BJP, Manipur Team meet with Rajnath Singh, Minister of Home Affairs at Delhi

New Delhi, June 27, 2014

BJP, Manipur Team meet with Rajnath Singh, Minister of Home Affairs at Delhi

27 June 2014
Shri Rajnath SinghJi
Hon’ble Minister of Home Affairs,
Govt. of India

Subject: - Request for kind consideration on the development of the State of Manipur.

Dear Sir,

We wish to draw your kind attention on the following urgent attention of the State of Manipur on the realm of development and to foster national integration.

1. Government of India has been being engaged with the NSCN-IM, an underground outfit, and also the State Government with some Kuki and Meitei underground outfits. We have no objection in inviting these misguided outfits to join in the mainstream and in rehabilitating them. However, Government of India should not yield to any pressure which will affect the territorial integrity of all the States of North-East and to the federal structure of the country. There should be peaceful political dialogue and zero tolerance to any extremist group.

2. And as stated by Hon`ble Shri Narendra Modiji, Prime Minister of India during his Imphal rally on 8 February 2014, we humbly approach him once again to seek justice for the over 1500 persons killed in fake encounters in Manipur during the last two decades. The matter is pending before the Supreme Court of India at the moment but an indication from your end will go a long way in ensuring justice.

3. The initiative taken by the last NDA Government led by Shri A.B. Vajpayee for the construction of Express Highway (Super Highway) from Saurastra in Gujarat to Silchar in Assam should be extended uptoMoreh in Manipur. The Jiribam to Imphal portion presently having a distance of 220 Kms. in a mountainous terrain should be shortened by way of tunneling for a stretch of about 70 Kms. The distance from Imphal to Jiribam which is at present 220 Kms. would be brought down to 100 Kms. At present, transportation from Imphal to Silchar/ from Silchar to Imphal takes about 8 days. Even if the road is improved it will take 4 days. The cost of transportation at present is about Rs.30,000 to Rs. 40,000 for a truck.

In the event of tunneling it will take only 1 day and government can charge Rs.10,000 per trip by way of tall tax. The present distance of Pallel to Moreh(border town near Myanmar) is about 65 Kms. For transportation by trucks it takes about 3 hours to cover this distance. By tunneling this portion, the distance can be reduced to 30 Kms and for any truck/goods vehicle it will then takes 30 minutes only. These measures will also help in avoiding security risk, security cost and accidents. The cost of tunneling from Jiribam to Bishenpur may cost about Rs. 4500 crores and Pallel to Moreh may cost Rs.1800 Crores. This will help in improving trade & commerce with South East Asian Countries.

4. Payment of 500 Sikas per month was made by the Burmese Government to Manipur for use of the Kabaw Valley by them following the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826. This monthly payment was arbitrarily waived by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India in 1953 without consulting either the Parliament of India or the people of Manipur. This act has violated of the Constitution and the agreement with Burma made in 1953 need to relook comprehensively so that the Burmese Government either pay the money in the present value or return the Kabaw Valley of Manipur.

5. Rising of a Manipur Regiment in the Indian Army. Hon`ble Sir as you are well aware that the Manipuris are a martial race who fought valiant wars against the Burmese, Chinese and the British. It is imperative here that you may kindly issue necessary directions to raise a Manipur Regiment so that the Manipuri youths will get a sense of involvement in the defence of the country besides giving employment to thousands of unemployed youths of the State.

6. Extension of the Saurashtra to Silchar Expressway upto Imphal and beyond to Moreh in the light of India-Southeast Asia highway project. This was a bold initiatives announced by Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee but unfortunately Manipur was left out of the purview.

BJP, Manipur Team meet with Rajnath Singh, Minister of Home Affairs at Delhi

7. To initiate steps to prevent the present system of cornering of 25 percent of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme by the MLAs from the budget and to ensure that the Zilla Parishad and Autonomous Districts Council in the hill areas function fully autonomy and financial freedom. This is also true for the Gram Panchayats and Pradhans.

8. There is an acute shortage of both water and power supply in the State. Your kind attention is being drawn to ensure that adequate power supply is made available to the State as its lack is hampering the industrial growth and all spheres of life in the State. Steps may also be initiated to ensure that adequate potable water is also available to the general masses of the State.

9. Manipur has for the last 20 years, been known as the “Powerhouse for Sports” of India. Steps may be initiated to establish a Sports University in the State to enhance the sporting talents of the State and also channelize them for bringing glory to the nation.

10. As Hon’able PM Shri Narendra Modiji stated in Imphal Rally “without Manipur culture, Indian culture is not complete”. In this context, we would like to establish a Cultural University may be instituted in Manipur to preserve and promote the rich cultural heritage of Manipur.

11. The existing Indira Gandhi National Tribal University (Regional Centre) in Manipur may be upgraded a full-fledged Tribal University. The State Government has already allotted land for the said University.

12. Development of Inter-Districts roadways connecting the Capital and the Districts ways and also development of roadways connecting to borders areas of the State.

13. Inclusion of Manipur language (Meetei script) in Indian currency note.

14. We shall pray that the demand for Meiteis for categorization as Scheduled Tribes may kindly be given a serious introspection.

We would be grateful for your kind necessary action for the above mentioned demands.

With warm regards,

Yours faithfully,

1. Shri. Santi kumar Sharma,
Former President BJP Manipur
National Executive Member

2. S. Rajen Singh
Vice President BJP Manipur
Ex-Minister

3. Y. Khemchand Singh
Vice President BJP Manipur
Singjamei Mandal

4. Shri. N. Ratan (Kapu)
State Executive Member BJP