Chiefs call hill area bandh
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, April 20 2015 :
To protest the routing of MGNREGS fund through the State Account, the All Tribal Chiefs' Forum (ATCF), Manipur has decided to impose one day total bandh in the hill areas beginning from midnight of April 29 .
In a statement, general secretary of ATCF (M), Kabidon Gonmei said that the implementation of MGNREGS was timely and satisfactory to all beneficiaries when the fund was released to DRDA.
However, the fund has been dislocated, misappropriated and delayed since it was routed through the State Account, it said.
And now the beneficiaries have lost the benefits except negligible appeasement payment of 20-25 per cent which too is paid in piecemeals, it pointed out.
Although several memorandums have been submitted to the State Govt, the latest addressed to the CM on March 25, 2015, no positive response has been received till date, it alleged.
Therefore, as resolved in its meetings on February 26 at Sangaiprou community hall and on March 25 at Kuki Inn, the ATCF has announced to call a one day total bandh in the hill districts of the State beginning from midnight of April 29, it said.
Medical, power supply, water supply, social and religion functions like marriage would however be exempted from the purview of the bandh, it said.