House passes five demands for grants of Rs. 876,11,12,000

Imphal, 22 February, 2019 (DIPR): On Day 3 of the ongoing 7th Session of the 11th Manipur Legislative Assembly, the House today unanimously passed five Demands for Grants amounting to Rs 876,11,12,000. The Demands for Grants are Rs 110,94,02,000 for Demand No.1 State Legislature; Rs 6,84,14,000 for Demand No. 2 Council of Ministers; Rs 101,75,99,000 for Demand No. 3 Secretariat; Rs 613,67,52,000 for Demand No. 12 Municipal Administration, Housing and Urban Development and Rs 42,89,45,000 for Demand No. 27 Election.

Chief Minister Shri N. Biren Singh, while clarifying to the policy cut motion raised by Shri K. Meghachandra Singh on Demand No. 27 (Election), said that National Register of Citizens will be an effective way to ensure correctness in the electoral roll of the State and to check the issue of increasing non-local voters.

Stating that it is under the domain and guidelines of the Election Commission of India for a person to be enrolled in the electoral roll, he said that any complaints regarding the inclusion of non-locals in the list can be made at the respective Booth Level Offices (BLOs). Shri Biren also reminded in the House that a mass campaign ‘Special Voters Registration Camp’ will be conducted throughout the State on February 23 and 24, 2019 at all the polling stations to address any problems of inclusion, deletion or correction.

Reassuring the people of the State that their sentiments are being seriously taken by this government, the Chief Minister said that the Centre will take consensus of states on any matters of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016.

Regarding the news about the Central Government empowering the Assam Rifles to arrest anyone and search a place without warrant in the North Eastern States, Shri N. Biren Singh clarified that the Ministry of Home Affairs had today informed the State Government that the said notification had been kept in abeyance. Taking the platform of the ongoing session, he appealed the people of the State not to get disturbed by the news.

MAHUD Minister Shri Thounaojam Shyamkumar, giving clarification on Demand No. 12 Municipal Administration, Housing and Urban Development, informed the House that the Centre has released a fund of Rs 109 crore for the Smart City Mission for the State. Stating that the fund sharing ratio between the State and the Centre is 50:50, he said lack of allotted parking space has resulted in the traffic congestion in and around the Imphal city. He also informed the House that a clearance is needed from the Imphal Municipal Corporation and Town Planning for the construction of buildings (private, office, shopping malls among others), which is given when there is planning for construction of basement parking.

Informing the House that 13,715 beneficiaries in Imphal area have applied for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Housing for All (Urban), Th. Shyamkumar said that the fund for the first installment is Rs 82.29 crore. He said there has been delay of release of funds due to non-submission of required documents by the beneficiaries. Appealing to the IMC employees to call off their strike, he assured to the employees to fulfill their demands for 6th Pay after the end of the Assembly Session. The cut motion for Demand No. 12 was moved by Shri K. Meghachandra Singh, Shri RK Imo Singh and Shri Surjakumar Okram.

The House also unanimously passed four bills today namely the Manipur Appropriation (No.1) Bill, 2019, Manipur Appropriation (No. 3) Bill, 2019, Manipur Appropriation (No.4) Bill, 2019 and Manipur Appropriation (No.5) Bill, 2019.