North East News Agency

When it comes to talking about genuine grievances, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar is second to none. He, on a number of occasions, raised issues affecting his State and the North-Eastern region forcefully to the Central leaders.

The Chief Ministerˇ¦s recent visit to Delhi was no exception. Apart from attending National Integration Council meet, he also met host of Central leaders and demanded immediate remedial measures to bring his State on a fast developmental track.

The high point of the Chief Ministerˇ¦s visit was his meeting with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. The Tripura Chief Minister had apprised the Prime Minister about the prevailing situation in the State. Mr. Sarkar also raised the issue of Bangladeshi soil being used by fundamentalist and terrorist forces. On his part Manik Sarkar has invited the Prime Minister to the State. Dr. Manmohan Singh had accepted the invitation and will visit Tripura soon. Though no date has been finalised yet, the Prime Minister may visit the State by the end of this year.

The Chief Minister also spoke at length about the poor air services in Tripura when he met Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel. Terming the air service as horrible, Mr. Sarkar pointed out that the people of the State are facing serious hardships because of irregular air service and frequent cancellation of flights. He  demanded immediate introduction of direct flight between Delhi and Agartala for the benefit of the people of the State, especially for those who come for medical treatment in the capital. He also demanded that private airlines should also operate from Agartala.

Being at the receiving end, the Union Minister blamed shortage of aircrafts as the main reason for poor air service. He, however, assured that things would be better as the national carrier is expecting to get some new aircrafts soon.

Apart from air connectivity, the Chief Minister also raised issue of railway links between Tripura and mainland during his meeting with Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Aluwalia. Reminding him about the promise made by the Prime Minister that Tripura would get a rail link by 2007, Mr. Sarkar demanded immediate clearance of Agartala-Sarbhum railway line. The Deputy Chairperson has assured that Planning Commission would make a review of the ongoing and pending railway projects in the North-Eastern region.

The Chief Minister expressed his unhappiness over the funding procedure of DoNER in his meeting with Union Minister P. R. Kyndiah. Mr. Sarkar pointed out that due to procedural difficulties funds meant for development were reaching late and causing delay in implementing development projects. He also demanded that DoNER should immediately release Rs. 146 crore for medical college in the State. It may be mentioned here that the ministry has sanctioned Rs. 77 crore for this purpose. Justifying the demand made by the State, the Chief Minister asked Mr. Kyndiah to look in to the matter. On his part, the Union Minister asked Mr. Sarkar to send the proposal again and assured him to take corrective measures in funding pattern.

Up gradation of Tripura University as a Central University was the main agenda of Manik Sarkar when he met Union Human resource Development Minister Arjun Singh. The Chief Minister forcefully argued the case by  saying that University Grant Commission (UGC) had also recommended the same. His other agenda was up gradation of Tripura Engineering College as National Institute of Technology.

The Union Minister had assured to consider the demands of the Chief Minister and informed that he would make a trip to Tripura soon to make an on the spot assessment.

Earlier, speaking at the National Integration Council meeting, the Chief Minister said: ˇ§We also need sensitivity in dealing with issues of our diversities, whether these are of race, religion, culture or language. Our diversities are our strengths.ˇ¨ Mr. Sarkar further added that, ˇ§ The country, therefore needs to solve the basic issues of food, shelter, illiteracy, disease and unemployment if we wish to actually wipe out the scourage of strife from our society. At the level of people to people, economic disparities need to be reduced.

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