Dimasa bodies call for talks with DHD(J)

Haflong, May 14 : The State Government has sent a fresh proposal to the Centre for deployment of additional security forces to contain violence in North Cachar Hills district, Government sources said here today.

Meanwhile, the Jadikhe Naisho Hoshom (JNH), the apex body of the Dimasa community, has appealed to the Government to instruct its security forces to stop operation against DHD(J) immediately and initiate peace talks with the outfit.

JNH publicity secretary D Bathari, in a statement here, said it seems that the Government is not interested in peace process to respond to the aspirations of the people of NC Hills district despite the fact that the common people of the district welcomed the unilateral ceasefire declared by DHD(J) on March 25.

Echoing the stand of JNH, Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the NC Hills Autonomous Council Depolal Hojai said the Council’s request to the State Government for initiating peace negotiation with DHD(J) has fallen on deaf ears. He said due to the alleged apathy on the part of Dispur, the NC Hills district has plunged into turmoil. He also appealed to DHD (J) to shun violence for the greater interest of NC Hills district and its development.

Meanwhile, several organizations, including the Dimasa Students’ Union, have called for a 24-hour NC Hills district bandh from 5 am tomorrow demanding peace talks with DHD(J).

Several political parties, including the BJP and AUDF, have expressed concern over the prevailing situation in the hills district. A delegation of AUDF met Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today and urged him to pay adequate compensation to the families of labourers killed in the recent militant attack, party sources said.

Meanwhile, pro-talk DHD chairman Dilip Nunisa today said the recent violence unleashed by DHD(J) has reflected the immaturity on part of the leadership of the outfit. “They should not have indulged in senseless killing of railway labourers to take revenge against the Government for Army operation against the outfit, despite declaring a unilateral ceasefire,” he said.

SN

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Forces split over Jewel

Haflong, May 15 : Serious differences have cropped up between the army and Assam police over dealing with the Jewel Gorlosa faction of the Dima Halam Daogah after police’s spadework for revival of the peace process with the outfit has almost been jeopardised by a “proactive army”.

A police officer said the army had fallen prey to a ploy of the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim that aimed at disrupting the peace process with the DHD (J). He also backed the outfit’s claim that troops gunned down a dozen of its cadre on Saturday. The army, however, said it had not found a single body despite a massive search.

Contesting the army’s claim that last week’s gun battle took place within the North Cachar Hills district, the officer said the encounter took place in Manipur and added that the army had been tipped off by the Naga outfit about the presence of the DHD (J) militants at Tamei in Manipur.

“After last month’s meeting with the Gorlosa faction, we asked its cadre to lie low. Accordingly, they withdrew from civilian areas and started holing themselves up in areas adjoining the border the NC Hills shares with Manipur,” the officer said.

The army’s hardcore line towards assorted militant gangs was drawn up after Brig. Ashoke Kumar Sarkar joined as the commander of the 57 Mountain Artillery Brigade posted in Haflong for counter-insurgency operation against the Dimasa rebels.

The outfit called off the unilateral ceasefire it had announced after the army went on an offensive against it and raided its hideouts four times in the last one month.

The ceasefire offer was made after two leaders of the outfit met a senior officer of Assam police’s special branch in Guwahati last month.

The army pointed out that in the past the state government and the police had accused troops of being soft towards the rebels operating in the NC Hills and even raised the issue at the highest level.

The relation between DHD (J) and the NSCN (I-M) had soured over the Gorlosa faction’s demand for change of name of the NC Hills into Dimaraji, meaning Dimasa homeland, in the eight-point charter of demands it submitted to the police last month.

The troubled district has a large Naga population. According to the NSCN (I-M), a change in nomenclature will hurt the sentiments of the Nagas living in the district.

Formed in 1993 with the NSCN (I-M)’s help, the DHD fell out with the Naga group in 2000 over division of extorted money. Their relationship worsened after the DHD’s founder chief Jewel Gorlosa, who was accused of being soft towards the NSCN (I-M), broke away to form his own group.

