June 2 - 8, 2002
June 2 - 8, 2002 |
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Umar quits as
20 new MLAs turn ministers in Assam
The Sentinel Dated 8.6.2002
By a Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, June 7 : After a long wait and a tremendous amount of
speculation, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today expanded his one-year-old ministry
by inducting 20 MLAs. Two of the existing Ministers of State, Anjan Dutta and
Rupam Kurmi, have been promoted to Cabinet rank. Another Minister of State,
Pradyut Bordoloi, has been given independent charge.
The Governor of Assam, Lt Gen. (retd)
S.K. Sinha administered the oath of office and secrecy to 23 members, including
the three present ministers who have been promoted, at a solemn function held at
the Durbar Hall of the Raj Bhavan here this afternoon.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for
Agriculture, Fisheries and Power, Nazibul Umar, has tendered his resignation to
the Chief Minister. His resignation has been accepted by the Governor.
The three-tier Gogoi ministry now has
19 Cabinet ministers, 11 ministers of state and five ministers with independant
charges. Those who have been inducted into the ministry are Bhubaneswar Kalita,
Mithias Tuddu, Nur Zamal Sarkar, Dr Nazrul Islam and Pankaj Bora in Cabinet
rank, and Ripun Bora, Misbahul Islam Laskar, Capt. Robin Bordoloi and Wazid Ali
Choudhury as ministers of state with independant charge. Himanta Biswa Sarma,
Etuwa Munda, Pranati Phukan, Rakibul Hussain, Rupon Sing Ronghang, Sukur Ali
Ahmed, Nilmoni Sen Deka, Dr Ananda Ram Baruah, Ajanta Neog, Sharifa Begum and
Pranoy Rabha are the new ministers of state in the Gogoi ministry.
Soon after the oath taking ceremony,
Chief Minister Gogoi told newspersons that the ministry has been expanded by
giving due representation on the basis of religion, communities , caste and
tribe. He said that portfolios would be distributed among the new ministers
within a day or two.
Gogoi said that Nazibul Omar had
tendered his resignation at the request of the party high command . He said that
Omar would be engaged in party activities.
With today's expansion, Gogoi has now 4
MLAs each from Kamrup, Sivasagar and Nagaon, 3 from Barak valley, two each from
Jorhat, Sonitpur, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Barpeta, Nalbari and Golaghat and one
each from Kokrajhar, Morigaon, Dhubri, Karbi Anglong, Goalpara, Lakhimpur and
North Cachar Hill districts.Seven minority MLAs have been inducted in the
ministry. Among the new ministers, Mithias Tuddu is the senior-most Congress
leader and Himanta Biswa Sarma is the youngest.
All India Congress Committee (AICC)
general secretary Mohsina Kidwai and All Assam Congress Committee president
Paban Singh Ghatowar were present at the swearing-in ceremony.
Warrant against
Muivah to stay: Manipur CM
The Sentinel Dated 8.6.2002
IMPHAL, June 7 (PTI): Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh said last night
that his Government would not withdraw the arrest warrant issued against NSCN(IM)
General Secretary TH Muivah even if the Centre asked the State to do the same.In
case the Centre instructed the State to withdraw cases against Muivah, the State
would ask the Centre on what conditions the cases against the NSCN(IM) leader
could be withdrawn, Singh told newspersons here.
The Chief Minister said Manipur Government had issued an arrest warrant against Muivah in April 1994 and announced a cash reward of Rs 3 lakh on his (Muivah) arrest or any information leading to his capture.This warrant was still in force, he said adding that the NSCN(IM) had indulged in large-scale extortion, looting and other unlawful activities along the Manipur stretch of the Imphal-Dimapur-Guwahati National Highway No 39.
On the protection of State’s territorial integrity, Ibobi Singh said an all-party delegation headed by him would go to New Delhi in the first week of July to call on the Prime Minister and other Central leaders to "allay the apprehensions from the minds of the people" in the wake of the NSCN(IM)’s reported demand for merger of the hill part of Manipur with neighbouring Nagaland.
An all party meeting here yesterday
decided to urge Prime Minister A B Vajpayee to initiate steps for making the
present Centre-NSCN(IM) peace talks transparent in view of the Naga outfit’s
merger demand.
Create BTC by
August or we shall resume Bodoland stir: ABSU
The Sentinel Dated 8.6.2002
By a Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, June 7 : The All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU) today set
August as the deadline for both New Delhi and Dispur to come up with a formal
draft or modalities for creation of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). The
ABSU threatened to go back to the path of agitation for a separate Bodoland if
the government continues to delay the creation of the BTC.
