ZSF petitions Gadkari on road projects
Source: Chronicle News Service / Kaimuanthang Mangte
CCpur, October 30 2024:
The Zomi Student's Federation (ZSF) has urged Union road transport and highway minister Nitin Gadkari to set aside the recent sanction letter for 57 road projects in the state and instead find an alternative and more representative measure.
In a letter to the Union minister, the ZSF said the ministry's sanction letter (NH-12027165/2024 IMN/Zone V of October 8, 2024) for 57 projects under the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) were exclusively for the valley districts.
The sanction letter only added to the decades-old discrimination of Zo tribals and others in the hill districts.
"The selective projection of works situated in the valley district alone exacerbates discriminatory administrative systems under the state of Manipur," the ZSF alleged.
Under this circumstance, people in the hill districts particularly Churachandpur district have been compelled to undertake community or non-government initiatives for road construction and maintenance by raising funds from individual households and generous donations, asserted the ZSF.