The outfit after waging 10 years of guerrilla war entered into a ceasefire agreement with the government in 2003. But the truce led to a bitter internal conflict between a group led by Gorlosa and another by Dilip Nunisa.

The conflict eventually resulted in a split in 2004 and Dilip with the help of Pranab Nunisa upstaged Gorlosa from the outfit.

Gorlosa soon renewed his old ties with the NSCN (I-M) and formed his own group, DHD (J). The group is also referred to as Black Widow.

Telegraph India

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Ultras gun down 11 in NC Hills

Haflong, May 16 : Continuing with its bloodbath of innocents, suspected DHD (J) militants, better known as Black Widow, killed 11 people in two separate incidents of violence in the trouble-torn North Cachar Hills district this morning. In the first incident, militants waylaid five trucks belonging to Vinay Cements at a place called 29 Kilo near Panimurh under Umrangso police station around 7-30 am, and gunned down ten people, mostly handymen, drivers and labourers, after taking them to a nearby area named Lamalangso.

The ultras also set fire to two cement-laden trucks besides damaging other three.

Four of the dead have been identified as Shyam Kumar Singh, Narottam Das, Bhabiram Singh and Shambhu Devnath – all hailing from Lanka in Nagaon district.

In the second incident that took place about the same time, militants attacked a goods train coming from Lumding towards Maibong, resulting in the death of the driver, who has been identified as NL Bora. Three other persons are stated to have received injuries.

The incident took place in-between Kalachand and Mupa.

PTI adds: The NF Railways have cancelled all trains in the district between Badarpur and Lumding following increased attacks on its employees and labourers engaged in broad-gauge conversion work. The district had observed a 24-hour bandh yesterday to protest the killing of 13 labourers engaged in broad-gauge conversion work and East-West Corridor highway construction since Saturday by the militants.

The militants had also killed a railway employee and two others at Maibongdisa railway station in the district.

Ultra attack repulsed: In a gallant act, the police personnel of 21 AP (IR) battalion repulsed an attack on their camp by 25/30 heavily armed extremists last night at Kapurcherra in NC Hills district.

The extremists came in Army combat uniform and resorted to indiscriminate firing at the camp. On retaliation by the AP battalion personnel, they fled away under the cover of darkness and thick jungle. A massive combat operation was launched and police recovered five 40 mm morter shells and about 120 empty cases of assorted weapons, an official press release said.

AT

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Hint of ceasefire after bloodbath

Guwahati, May 17 : Militant leader Jewel Gorlosa’s flip-flop on calling unilateral ceasefire continued as Assam police today said they had reports that his faction of the Dima Halam Daogah would call a truce a day after it massacred 11 people in the North Cachar Hills district.

The police said they were “verifying the authenticity” of the news.

The outfit called a unilateral ceasefire on March 25 but called it off after 12 of their own men were allegedly killed by the army. The army owned up to the encounter but failed to locate a single body.

Speaking to The Telegraph, inspector-general of police (special branch), Khagen Sarmah, said, “I have heard that they have declared a ceasefire. We are looking into it,” he said. The police would watch the outfit’s “behaviour” in the coming days to ascertain the veracity of the report, he added.

However, a section of the police topbrass described the news of “Jewel Gorlosa truce” as “too good to be true” apparently going by its past record.

Police sources described the attacks as “retaliatory”, adding, “the outfit had already declared a unilateral ceasefire but was forced to display its firepower after the killing of its cadres. It was a forced interim act and after its mission was accomplished, the outfit might now have decided to return to its unilateral ceasefire declared on March 25,” a source said.

The NF Railway Mazdoor Union today observed a black day in all the divisional headquarters and also took out a silent rally with hundreds of its members at its Maligaon headquarters, seeking adequate security to personnel engaged in the gauge conversion.

Sources claiming to be close to the DHD (J) quoted the outfit’s publicity secretary, Faiphang Dimasa, to say that all its operations have been stopped from today. He, however, said no work on the gauge conversion and East-West corridor projects in the district would be allowed till the ceasefire was formalised.

