Two children from Arunachal land in Manipur

Imphal, July 12: Manipur Police handed over two little children, said to be from Arunachal Pradesh boarded on a bus of the Imphal Rajdhani Express from Guwahati after the travel agency hand over them to the police.
As disclosed by the two children, they are sibling. The elder brother was identified as Kuimo (12) and the younger brother Warspan (7). Their parents were identified as Shanrup and Mela as disclosed by them. They also said that they are from Keishan of Myanmar but residing at Sata of Arunachal Pradesh.
They came out from the home with Rs 150 from their father quietly to go to their original place in Myanmar. They came all the way from Arunachal Pradesh but when they loss the way they boarded to the Imphal Rajdhani express.
The two children are being kept at Deulahland Children home in Imphal under the supervision of Child Welfare Committee, until concerned parents reached Imphal,said the authority of the children home.

'State fails to take up steps to remove backwardness of SCs and STs'

Imphal, July 12 2009: No effective steps appear to have taken to remove the backwardness of scheduled caste and scheduled tribes in the state of Manipur even after more than five decades had passed since the Constitution came into force, lamented, the Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in its report tabled to the House of the Manipur Legislative Assembly.

The committee has examined the conditions of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and has made its recommendations as to the steps that should be taken up by the state to remove the difficulties and injustice being faced by the SCS and STs, said V Hangkhalian, chairman of the committee in a statement today.

The committee was constituted by a decision of the house of the state assembly to look into the implementation of the 100 roaster system with regard to the reservation of seats for the SCs/STs at time of appointment and promotion in the departments under the Manipur government as guaranteed in the Constitution of India.

Almost all the departments under the Manipur have violated the reservation rule prescribed for the scheduled castes ad scheduled tribes in services, though it is constitutionally guaranteed.

The committee conducting verifications to the information and documents provided by various departments, there found almost all the departments not complying with the 100 points roaster system of reservation of seats for the SCs and STs.

Some of the departments could not provide the information which the committee took seriously.

The committee served notice for furnishing the documents/statements regarding the present staff strength to the commissioners/secretaries of the veterinary and animal husbandry, irrigation and flood control department, education, forest and environment, medical, food and civil supply and agriculture department for examination of the same so as to know whether the departments have maintained the prescribed percentage of reservation in services in respect of SCs and STs.

However, the committee did not receive the required statements from some of the departments which the committee took a serious view, the report of the committee said.

Taking a very serious view for non-compliance with the reservation rule provided for the SCs/STs in various departments, a committee on welfare of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes recommended the Manipur government to instruct all the heads of the department to maintain strictly in making of the appointment and promotion to posts and services, he stated.

In Manipur, more than 33 percent of the total population is represented by the STs and SCs.

It is direction of the constitution makers that in consistency with the goal of maintenance of efficiency of administration, the SCs and STs must be duly represented in the state administration.

The rule of reservation in the matter of appointment to a service or post under the state is a part of the constitution scheme.

Thus, adequate representation of the SCs and STs in the services is given over the other considerations, the committee observed.

Mention may be made that alleging that government failed to address the 100 point roaster programme, All Tribal Students Union Manipur (ATSUM) has been demanding implementation of the Manipur Reservation of Vacancies in Post and Service (for SCs and STs Act 2007 by framing rules at the earliest.

They have also threatened to impose the proposed economic blockade on the national highways which was differed for four days from mid night of July 15 .

Official fined for failure to furnish documents under RTI

Imphal, The Manipur Information Commission has ordered the Director of Education Schools, Government of Manipur, Lamphelpat, to pay Rs 11,000 as compensation to a person for failure to furnish the required information sought for within the stipulated period of time under RTI.
M Rakesh, Director of Human Rights Law Network (Manipur), said the order was issued on Friday.
One Thounaojam Raseswar Singh of Top Khongnagkhong, Imphal East, had submitted an application under the Right to Information Act, 2005, on July 7, 2008, to the State Public Information Officer (SPIO), seeking information relating to pay revision of his deceased wife K.Tejbati Devi, who was a regular Head Mistress of Top Makha Primary School.
However, the concerned SPIO failed to furnish the required information.
Thereafter, Raseswar Singh lodged a complaint with the Manipur Information Commission against the SPIO for non-furnishing of the required information.
Consequently, on November 20, 2008, the Manipur Information Commission, headed by its State Chief Information Commissioner RK Angousana Singh, directed the SPIO to furnish the required information within seven days.
This time also the SPIO failed to furnish the required information within the stipulated period of time and instead the required information was furnished only on April 15, 2009.
Raseswar Singh again lodged another complaint with the Manipur Information Commission against the SPIO with a prayer for imposition of penalty to the SPIO for his failure to comply with the order of the Commission.
The Commission held that because of non provision of the information in time by the SPIO, the complainant had to attend the Commission repeatedly and suffer detriment and other harassment from the office of the SPIO which needed to be compensated under the Right to Information Act, 2005, and provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure.
The Manipur Information Commission ordered the office of the Director of Education Schools, Government of Manipur, Lamphelpat, to pay Rs 11,000 as compensation to Thounaojam Raseswar Singh on or before July 31, 2009. The Commission permitted the complainant to approach the Commission again in case of any grievance on or before August 7, 2009.

