ADC election after delimitation, says CM
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, March 01 2024: Clarifying that there is no question of the government suppressing the grassroots democratic system, as could be comprehended from ADC, panchayats and municipal councils being administered by caretakers and committees, chief minister N Biren said that the schedule for ADC election will be finalised after delimitation exercise is completed.

Responding to a question raised by Congress MLA Keisham Meghachandra on the third day of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly on Friday, N Biren said that the term of office of ADCs lapsed on November 30, 2020.As per the 6th Amendment Act, 2020, the number of ADC has been enhanced from 6 to 10 and it requires a delimitation exercise, which is in process.

Once the delimitation exercise is over, the state election commission will fix the election schedule with due approval from the authority concerned.

He also told the House that the fund for ADC is recommended and reviewed by the State Finance Commission while reiterating that the government is not suppressing the grassroots democratic system as not only ADC but panchayats and municipal councils are also functioning under committees and caretakers.

Timely conduct of election depends on issues besetting the state as conducive atmosphere is imperative for conducting elections, the CM explained.

Stating that the government has no intention to violate the democratic rights of anybody, Biren maintained that every policies and initiatives in the hili districts of the state are taken up through the Hill Areas Committee (HAC) .

To another query of MLA Meghachandra, RD&PR minister Y Khemchand said that the terms for panchayats had ended in October, 2022 but the current situation in the state is not conducive for holding elections.

Schedules will be fixed after the situation is improved and by consulting the state election commission.

He also said that the state finance commission reviews the financial position for panchayat bodies.

He further said that the administrative department initiated process for the election in April 2022 but the cabinet meeting held on July 21, 2022 deferred the matter.

On January 2, 2023, the state cabinet gave approval to conduct panchayat election in April 2023 but the state election commission deferred the schedule citing issues.

Consequently, the commission issued public notice fixing tentative schedule of May 15 but the crisis erupted on May 3 and the notice was cancelled after seeking approval from the CM, the minister said.

He further informed the House that the matter will be tabled before the state cabinet shortly.

In response to a poser from MLA Lokeshwar regarding PMGSY projects, Khemchand informed that out of the Rs 301.48 crore fund sanctioned by the Centre, the department had released Rs 100 crore to the contractors concerned.

The finance department has intimated that the remaining fund of Rs 201.48 crore will be released on Friday, he added.

On Congress MLA Surjakurhar Okram's enquiry regarding impact of the crisis on farmers, agriculture minister Thongam Biswajit said that the department has assessed the impact on agriculture and economy by the conflict.

As per the assessment, the crisis resulted in crop loss of 15,437 MT of paddy in 5127 hectares of farmland.

Based on the report submitted by DCs concerned, 5901 farmers were affected by the crisis for which the government had recommended to the home department to release Rs 18.377 crore for 3488 farmers in the first phase with release of the fund to the DCs concerned already in process.

The amounts will be credited to the bank accounts of the farmers within the current month, he said.

Of the remaining farmers, 19 were rejected as duplicate, with verification of the 2399 farmers underway by the DCs concerned.

The department is confident that compensation for the remaining farmers will be released within the current month, he added.

In response to a question from opposition member Th Lokeshwar regarding loss of land records by the crisis, CM Biren, who also holds the portfolio of revenue, said that the government is issuing new land records for those affected by the crisis and urged the displaced people to submit application if they have lost their land records while assuring prompt response.

Responding to a question on NFSA rice raised by Langthabal MLA Karam Shyam, CAF&PD minister L Susindro said that the department is yet to release rice quota for Langthabal AC for 2023 and it was found that the warehouse storekeeper did not release the 1902 quintal of rice for the AC.

The storekeeper had been suspended on May 12 last year and FIR registered.

The quota for April will be released without fail, he said, adding that quota for January and February for all assembly constituencies are yet to be released due to some internal issue in the department which will be looked into.

Responding to question from MLA Surjakumar regarding National Education Policy, education minister Th Basantakumar said that after implementation of NEP, syllabus for class IX to XII will be prepared by NCERT.

Since NCERT is yet to publish the textbooks, the state has not implemented the credit system framework as of now.

However, COHSEM had started sensitisation and awareness activities on national credit framework and the same will be implemented once the textbooks are published, he said.

He further told the House that under NEP, there will be some changes in the mat-ric examination, including incorporation of grading system instead of marks to reduce stress on students as well as minimise the need for attending coaching classes.

There will be two stages of board examinations, one will be the main examination and the other will be improvement examination, he added.

The minister also said that out of 264 schools, which filed application for PM SHRI Scheme, 69 have been selected for the state.

There will be 1500 such schools across the country and Manipur has the highest number of schools among the small states.

With a fund allocation of Rs 39.49 crore, Manipur has the second highest allocation after Assam among the small states, he told the House.

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