Scribes welfare scheme, fast track Courts for crimes against women, compensations to drivers, transporters agreed
State Cabinet adopts slew of measures for all
Source: The Sangai Express / DIPR/OSR

Imphal, June 14 2017: The State Cabinet which met today with Chief Minister N Biren in the chair adopted a slew of measures, including introduction of Manipur State Journalists' Welfare Scheme, compensation of Rs 1.08 crore to drivers andtrasporters forthe losses suffered during economic blockades last year and establishment of fast track Courts for crimes against women in the State.

Fast track Court for crimes against women Keeping in view the increasing cases of crime against women in the State, the State Cabinet today approved the establishment of one full-time Fast Track Court "Court of Additional Sessions Judge(FTC) for Crimes against Women, Manipur" for trial of cases connected with crimes against women.

The Cabinet also agreed for the creation of nine regular posts for the said Fast Track Court.

The posts include 1 post of Grade-I of MJS, one Addl Public Prosecuter cum Addl Government Advocate (District), one PS/Steno-III, one UDA/Bench, two LDA, one driver and two peons.

Signficantly Chief Minister N Biren Singh, during a seminar held at RIMS this month, announced that Fast Track Courts would be set up to tackle cases related to crimes against women in the State soon.

Journalists Welfare Scheme okayed.

The Cabinet also approved introduction of the Manipur State Journalists Welfare Scheme.

The objective of the Scheme is to provide one-time ex-gratia and relief to journalists and their family members.

The Scheme is framed vis-s- vis the relevant schemes implemented in the neighbouring States of Assam, Mizoram and Nagaland and also in sync with the guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Financial assistance under this Scheme will be paid out of the interest accrued from a corpus fund of Rs 5 crore.

The scheme will be enforced from the date of the publication of the notification in the official gazette.

Under the scheme, Rs 2 lakh shall be provided to the family on account of death of the journalist and also to the journalist in case of permanent disability rendering the journalist incapable of earning a livelihood.

A sum of Rs 1 lakh shall be provided towards the cost of treatment of major ailments such as cancer, renal failure, heart ailments requiring bypass or open heart surgery, angioplasty, brain haemorrhage and paralytic attack etc.

Relief under the provision is available only upto the age of 60 years.

A sum of Rs 50,000 shall be provided in case of accidents causing serious injuries necessitating hospitalisation.

Compensation of Rs 1.08 crore to drivers and transporters .

The State Cabinet gave its approval to the payment of compensation for Rs.1,08,41,094 for the damages and injuries to the Tata trucks and crews of Tata trucks during several incidents of economic blockades on National Highway 37 last year.

Admitting that the drivers and transporters have been discharging their duties satisfactorily in spite of the hardships faced by them, the State Cabinet has decided to provide financial assistance for the damages and injuries caused during economic blockades.

It may be mentioned that Chief Minister N Biren Singh, during his meetings with All Manipur Petroleum Products Transporters Association and All Manipur Bulk LPG Transporters Association in April this year, had assured that the Government would pay due compensation soon to the drivers and transporters who got injured and lost their lives in the line of duty.

Considering the importance of Urea fertilizer to boost food grains productivity in the State, the Cabinet also gave its nod for the transportation of 12,5000 metric tonnes of Urea fertilizer from Dimapur to Imphal departmentally by the State Agriculture Department under the Buffer Stocking Programme 2017-18 .

Mention may be made that due to the heavy demand of Urea fertilizer during the Kharif season, the authorised dealers of Bramhaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited (BVFCL), Namrup located are unable to meet the spurt in demand of Urea fertilizer in the State.

The Cabinet also approved the proposal for extending the temporary management of Hotel Imphal and Tourism Infrastructure and facilities at Sendra Hillock by M/S Babina Health Care and Hospitality Industries Private Limited for six months with effect from July 1, 2017 till December 31, 2017 or till the finalization of the tender process for leasing out whichever is earlier.

The Cabinet also decided to revise the room rents in the Manipur Bhawans located at New Delhi, Kolkata and Guwahati.

Acknowledging that large sections of the society are not happy with the existing rates of room rents in the Manipur Bhawans, the Cabinet approved the proposal for the revision of room rents.

After the revision, the room rents would be reduced by 30-70 percent of the existing � rates in all the Manipur Bhawans located in the country.

The Cabinet also gave its nod for conducting the 5th Panchayat Elections, 2017 in the six Zilla Parishads under the Manipur Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 .

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