A senior home department official said it was in constant touch with the railways and impressing upon it to resume normal services as a series of “counter-insurgency as well as protective measures” have been initiated by the government, the official said. He has also heard about the DHD (J) announcing a cessation of hostilities, he added.

“We cannot react as we have only heard.”

The bloodbath, however, continued in the district. A former councillor of the North Cachar district autonomous council belonging to the minority Biate minority tribal community was shot dead at 10am today by unknown gunmen in his village of Siampui, about 4km from Haflong town. He has been identified as J.T. Namlam, 65, according to the police in Haflong.

Telegraph India

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ATSUM to talk with Manipur CM

Imphal, May 17 : With an eye to find a resolution to their demands as well as to end the ongoing economic blockade on the NH-39 and NH 53, the All Tribal Students’ Union, Manipur has agreed to talk with the Government tomorrow.

Joseph Hmar, the spokesman of ATSUM, while talking to The Sangai Express said “We are ready to talk but at the same time we are also ready to intensify our stir if the State fails to give any commitments”.

The tribal students under the aegis of ATSUM has been imposing the economic blockade demanding 34.2 pc job reservation in Manipur University faculty since May 2, which has been upgraded to a Central University.

Earlier when the varsity was under the State Government the job quota for both teaching and non teaching staff was 10 percent but now it has gone down to 7.5 percent To highlight their demand Manipur University Tribal Students’ Union (Mutsu), a constituent unit of Atsum, imposed a general strike inside MU complex on April 28, during the visit of a team from the UGC President of ATSUM John Pulamte accompanied by the assistant secretary A Haokip have already talked with three Ministers including the Chief Secretary but to no avail, said Hmar.

Since the earlier talks have failed, the student body has decided to accept the invitation for a talk with Chief Minister O Ibobi tomorrow noon, said Joseph Hmar further.

The constituent members of ATSUM have been asked to attend the meeting.

TSE

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Filmmakers protest extortion in Imphal

Imphal, May 17 : Film personalities of the state today were the latest to join the protest bandwagon against extortion by militant outfits of the state.

Transporters, labourers and rickshaw-pullers had staged sit-ins, launched strikes and demonstrated against monetary demands by insurgents since the past month.

Actors, producers and directors today staged a sit-in to protest against the demands made by an underground outfit and decided to appeal to the militants to withdraw the demand.

An outfit had some days back demanded money from five theatre owners, who screen only Manipuri films.

Unable to accede to the demand, the Film Forum Manipur stopped screening of films from last Monday.

The film fraternity sat in dharna at the Krishna Premi Oil Station at Yaikul in Imphal West from 10am to 4pm.

Playwright L. Dhanachandra Sharma said, “It will have a negative impact on Manipuri cinema which is still developing. So the best way one can bring an amicable solution to the problem is by appealing to the outfit to withdraw the demand in the interest of Manipuri films.”

Actress Lilabati Chanam felt that it was certainly a discouraging factor. “Cinema in Manipur is toiling hard for its survival. We want everybody to support and encourage us with positive thoughts and ideas and appeal to the outfit to withdraw its demand,” she said. Several others also echoed her views.

Manipuri films found prominence with Matamgi Manipur and it has come a long way since then.

The Manipuri film industry has entertained the audience with only a limited number of films owing to huge expenses. But the ban on Hindi films by the Revolutionary People Front came as a blessing in disguise because it gave birth to digital films in the state.

Imphal West superintendent of police L. Kailun said, “We have assured the film owners that they would be provided adequate security. We can provide full-proof security as the theatres are mostly located in Imphal.”

Telegraph India

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344 civilians killed in insurgency-related crimes in Manipur

Imphal, May 17 : At least 905 people, including 344 civilians, were killed in insurgency-related incidents in Manipur from January 2005 to March 31 this year, official sources said on Friday.

Those who were killed during the period also included 442 insurgents and 119 security and police personnel, the sources said.

Four hundred and thirty-three civilians and 211 security and police personnel were injured in separate incidents during the period, the sources said.

According to a statement prepared by the state government, 118 bombs were exploded by militants at different places in the state during the period, the sources said.

A total of 2714 insurgents of different outfits were arrested during the period, they said.