Talking to The Sentinel after
the meeting, ABSU president Rabi Ram Narzary said that the Centre as well as the
Assam Government have shown utter lack of sincerity in solving the vexed Bodo
problem. He said that delay in creation of the BTC has generated serious
repurcussion among the Bodo people.
Accusing the banned NDFB of launching
an anti-Bodo movement, Narzary said that the outfit has asked girl students of
class IX and X in Dhubri and Bongaigaon districts to join the NDFB. He said that
girl students have been threatened by the NDFB.
ULFA Kin file
cases against Paresh Barua
The Assam Tribune Dated 7.6.2002
By A Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, June 6 — Blame is now on the self-styled C-in-C of the
prescribed ULFA, Paresh Barua, for the ‘lost generation’ in the State. A
large number of families of ULFA members including those of top leaders like
Sashadhar Choudhury and Pranati Deka, today filed cases against the ULFA C-in-C
before Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) accusing him of forcing their wards
to lead an abnormal life in ULFA ranks. Sri Chandra Kanta Deka, father of ULFA
leader Pranati Deka and father-in-law of the outfit’s ‘finance secretary’
Chitrabon Hazarika, led the group of representatives from ULFA members’
families in filing FIRs against Paresh Barua before the two-member AHRC
comprising Abdul Majid (retd Judge) and Haren Kalita, former Principal of Govt
Law College here.
While filing the FIR before the AHRC, Chandra Kanta Deka complained that
his daughter Pranati Deka (40) was forced by the ULFA leadership to join the
outfit and demanded that she be allowed to return home to live a normal life.
Similar FIR was filed on behalf of parents of ULFA leader Sashadhar Choudhury
before the AHRC. Scores of such FIRs against the ULFA C-in-C were tabled before
the AHRC Bench which promised to register case on the basis of these complaints
and proceed as per the provision of the AHRC Act. The father of Pranati Deka
told this newspaper that ULFA’s goal to secure freedom for Assamese
people was only a “dream that will never be fulfilled.” He said it would be
prudent on part of the ULFA leaders to realise the reality and come forward for
talks with the Government to find a solution. “ULFA has learned to handle to
arms but has no knowledge of history. They will never get to see their dream
translated to reality.”
Organised by Assam Public Works (APW), which has set a goal to prevent any
more youths from being recruited by terrorists and restore peace in the State,
family members of ULFA members today gathered at AHRC office here to ventilate
their pent up anger against ULFA leaders for misleading their wards to a
“futile war against the State” thereby spoiling their future. Hiren Deka of
Dwarkuchi in Rangiya whose brother Kalpa Deka had disappeared into ULFA ranks
about seven years back, said that he started pulling rickshaw in Rangiya only to
facilitate education for his younger brother now lost in ULFA. Hiren Deka was
picked up and tortured by security forces about five years back after he had
failed to provide any clue to his brothers whereabouts. “I an now fed up with
frequent harassment meted out to me and my family for having a brother like
Kalpa who has snapped all ties with the family.”
Radhabala Medhi, a widow from Tihu, whose son Hemanta joined ULFA about
six years back, was weeping while detailing on harassment meted out to her
family by police and Army over the years. “We don’t know anything about
Hemanta who is lost to us. Please spare us the harassment as we can’t take it
any more,” she implored. Gitika Barman from Nankaboira (Nalbari) was left in
lurch along with her two minor children by her husband, Paresh Barman who is
suspected by the police to have joined ULFA ranks about nine months back. Gitika
demands ULFA to send her husband back to her for the sake of her children. She
also complains of frequent questioning and ‘harassment’ by police and Army
who often visit her to get clue about her husband.
Abhijit Sharma of Assam Public Works informed that his organisation which
has 280 members is committed to mobilise the people against the terrorists
groups in the State. “We have already lost a generation and we will see to it
that no more youths join ranks of extremists outfits,” he said while admitting
that State police has been very helpful for their organisation in identifying
ULFA members’ families in different parts of the State. The APW has vowed to
move AHRC against ‘secret killers,’ ULFA men who have killed innocent people
in the State and police and security forces for harassing innocent members of
ULFA boys’ families in the State.
Power Ministry
moves MHA
‘Bear security cost of NE projects’
The Assam Tribune Dated 4.6.2002
By A Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, May 3 — The Union Power Ministry has moved the Ministry
of Home Affairs (MHA) to bear the security expenditure of power projects in
insurgency-hit north-eastern region even as the focus has been shifted for
setting up of community-owned mini, micro and small power projects in the region
to light up rural households. During an interaction with distinguished persons
here, Union Minister of Power, Suresh Prabhu today informed that the security
cost of NE power projects used to be included in the total project cost often
resulting in steep escalation of project cost in the event of worsening of
law-and-order situation in the project areas. The Power Ministry has been
prompted by bitter experience in the new Tipaimukh project in Manipur to request
the Ministry of Home Affairs to bear the security cost of power projects in the
North East.
