Imphal, January 23: Following the evacuation of Kangla, the Assam Rifles authority has approached the State Government to allot them the plot of land where the M Sector and Old Treasury Office stand so that they may open a unit in the heart of the city.

The Treasury office was opened during the time of the British rule in Manipur and after they left, the Union Defence Ministry stepped in and occupied the land and christened it M Sector (Manipur Sector).

Simultaneously the Treasury office was allowed to function as before under the State Government.

A well placed source informed The Sangai Express that after the Assam Rifles moved out from Kangla, they have approached the State Govt to allot them the plot where the Treasury office and M Sector stand so that a unit of the Assam Rifles may be opened at the heart of the city.

The State Government is yet to take a final decision on the proposal submitted by Assam Rifles, said the source and added that the State may give the Assam Rifles an alternative site to open their unit.

The plot of land where the Treasury office and M Sector stand measures approximately .99 acre, said the source adding that the Assam Rifles authority is keen that an office of the IG AR be opened at the heart of the city.

The proposed AR unit will house the office of the IG AR, added the source.

With the AR authority keen to continue having a toe hold in the heart of the city by opening a unit at the said place, they have already applied for five fresh telephone connections, said another source.

In lieu of the plot of land, which Assam Rifles want at the Treasury office and M Sector, the State Government is understood to have offered a plot of land at Chingmeirong, but the Assam Rifles authority is more keen on the land where the Treasury office and M Sector stand, added the source.

Even as the Assam Rifles authority has set its eyes on the land of the Treasury office and M Sector, the State Govt has started studying the option of acquiring the said land to construct a guest house for VIPs, informed the source further.

As the Treasury office and M Sector are located just adjacent to the Raj Bhawan, the State Govt is under the impression that constructing a VIP guest house there makes sense.

Hence the Assam Rifles may be given an alternate site to open their proposed unit, added the source.

The Home Department and the PWD have been entrusted with the task of doing the ground work so that the land where the M Sector and Treasury office is located may be utilized to its optimum level, informed the source further.

If the VIP guest house materializes, then the office of the PIB, Defence Wing, which is located within the compound of M Sector may be shifted to another place in the heart of the city.

The PIB, Defence Wing is under the Union Defence Ministry.

Setting to rest all doubt, the source informed that after the British left, the land where the M Sector and Treasury office stand were transferred to the State Govt.However the State Government allowed the army to continue using the land.

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