Two little ignored issues
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: March 26, 2014 -

Putting aside all other issues on the back burner, the upcoming 16th Lok Sabha elections is the only talk that is doing the round everywhere today.

But our attention has been drawn to two issues whose importance would be surely lost in the political clamour and noises generated around us.

The first issue is the manner of observing the just concluded World TB Day in the State.

The combined photographs of the 33rd World TB Day observance held at the conference hall of JNIMS on March 24 and the existing condition of the lone State TB Hospital at Chingmeirong which were carried on the front page of our paper on its March 25 edition would suffice what we are trying to drive home.

It is a well known fact how thousands of people in Manipur are suffering from Tuberculosis (TB) but accessibility to necessary treatments and tests is still a distant dream to the patients.

In such a situation, even if the theme of the 33rd World TB Day - "Reach Three Million, Find, Treat and Cure TB" is very apt, we would never be able to understand how that objective is going to be achieved through endless rounds of speeches delivered by 'suited and booted resource persons' in the conference hall of a swanky medical institute, when the only hospital for treatment and rehabilitation of TB patients in the State remains abandoned in tatters.

Ignorance about the disease is said to be the main reason behind widespread TB among the people.

But we feel that the same yardstick of ignorance should be applied to the Government and its officials concerned as well for the proliferation of a disease which is curable if detected and treated early.

The other issue that we would like to highlight here is the deprivation of the rights of the old age pensioners in the State.

As per Article 41 of Constitution of India, it is the fundamental obligation of the State Government to provide assistance within the limits of its economic capacity and development to the aged citizens.

Accordingly, in addition to Centrally-sponsored scheme like Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme, the Government of Manipur has introduced its own pension scheme under the name 'Manipur Old Age Pension Scheme' since 1982 for providing some amount of financial assistance to old aged citizens who are 60 years or above in case of men and 55 years or above in case of women who don't have any income or sources of income either of his own or anyone else who is legally liable to support him or her.

It is a very noble scheme. But the implementation of this noble scheme has always been not so noble with complaint galore over eligible beneficiaries missing their names from the list of the selection list and undue political interference at the time of distribution of the pension amount.

Topping all these complaints, now a very depressing revelation has come to the fore that an amount of Rs 1.20 crore meant for implementation of 'Manipur Old Age Pension Scheme' has been lying in the account of the DDO/Social Welfare Department for the last two years without reaching the hands of 15,000 beneficiaries, who are entitled to Rs 800 each for four months.

This is becoming simply too much in the implementation of a noble and welfare scheme for the people. The Minister and the officials concerned of the Department surely owe an explanation to the people.