Meanwhile, on instruction from the Union Power Ministry, the North Eastern
Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) has identified total 914 potent mini, micro
and small hydro-power projects in seven NE States — 492 in Arunachal Pradesh,
96 in Manipur, 98 in Meghalaya, 88 in Mizoram, 86 in Nagaland 46 in Assam and
eight in Tripura — with total capacity to generate 1845.72 MW of power. The
Union Power Ministry realising that mega hydro-power projects which are
basically for the purpose of exporting power from the NE region, will not
benefit the common villagers in rural areas of NE, has worked out a strategy to
set up small, mini, micro hydro-power projects in the region for localised
generation and consumption of electricity. The Power Minister informed that
these mini-micro and small projects would be handed over to the local community
for maintenance after their completion. He said the Centre knowing that the NE
States were not resourceful enough to set up hydro-power projects on their own,
was willing to provide the fund provided the State Governments took the
initiative to set up these projects.
In the event of State Governments expressing their inability to set up
these projects, agencies like NEEPCO and NTPC would be asked to do the same on
the States’ behalf. According to the study carried out by the NEEPCO, the
advantages of having such mini, micro and small projects are : these are
renewable and pollution free, have negligible impact on the environment, require
short gestation period, are suitable for remote and hilly regions where
extension of grid is uneconomical, require small transmission system, posses
flexibility of utilisation, require lesser financial requirement and have
non-inflationary tendencies after completion.
Power Minister Prabhu today said that the Government of India was not for
tapping the huge hydro-power potential of NE which is 38 per cent of the total
national potential at the cost of rich bio-diversity of the region. Therefore,
initiatives have been taken to conduct detailed study of the possible impact of
hydro projects on the ecology and society of the region. Prabhu further said
those hydel projects which are feared to cost the environment very high, would
never be developed in the region.
Meanwhile, the Union Power Ministry has shifted its focus from generation
to the neglected area of transmission and distribution in the power sector
realising that all the three key areas should be interlinked. Prabhu informed
that 70 per cent shortage in nationwide peak hour demand could be met through
generation, but the transmission and distribution system in the country would
not be able to absorb the extra generation. He pointed out that the nationwide
accumulated transmission and distribution loss of power was estimated at Rs
30,000 crore. Under the Accelerated Power Development Programme (APDP), the
Centre is going to set up 400 distribution circle in the country to pinpoint
T&D loss in each circle and to take subsequent preventive measures. At the
first phase, 60 such distribution circles would be set up with Central
fund as models all over the country.
Talking about the sorry state of affairs in the State Electricity Boards (SEBs),
the Union Power Minister informed that the accumulated loss of these Boards
stood at Rs 26,000 crore. To provide relief to these SEBs, the Centre will take
off the Rs 41,000 crore dues from the SEBs from the balancesheet as per the
recommendation of Montek Singh Ahluwalia Committee. New accounting norms for the
SEBs will be worked out soon to help them streamline their performance.
Talks on Karbi issue
remain inconclusive
The
Assam Tribune Dated 2.6.2002
From
Our Syaff Correspondent
NEW DELHI, June 1 — The revived tripartite discussions on
problems relating to Karbi Aanglong and North Cachar Hills remained
inconclusive, even as the Central Government is likely to convene another round
of discussions on the demands for an autonomous Karbi state under Article 244 A
of the Constitution. The talks on Karbi problems revived after a gap of several
years went satisfactorily as far as the 14-member delegation of the Autonomous
State Demand Committee (ASDC) Karbi Students Association (KSA), Karbi Nimso
Chingthur Asong (KNCA)and Dimasa Students Union (DSU) are concerned, according
to ASDC leader, Holiram Terang.
The ASDC leader claimed that they had managed to convince the Central
Government that they have a basis for demanding an autonomous state, as their
problems cannot be resolved under the present structure. ‘The Government has
recognised that there are defects in the institution and these systematic
defects needed to be re-examined,’ asserted Sri Terang.
The tripartite talks that concluded late evening yesterday was attended by
Joint Secretary (North-east), Surinder Kumar, Resident Commissioner of Assam,
Rajiv Yadav, officials of Department of Development of North Eastern Region (DONER)
besides representatives of the five organisations. Sri Terang told this
correspondent that it was decided at the meeting that the next round of
tripartite talks would be held at a higher level involving all the parties
concerned. ‘At the moment we are not pressing for talks at the political level
though ultimately the problem has to be resolved at the political level,’ he
said. Sri Terang also did not feel that the estranged CPI-ML needed to be
involved in the process and claimed that they were the authentic representatives
of the Karbi and Dimasa communities
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