CADA officials visit NREGS convergence work

Churachandpur, July 11 : Officials of Command Area Development Authority (CADA), headed by its Addl Chief Engineer today visited the convergence works undertaken under NREGS with technical help from the agency in and around the township.

The convergence work was carried out with the expertise and technical help of CADA in various tributaries of the eastern and western canals of Khuga Dam with an estimate amount of Rs 1 Crore.

More than twenty villages were involved in the manual work which DRDA Churachandpur claimed was successful with around 60 percent of the projects completed so far.

The visiting head, W Kumar Singh and his team express satisfaction on the works undertaken by the villagers under NREGS and informed that they will soon press the government to begin concrete works as the manual has been kicking off very well.

IDF launches stir to demand ADC polls

Ukhrul, July 10 2009: Reiterating its demand to decentralize power to the hill districts of Manipur and to hold early election to the Autonomous District Councils, the Indigenous Democratic Front (IDF) launched the mass black badge campaign today.

The black badge campaign began at 11 am from Ukhrul district Hqs, actively participated by IDF volunteers, and soon spread to all the nooks and corner of the district.

IDF volunteers launching the black badge stir and putting up posters at Ukhrul demanding early polls to the ADCs

Interacting with the The Sangai Express, the spokesperson of IDF, William S Shimray, Ukhrul unit, said that the mass black badge campaign has been simultaneously taken up in all the five (5) hill districts of Manipur, as the first phase of the agitation.

The IDF will continue with their campaign for early elections to the ADCs, till the demands of the indigenous hill people are met to enhance grass root democracy in the State, he added.

Charging the State Government of dragging its feet on the issue, William said that various representations had been submitted, highlighting the heterogeneous nature of the State and society.

Despite this, the SPF Government continues to ignore the rights of the hill people, he asserted.

Maintaining, that the election of the ADC has not been held for the last 20 years, the IDF spokesperson said that the present Government had, last year, promised that it would be held soon.

Shimray further stated that the IDF's demand is purely to evolve a democratic system of self governance, based on indigenous democracy, which is best suited for the indigenous people of Manipur.

Along with the black badge campaign, posters were also displayed on the roads and streets of the town, inscribed with slogans such as; "Give us back what is Constitutionally ours," "It is a shame that Manipur Government cannot breathe life to ADC in the hills since the past 20 years," "Devolve power to the grass root," "We want local self governance," etc.

The IDF also warned that it would take up a series of agitations in all the hill districts of Manipur until the demands of the indigenous people of Manipur are met sincerely.

Manipur theatre gets a fresh lease of life

After 3 decades, Shumang leela council reproduces play for researchers, tourists, dignitaries & GenX

