implemented by the Indian government.
He further charged that no exceptional financial aid had ever come forth from the Centre for the state.
Pointing out that a mere Rs 1.55 crores was allocated for the state in the first Five Year Plan, he said till the sixth Five Year Plan, the total allocation for development activities in Manipur was just Rs 423.39 crores.
This amounted to total negligence of the state by the Centre, he said.
Attacking the present PR administration in Manipur as having failed on all fronts, Angou charged that during the five month period of PR, law and order had deteriorated, corruption and extortion had doubled, and employees have not received their salaries for three months.
He also pointed out that the ongoing cease work strike of government employees had already completed a month.
Stating that further extending the President's Rule administration was unjustified, he said the public's expectation that the PR government would tackle the financial crunch gripping the state and would take exemplary action against the corrupt, had evaporated.