Manipur government committed to protect indigenous people: Biren

Imphal: Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh assured the House that state government is fully committed and prepared to protect the indigenous people of the state on the fourth day of the 12th session of the 11th Manipur Legislative Assembly on Monday.

Biren was replying to a question raised by MLA AK. Mirabai. He said there have been enough Acts/Rules and Regulations like MLR & LR Act, Provisions of Article 371 and Act to Protect Paddy Fields to protect the land, culture and language among others of the indigenous people and if required the government will take up necessary steps to safeguard the same.

After the implementation of Inner Line Permit System from January 1- December 31, 2020 a total of 1,62,902 permits have been issued in four categories – Special Category Permit, Regular Permit, Temporary Permit and Labour Permit and a sum of Rs  2,52,78,000  has been collected. A total of 3636 permits have also been renewed so far, he added.

In reply to a question and supplementary raised by MLA Surjakumar Okram, the chief minister said steps will be taken up to subsidize the rate of charges for Covid-19 testing after consulting with the stakeholders including private hospitals and clinics. He said a total of 5, 19, 458 test has been conducted till February 2, 2021 of which 4,34,960 test and 84,498 test were carried out at government and private facilities respectively. As soon a case is reported, contact tracing is conducted to prevent further spreading of the virus, thus lowering the rate of infection.

The chief minister, who is also in charge of art and culture, said necessary steps are being taken up to introduce Post Graduate Diploma Courses at Manipur State Film and Television Institute. He was replying to a query raised by MLA Surjakumar Okram. He said State Cabinet has already approved for recruitment of staffs including faculty members of the institute. Equipments and library of the institute have been installed and once the recruitment process is completed, classes will be conducted as early as possible. Full autonomy will also be given to the institute, he added.

Forest and environment minister Awangbou Newmai assured the House that steps to conserve and develop wetlands will be taken up soon. While replying to a query raised by MLA P. Brojen Singh, the minister said after the notification of Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, steps to conserve and protect major Wetlands like Ikop Pat, Kharung Pat and Waithou Pat will be initiated as soon as possible. He also stated that taking serious note of the deteriorating environmental conditions; the government is taking up all-out efforts to conserve the wetlands. If required proper demarcation will be conducted and boundary will be fixed.

The Minister while replying to MLA K. Ranjit Singh said steps have been taken up to protect wild life in the state. He said four wild life species have been considered extinct according to available records and some have been on the verge of extinction. He further said that two National Parks, seven wildlife sanctuaries and 11 community reserves have been identified. Besides these, Manipur Zoological Garden at Iroishemba, Nongin Captive Breeding Centre and Sangai Captive Breeding Centre at Langol Ching and Orchid Preservation Centre at Khonghampat have already been set up to conserve and protect the species, he added.

CAF&PD minister Th. Satyabrata Singh informed the House that State Level Price Fixation Committee and Price Monitoring Unit have  been instituted to check the illegal price hike  in the state. Replying to K. Ranjit Singh, the minister said the committee and the unit in consultation with the business community fixes the prices of essential commodities from time to time. The minister who is also in charge of labour and employment while replying to MLA AK Mirabai Devi said 5862 vacancy positions have been notified and 980 have been employed during the year 2017-2020.

In the Zero Hour Biren Singh informed the House that thorough investigation will be conducted in connection with the recent attack by unidentified miscreants to an MCS officer who was on his way back to Imphal after joining as ADC, Noney at an area in between Charoi Padongba and CRPF Camp along Imphal-Jiribam National Highway on February 2. Biren said a suo-motto case has been registered and investigation is on. The motive behind the incident is yet to be ascertained and culprits have to be booked.

Govindas, raising concern over the attack, urged the government to make a statement in the House.

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