UN Millennium Development Goals deliberated threadbare
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, October 18 2012:
With special reference to Manipur and its people, the UN Millennium Development Goals were deliberated today during a people's convention held at Lamyanba Shanglen, Palace Compound.
The UN together with head of States of 189 countries set eight different targets which must be realised by 2015 .
The targets include eradication of poverty/hunger, ensuring universal education to all children, ensuring equality of rights between men and women, ensuring medical facilities to all children, ensuring good health to all mothers, effective control of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other communicable diseases, ensuring environment sustainability and global partnership.
Today's people convention deliberated on these eight goals and the measures taken up so far to realise the goals within the targeted period.
The inaugural session of the convention was attended by Public Accounts Committee Chairman L Ibomcha, Prof Amar Yumnam and United Voluntary Youth Council Imphal secretary Maharabi.
The convention was jointly organised by the Community Network for Empowerment, Sustainable Livelihood Forum Manipur, Manipur Alliance for Child Rights, Human Rights Law Network, Human Rights Alert, United Voluntary Youth Council in collaboration with Wada Na Todo Abhiyan.
Speaking at the convention, Human Rights Law Network Executive Director Rakesh Meihoubam said that the Government of Indian has taken up several flagship programmes to realise the first two goals of eradicating poverty and ensuring proper medical facilities to women and children.
He mentioned such programmes as MGNREGS, NRHM, Indira Awaz Yojana.
But the question is, are people getting benefits of these programme.
A handful of people purportedly working for the people have been enjoying all the benefits.
There were instances where funds for Indira Awaz Yojana were drawn in the name of beneficiaries without their knowledge using fake documents and forged signatures.
Justice was done in some of these cases when the frauds were identified by exercising RTI Act following which complaints were filed at Courts, Rakesh said.
Even though Janani Suraksha Yojana is also implemented in Manipur as a component of NRHM under which mothers are given Rs 600 for child delivery at hospitals, most of the mothers do not get the money even their children have crossed their first birth anniversary.
Under NRHM, Janani Sishu Suraksha Kariyakram was launched by the Chief Minister in Manipur on August 15 last year after the scheme was introduced at the national level in June 2011 .
Though it has been more than one year since the scheme was launched in Manipur, no mother or child has received any benefit from the same scheme, Rakesh decried.
Manipur Alliance for Child Rights convenor Pradip Keisham said that the Government of India enacted the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 with a view to realise the UN Millennium Goal of universal primary education.
The Act laid down that free education should be provided in Government schools and 25 per cent of the educational expenses should be free in private schools.
With the education system languishing in a deplorable condition despite all these measures, many children were trafficked to other States after duping their parents in the name of providing free and better education in other States.
Education is not enough for ensuring rights of children.
Child rights encompass protection, growth, development and participation.
But in Manipur, all these rights are being violated on account of AFSPA, Pradip said.
Community Network for Empowerment president RK Nolinikanta and Sustainable Livelihood Forum Manipur State coordinator Mesiah Devi too spoke at the convention on different topics related with the UN Development Goals.
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