Major insurgents organisations which were actively operating in trouble-torn North eastern state were United National Liberation Front (UNLF), Kanglei Yawol Kann Lup (KYKL), Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF), People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) and Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), the sources said.

PTI

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Talks on ground rules and SoO

Imphal, May 17 : Talks with the Kuki UG groups over the ground rules of the Suspension of Operation (SoO) with the State Govt will formally begin at the Central level from May 19, a reliable source from the State Home Department disclosed to The Sangai Express today.

According to the official source, Chief Secretary Jarnail Singh and DGP Y Joykumar will be representing the State Government in the talk with the Kuki UG outfits which is slated to begin from May 19 .

The meeting which would discuss the issue related to the Suspension of Operation (SoO) would be chaired by Joint Secretary North East in-charge of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, the source said, adding that the representatives of United Progressive Front (UPF) which is the apex body of the Kuki outfits and KNO are also expected to take part in the meeting.

The official further disclosed that the talks to be held formally at the Central level for the first time on May 19 after signing of the SoO with the Army would finalise the ground rules of the operation.

The ground rules formulated by the State Government and later submitted to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs after the same was duly passed by the State Cabinet would be tabled for discussion during the talks, the source said, adding that the representatives of the UPF and KNO are likely to express their opinions on the said ground rules.

If case the ground rules of the Suspension of Operation could be finalised without any hitch during the talks on May 19, then the State Government would be facilitating several rounds of meeting with the representatives of UPF and KNO. Contrary to the earlier decision of not allowing participation of KNO in any meeting convened by the State Government, the State Cabinet has approved participation of the KNO.

At the time of signing the SoO with the Indian Army, the UPF camp comprises KNF (S), UKLF, KRA, KLA, ZRA and HPC (D) while that of KNO/KLA include KLA, KNF (MC), KNF (Z), HPC and USRA.

TSE

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15 Naga rebels killed in clash

Dimapur, May 17 : In continuing turf war between rival Naga underground groups, at least 15 people, including a civilian, were on Friday killed in a gunbattle near Dimapur and a mob ransacked an NSCN(IM) Ceasefire Monitoring Cell office there.

Villagers said there was a heavy exchange of fire between two groups of NSCN in the morning at Seithekim-C village about 15 km from Dimapur.

The police, along with villagers, recovered 13 bodies of cadre of GPRN/NSCN (Unification) but did not find any arms on the bodies, which were believed to have been taken away by the rival cadre.

A spokesman of NSCN (Unification) told newsmen that its members, who had gone to ascertain if the rival group had set up any camp in the area, were ambushed by a large group of NSCN(IM).

It was bloody and turbulent Friday in and around Dimapur when a total of 15 were killed during nearly twelve hours of sporadic acts of violence and arson precipitated by factional clash between rival NSCN groups.

Timeline:

Those killed included 14 from the “GPRN/NSCN” cadre and a civilian, while four other civilians were injured during a series of incidents that began at Seithekima ‘C’.

5:30 am

Fourteen GPRN/NSCN activists were killed at Seithekima-C village. According to GPRN/NSCN deputy kilonser (publicity cell) Alezo Venuh, the activists were killed in an ambush on their return after ascertaining reports about presence of rivals at PCC campus.

Thirteen died on the spot while one, who was seriously injured, later succumbed to injuries. Initially 12 bodies were recovered by police. Later another was recovered. DC Maongwati Aier and SP Liremo Lotha rushed to the spot on learning of the incident.

12 noon

Several hundred people were on hand when the dead bodies were brought in a police truck at the Diphupar Police Station. The national highway 39 was blocked as the crowd shouted slogans “we are all for unification”. The vehicles of former minister Dr. T.M. Lotha and agriculture minister Chumben Murry, which were coming from Kohima, were also damaged.

12:45 pm

The crowd soon rushed to the NSCN (I-M) cease fire monitoring cell office a few yards away as some began pelting stones. Later, some groups began hurling petrol bombs and setting fire to a bamboo kitchen. Armed NSCN (I-M) activists started firing blank shots to ward off the mob.