KHELEN THOKCHOM

A scene from the play, Eeyaithakki Thambal. A Telegraph picture Imphal, July 9: Shumang leela is dead, long live the Shumang leela. Manipur’s conventional theatre, dead for over 30 years, has received a new lease of life in Eshei leela (play with songs) because of the efforts of the Manipur Shumang Leela Council. For the second time in three decades, the council has re-produced successfully an original Shumang leela play with the objective of preserving the theatre for the benefit of researchers, foreign tourists and visiting dignitaries. The experiment started last year with the successful reproduction of Abir Khan, a popular play, encouraging the council to produce another form of Shumang leela. Produced during a 45-day-long Shumang leela workshop, an extension programme of the National School of Drama, Delhi, the council staged the latest reproduction at Iboyaima Shumang Leela Sanglen last week to a packed audience. The council chose Eeyaithakki Thambal (Lotus in mid water), one of the most popular plays in the eighties, for the reproduction. It depicts how a family can be ruined if the housewife is wicked, and was a trendsetter at that time. Laishram Kunjaraj and his troupe had then held 400 shows in every nook and corner of the state. Interestingly, the reproduction has four of the play’s original cast, including 82-year-old Kunjaraj, one of the finest comedians Manipur has produced. “I accepted the request to perform in the reproduction of the play as a mark of protest against the murder of conventional Manipuri Shumang leela,” Kunjaraj, who is also the director of the reproduction, said. The veteran artiste blamed new artistes who introduced Eishei leela for the death of the conventional theatre. “I stopped performing in Shumang leela in protest against Eishei leela. Today is the first time I am performing after I quit nearly 25 years ago and I am very happy (to be back),” Kunjaraj said. Shumang leela (courtyard theatre) emerged in 1918 after the then king banned Moirang Prava, another traditional theatre, in 1895 because it lampooned those in power. The first full-length Shumang leela, Harishchandra was staged in 1981. “The theatre instantly became a hit,” Loitongbam Dorendra, one of the supervisors of the workshop, said. Shumang leela is staged in the courtyard with the audience surrounding it. It has only a pung (traditional drum) and two mandiras for accompaniment. Eishei leela, the new theatre form, is replete with modern instruments like guitar, organ, electric drum and other wind and string instruments. Songs are an essential part of this genre. “The reproduction of a famous conventional plays, also known as “dialogue leela,” during the workshop was an attempt by the council to preserve conventional drama. The reproduction is meant for exhibition shows and for those researching in conventional play,” the workshop director and secretary of the council, Sougrakpam Hemanta, said. “Those born after mid-eighties do not know about our conventional plays. Now they can see it,” Nomita Khongbantabam, the co-ordinator of the workshop said.

Team to test dengue outbreak in Moreh

Imphal, July 7: The state medical directorate today rushed a team to Moreh in Chandel district following reports of outbreak of fever with dengue-like symptoms.

The border town of Manipur has a record of outbreak of dengue. The outbreak was confirmed by Imphal’s Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in November 2007 after blood samples collected from an eight-year-old girl, M. Vidya, tested positive for dengue at the Mumbai-based SRL Ranbaxy Lab.

Vidya was saved but her elder sister, Puni, 10, who was also brought to the hospital, died of suspected dengue.

The state health department announced total control of dengue outbreak in Moreh within eight days of confirmation of the outbreak.

The medical team headed by Th. Bhubanchandra, additional director (public health), left Imphal for Moreh this morning to investigate a possible outbreak of dengue.

Medical personnel posted at the border town reported that by June 19 a large number of people with fever and nearly 200 patients with dengue-like symptoms, were admitted to the government hospital in the town.

“We could not say whether dengue has returned in Moreh. We will carry out investigations and confirm only after testing blood samples,” Bhubanchandra said before leaving for Moreh.

The medical team, which will stay in Moreh for a few days, will collect blood samples of patients and try to conduct tests to find out if any of the mosquito species carrying dengue virus are present in the town.

After the team collects the samples, the state health department will send them to the Vector Control Research Centre, Pondicherry, for confirmation of dengue and other diseases.

An expert team on malaria is already carrying out investigations in Moreh. Reports said some patients have tested positive.

Moreh, the border town between India and Myanmar, has a large number of floating population, mostly on business trips. Health experts suspect that the source of dengue that broke out in 2007 was the South Asian countries.

Protest

An organisation of Manipuri elders, the Evening Glory Prayer Team, today staged a sit-in at Langol Tarung in Imphal West and demanded a review of the Delhi High Court ruling that gay sex among consenting adults was not a crime.

“Gay sex is against nature and this is not allowed by any religion. The court ruling should be reviewed,” said Rev. Ramkhul Pamei, spokesman for the group and a former general secretary of the Manipur Baptist Convention.

The team has 60 members from different parts of the state and its members are above 60 years of age. They hold daily prayers for world peace at the centre at Langol Tarung from 7am to 9am.

Two killed: Two persons identified as Kopani Rabha, 52, and Panchu Rabha, 45, were killed by unknown criminals at Nalanga Pahartoli under Baguwan police station of Goalpara district on Tuesday night, reports our correspondent.