Question hour in the Assembly : CM bats for indigenous folks of the land
Source: The Sangai Express / DIPR

Imphal, February 08 2021: On the fourth day of the 12th session of the 11th Manipur Legislative Assembly today, Chief Minister N.Biren Singh assured the House that the State Government is fully committed and prepared to protect the indigenous people of the State.

The Chief Minister while replying to a question raised by MLA AK Mirabai, said that there have been enough Acts/Rules and Regulations like MLR & LR Act, Provisions of Article 371 and Act to Protect Paddy Fields to protect the land, culture and language among others of the indigenous people and if required the Government will take up necessary steps to safeguard the same.

The Chief Minister further stated that after the implementation of Inner Line Permit System from January 1 to December 31, 2020 a total of 1,62,902 permits were issued in 4 (four) categories�Special Category Permit, Regular Permit, Temporary Permit and Labour Permit and a sum of Rs 2,52,78,000/- haad been collected.

Question hour in the Assembly : CM bats for indigenous folks of the land

A total of 3636 permits have also been renewed so far.

Replying to a question and supplementary raised by MLA Surjakumar Okram, the Chief Minister said that steps will be taken up to subsidize the rate for COVID-19 testing after consulting with the stakeholders including private hospitals and clinics.

He said a total of 5,19,458 tests have been conducted till February 2, 2021 of which 4,34,960 tests and 84,498 tests were carried out at Government and private facilities respectively.

As soon a case is reported, contact tracing is conducted to prevent further spreading of the virus, thus lowering the rate of infection.

The Chief Minister who is also in charge of Art & Culture said necessary steps are being taken up to introduce Post Graduate Diploma Courses at Manipur State Film & Television Institute.

He was replying to a query raised by MLA Surjakumar Okram.

He said the Cabinet has already approved recruitment of staff including faculty members of the institute.

Equipments and library of the institute have been installed and once the recruitment process is completed, classes will be conducted as early as possible.

Full autonomy will also be given to the institute, he added.

Forest & Environment Minister, Awangbou Newmai assured the House that steps to conserve and develop wetlands will be taken up soon.

While replying to a query raised by MLA P Brojen Singh, the Minister said after the notification of Wetland (Conservation & Management) Rules, 2017, steps to conserve and protect major wetlands like Ikop Pat, Kharung Pat and Waithou Pat will be initiated as soon as possible.

He also stated that taking serious note of the deteriorating environmental conditions, the Government is taking up efforts to conserve the wetlands.

If required proper demarcation will be conducted and boundary will be fixed.

The Minister while replying to another question raised by MLA K Ranjit Singh said that steps have been taken up to protect wildlife in the State.

He said 4 (four) wildlife species have been considered extinct according to available records and some have been on the verge of extinction.

He further said that 2 (two) National Parks, 7 (seven) Wildlife Sanctuaries and 11 (eleven) Community Reserves have been identified.

Besides these, Manipur Zoological Garden at Iroishemba, Nongin Captive Breeding Centre and Sangai Captive Breeding Centre at Langol Ching and Orchid Preservation Centre at Khonghampat have already been set up to conserve and protect the species.

CAF&PD Minister Th Satyabrata Singh informed the House that State Level Price Fixation Committee & Price Monitoring Unit have been instituted to check the illegal price hike in the State.

Replying to a question raised by MLA K Ranjit Singh, the Minister said the Committee and the Unit in consultation with the business community fixes the prices of essential commodities from time to time.

The Minister who is also in charge of Labour & Employment while replying to another question raised by MLA AK Mirabai Devi said 5862 vacancy positions have been notified and 980 have been employed during the year 2017-2020 .