One youth, armed with a pistol, climbed up the building and started firing at those inside. It could not be ascertained if he was a civilian or belonging to a cadre. Around 30 IRB personnel reached the spot but they were prevented from moving towards the Monitoring Cell when the public, mostly women, blocked the road.

Even as the commotion ran rife outside, gun shots were fired intermittently by NSCN (I-M) activists holed up inside the Monitoring Cell. After nearly two hours at around 2:45 pm, some armed NSCN (I-M) activists arrived and later those inside also came out. The cadres soon resorted to firing in which one civilian was hit on the stomach and died while three other civilians were injured.

The civilian who was killed was later identified as Avi Konyak, an employee of a local cable network. The other injured were not identified at the time of filing this report but sources said one of them was from Chekiye village. The arrival of some activists of the GPRN/NSCN led to a fierce gun battle that went on till 5 pm.
DC Maongwati and SP Lerimo along with DMC chairman Kekhaho Assumi arrived but they could not stop the exchange of fire. The IRB personnel were also helpless. It was estimated that between 1,500 and 2,000 shots were fired in Diphupar alone. An irate mob burnt down three houses in the vicinity belonging to some NSCN (I-M) functionaries and a civilian.

5:30 pm

Meanwhile, in another incident, another group of people set fire to two houses at Wungram Colony. There was an exchange of fire between the two factions in the area at around 5:30 pm. A civilian was injured in the crossfire here.

Earlier in the day, unidentified youths forced closure of shops in the city. All shops and business establishments in Dimapur remained closed and denizens remained indoors due to apprehension.

Names of activists killed

1. “Capt” Atoyi Sumi of Yehemi village
2. “Lt” Nokshamba Yimchunger of Old Showuba village
3. “2nd Lt” Vikishe Sumi of Phisami village
4. “2nd Lt” Khetoshe Sumi of Saghemi village
5. “2nd Lt” Moa Yimchunger of Old Showuba village,
6. “Sgt Maj” Kiuthro Yimchunger of Longkonger village,
7. “Sgt Maj”Hokheyi Sumi of Phisami village
8. “Sgt Maj”Hekiye Sumi of Lotovi village
9. “Sgt Maj”David Dimasa of Ghaneshnagar village
10. “Sgt” Samuel Sumi of R. Hovishe village
11. “Sgt” Lokho of Kalinamai village
12. “Sgt” Mughato of Ghokuto village
13. “Cprl” Mughalu of Shikavi village
14. “Pvt” Akito Sumi of Kuhoxu village.

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Bangladeshi immigrants corner Northeast funds

New Delhi, May 17 : In the North-East, the NREGA, the UPA government’s flagship rural regeneration programme, has become an incentive for infiltration of Bangladeshis.

The union rural development ministry has of late been alarmed over reports that the benefits of the scheme in the states bordering Bangladesh are being cornered primarily by the infiltrators.

Worried over the reports that funds earmarked for the programme are being pocketed by the Bangladeshis, the union rural development ministry has now been constrained to send advisories to the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram to screen the job-seekers very carefully before providing them with work.

“These states have been asked to verify the credentials of the applicants before preparing their job-cards,’’ sources in the rural development ministry said. The diversion of funds earmarked for the NREGA in the north-eastern states lends further credence to the principal opposition party, the BJP’s charge that the influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh was part of a well-designed pattern aimed not only wrecking the region’s economy, but also changing its entire demography.

“When the programme was first introduced in these north-eastern states, we were worried over reports that the local inhabitants were not too keen on taking up projects. Suddenly, there was a deluge in the number of people seeking work under the programme, leading to a corresponding increase in the amount of funds demanded by these states under the programme. This set alarm bells ringing in the ministry,’’ the sources said.

Field reports sent from these states corroborated fears that NREGA funds were being cornered by the Bangladeshis. “These elements followed a clear pattern. They’d complete the work, collect their wages and go back to Bangladesh, leaving no trace of their whereabouts,’’ the ministry sources added.

While the exact quantum of funds lost in the process is yet to ascertained, Krishi Bhawan officials admit that a substantial amount of money may have found its way into the Bangladesh economy through this route.

For the rural development ministry, which is already battling charges of large-scale corruption in the programme’s implementation and the fact that its benefits were not really reaching target groups in quite a few states, reports of fund-diversion to Bangladeshis in the north-eastern region have come as a huge shock.

There are also fears that in the absence of full-proof measures to detect illegal migrants from across the border, funds earmarked for the NREGA would continue to reach the wrong people.

Agencies

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Ambitious programme for poor in India’s northeast

Agartala, May 17 : A 14-point action plan to eradicate poverty from India’s eight northeastern states promises to improve the condition of the estimated 7.9 million poor people in the region. The poverty alleviation programme has been approved by the North Eastern Council (NEC), the planning body for the region.

“The economic poverty of the region, as per the estimates of the Planning Commission, is 19.1 percent as against 27.5 percent in the country as a whole, and is being reduced at a faster rate in the region compared to the all-India average,” said Mani Shankar Aiyar, central minister for development of the north eastern region (DoNER).

“Poverty appears to be largely rural in nature and heavily concentrated in Assam (19.7 percent or 5,577,000 people) and Tripura (18.9 percent or 638,000 people),” Aiyar, who is also chairman of the NEC, told IANS in an interview.

The plan was approved by the NEC during its plenary session, attended by chief ministers, ministers and governors of the eight states here Monday and Tuesday.

According to an NEC document, 7.9 million of the estimated 40 million people in the northeast are living below the poverty line.

In the concept paper of the poverty alleviation programme, poverty in the northeast has been classified into four categories - economic poverty, nutritional poverty, human poverty and basic amenities poverty.

Among the other northeastern states, Meghalaya has 18.5 percent people living below the poverty line followed by Manipur at 17.3 percent, Nagaland at 19 percent, Arunachal Pradesh at 17.6 percent, Mizoram at 12.6 percent and Sikkim at 20.1 percent.

“The participation of the poor in the process of planning is low and only some of the poor are organised in groups such as Self-Help Groups (SHGs) while local self-governments need to be empowered to address issues of poverty abolition,” the document added.

“The problem of youth unemployment is perhaps the most serious and disturbing of the social and economic problems of the region, accounting, in turn, for serious political and law and order problems in many parts of the region,” it pointed out.

A five-fold programme of development perspectives for the eradication of poverty in the northeast region has been highlighted in the document. These are economic development, institutional, participatory, human resource and infrastructure development.

“As with investment in industry and infrastructure, which is governed by the North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy, 2007, the rural sector requires a ‘North East Agriculture and Allied Activities Development and Export Promotion Policy,” Aiyar said quoting the programme document.

The 14-point action plan to eradicate poverty includes land reforms and distribution of lands, updating of land records and computerisation, codification of the customary land tenure system and recognition, provision of adequate resource support by the union government, intra-regional cooperation by the NEC and promotion of the SHG movement.

According to the official document, the northeastern region has a workforce of 41.6 percent cultivators and 13 percent agricultural labourers who depended on the land for their subsistence.

“What is needed is to modernise agriculture, practise mechanised farming, promote hybrid varieties of seeds and foster minor irrigation to make the transition to high value agriculture as also to move from subsistence farming to cash crop farming,” the document added.

IANS

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Mizoram Cong reunites with splinter group

Aizawl, May 16 : Mizoram Pradesh Congress finally reunited with its splinter group Mizoram Congress party today. In spite of its ideological differences in the past, Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee can now declare that they celebrated its red-letter day.

“We have buried the hatchet and make renewed efforts for a better Mizoram,” Pradesh Congress Chief Lal Thanhawla said here today at the press conference held after the reunification.

The reunification agreement signed by MPCC president Lal Thanhawla and MCP president John Lalsangzuala stated that the two parties agrees to reunite with the objectives of forming a good governance to save the people from poverty and backwardness. It also laid down manifestoes to be fulfilled by the reunited Congress party in the forthcoming State Assembly elections.

Following the reunification, the MPCC had made slight alterations among the office-bearers, where Lal Thanhawla will remain the president, while a new working president post has been created for the comeback son Lalsangzuala.

Due to illness, Lalsangzuala could not attend the reunification press conference. The two MCP MLAs Liansuama and Saikapthianga, who have now become ‘free MLAs’ according to Thanhawla, did not attend the press conference.

UNI

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MWCEA on mass casual leave strike

Aizawl, May 17 : The Mizoram Work-Charged Employees Association (MWCEA) today launched an indefinite mass-casual leave strike to demand regularisation of work-charged employees.

The agitation is likely to affect water and power supply in Aizawl. “The agitation has been necessitated by the state government’s refusal to meet the ten-year-long demand for regularisation of work-charged employees and non-implementation of the Work-Charged Regularisation Scheme,” the association leaders told newspersons.

According to the association, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga had earlier promised to regularise all work-charged employees in different departments. However, the MWCEA leaders alleged that the Chief Minister later refused to implement the regularisation following pressure from the concerned department heads.

The work-charged employees also opposed the government’s recent decision to allot a number of regular posts to members of the Peace Accord MNF Returnees Association.
Though the government jobs were given to the former rebels as per the peace agreement in 1986 between the Centre and the then outlawed Mizo National Front (MNF), the work-charged employees insisted that new posts should have been created for the surrendered MNF cadres.

There are about 1,737 work-charged employees in the Public Works, Power and Electricity, Public Health Engineering and Industries departments.

UNI

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Mizos oppose appointment in IT park

Aizawl, May 17 : Even as the State Cabinet’s decision to create an Information Technology department in Mizoram pleased hundreds of youths, the proposal to put a bureaucrat as the head of the department has evoked strong opposition.

The Mizoram Educated Unemployed Association today hinted that the recent Cabinet meeting’s resolution on creation of information technology department has been overruled.

The meeting minute has stated that the Council of Ministers, has however, after discussing it twice, resolved that a technocrat shall head the(IT) department and will be called the chief information officer(CIO), MEUA said in a statement.

Contrary to the Cabinet’s resolution, the meeting minute stated that the upcoming IT department shall have a bureaucrat as head of department, it said, and questioned the government’s claims of “opening more opportunities for technical students”.

“We are really shocked that the meeting minute came out against the Council of Ministers’ resolution,”’ the MEUA statement said, adding that this is a contempt to our legislation.

Although the statement said that the association has talked to the concerned minister it did not give the contents of the conversation. The MEUA strongly urged the Government to place a technocrat as the head of the department as per the Cabinet’s decision.

“We will take every possible step to ensure this,” the statement added. Similarly, the Mizoram Computer Science and Engineering Association (MICSEA) also took a strong exception to the way the meeting minute contradicted the previous Cabinet meeting’s resolution.

In a memorandum to the chief minister, MICSEA said it strongly suspected foul play and demanded him to rectify the matter. A move to put a non-technical person to head the much-awaited IT department has come as a shock to the entire IT-educated youths, the memorandum said.

This will bring about hurdles to IT development in Mizoram as well as take away the opportunities of IT-educated youths. The much-awaited IT department will neither live up to expectations,” MICSEA said in the memorandum.

UNI

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US provides $50,000 humanitarian assistance to Mizoram

New Delhi, May 17 : The US will provide Rs 20 lakh (50,000 dollars) in humanitarian assistance to the people affected by the food shortage in Mizoram’s Saiha district.

The aid would be provided to an NGO ‘Save the Children’ to assist people in the affected area, the US embassy said in a statement here today.

”Shortages have emerged in recent weeks because of the flowering of bamboo in the area, resulting in major rat infestation in crop-growing areas. With funds provided by the US, ‘Save the Children’ will assist poor families affected by crop losses,” it said.

The current food shortages, it said, has led to growing health concerns, especially for women and children.

During his conversation with Mizoram Chief Minister Pu Zoranthanga, US Consul General in Kolkata, Henry Jardine, said the the support ”reflects the US government’s great concern and sympathy for the people of Mizoram during this difficult time.”

UNI

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