In Mizoram, Get Parking Space Before Car

By Samudra Gupta Kashyap

Aizawl, Aug 24 : The tiny state of Mizoram has found a solution for one of capital Aizawl’s biggest problems — parking space. The state government has now made it mandatory for aspiring car owners to own a garage before owning a car.

“The government has amended the Mizoram Motor Vehicles Rules last week making it compulsory for citizens to first ensure parking space before one intends to purchase a car,” said Transport Secretary P Lalthlengliana.

The first city in the country to use Maruti cars as taxis because of size, Aizawl alone has over 40,000 vehicles, making it difficult for the authorities to keep the traffic moving.

“As more and more people are buying cars, it is getting extremely difficult to find space for traffic especially in the state capital. With houses located on the slopes of the ridges, citizens have developed the habit of parking their vehicles at night on the roads. This had to stop, and thus the amendment in the motor vehicle rules,” said Dawngliana, director in the state Transport Department.

While the amended rules are coming into force from August 30, Dawngliana said Department officials would henceforth enquire whether a person applying for registration of vehicles owns a garage.

On The Fence on Fencing For So Long

By Prafulla Kumar Mahanta

Twenty-five years after the signing of the Assam Accord, most people of Assam are asking, “What has been achieved in the past 25 years?’  The roster of achievements will read: one IIT, three bridges over the Brahmaputra, two central universities, the relaxation of age limit for students from

the North-east applying for the Public Service Commission, the cultural  institution of the Shankardava Kalakshetra, the development of the religious bodies of satras, and the meeting of the long outstanding demands for the overall development of the region.

But since the nodal agency for the implementation of the Assam Accord was the Union Home Ministry, nothing substantial could be achieved in tackling the core  demand of detecting and deporting illegal migrants from Bangladesh. Also, nothing much has been done to remove the legal hurdles to stop this illegal migration.

Some are passing the entire blame of these failures on to the erstwhile leaders of the All Assam Students Union (Aasu).  Being the Aasu president at that time, I had discussed the issues in the executive body and with the leaders of Asom Gana Sangram Parishad thereby bringing them to the notice of the people through public meetings and the media.

The abnormal increase in the number of voters in the voters’ list during the bypolls for the Lok Sabha constituency of Mangaldoi (then Darrange district) created upheavals in the minds of people. We had started working hard to strengthen the Aasu and work on the issue of this abnormal increase in population in many areas, especially those dominated by minority communities. The process of inclusion of names of illegal migrants in the voters’ list of Assam had started much earlier, but it gained momentum after the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.

Unfortunately, when the problem of Assam and some other states of the North-east started spreading to other parts of India, some sections of the media tried to misrepresent the facts and published news items to prove that the entire movement was nothing but an attempt to lead people astray. The supporters of the six-year-long movement cut across religious lines despite  efforts by the Congress to turn a peaceful and democratic movement into a violent one and create a divide among the agitation’s supporters. The armed forces were used against women and bullets against peaceful agitators.

We had a series of meetings first with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and then her successor Rajiv Gandhi along with officials nominated by them and the PMO besides the state chief secretary. The point was to find a solution to the problem of illegal migrants and their inclusion in the voters’ list of Assam. After a draft of the Assam Accord was prepared, many people advised us on the terms and conditions in it. But many of those pointing fingers at us today were among our advisors at that time.

We did not sign an accord with an enemy nation. It was signed in the presence of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Assam Chief Secretary P.P. Trivedi, Union Home Secretary R.D. Pradhan, Biraj Sarma of the Asom Gana Sangram Parishad, Aasu General Secretary Bhrigu Phukan, and  myself, then Aasu president. During our meetings and discussions with Rajiv Gandhi, we had believed that the young and dynamic prime minister, while keeping the interest of the country in mind, would not do any injustice to the people of Assam.

After the death of Rajiv Gandhi, the indifferent attitude of the central government and lack of sincerity in fulfilling the Assam Accord started becoming more evident.  The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) was formed on October 15, 1985. Two months  later, the state went to polls and the AGP was voted to power with a massive mandate. A separate department was set up in the state for the implementation of the Assam Accord. The AGP government did not get any help from the Centre in dealing with illegal migration. The biggest hurdle in dealing with illegal migrants was removed with the removal of the Illegal Migrant (Determination by Tribunal) Act by the Supreme Court. Since then, as a former Assam chief minister, I have made several requests to the PM and Home Minister for an early implementation of important clauses of the Assam Accord. It was only due to our sustained efforts that the Centre heeded our pleas and had to do the fencing of the international border and also change the design of the fence to make it more effective.

Prafulla Kumar Mahanta is Former Chief Minister of Assam. The views expressed by the author are personal

NEIGRIHMS MBBS Students To Be Admitted

Shillong, Aug 24 : The stalemate over the admission of nine students from Meghalaya to the North East Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) ended today with dean P. Bhattacharya agreeing to admit them from tomorrow.

Bhattacharya gave the assurance to the Khasi Students Union (KSU), which had planned to disrupt MBBS classes at the institute today — the deadline set by them for admitting the students. The dean invited the KSU for talks and assured them of the students’ admission.

The standoff between Meghalaya and the institute began early this month when the state government submitted a list of nine students, selected by it on the basis of merit, to the institute for admission to its MBBS courses.

NEIGRIHMS wrote back to the state government saying all the students would have to take an entrance test before getting admission into the institute. The matter was also communicated to the Union health ministry.

The state government, however, made it clear that it had been following the same procedure in other medical institutes and there was no need for any special entrance test. Chief minister Mukul Sangma also met Union health minister Gulam Nabi Azad last week to seek his intervention.

KSU general secretary Hamlet Dohling said they met Bhattacharya on Saturday and set a deadline of 24 hours to admit the Meghalaya students. He today led a group of KSU activists to the institute in order to stop all MBBS classes there if it failed to admit the students from Meghalaya.

“However, since we were assured that the Meghalaya students would be admitted to the institute from tomorrow, we have decided to wait and watch,” Dohling said. “If it is an empty promise, the KSU will be compelled to stop the MBBS classes which began two weeks ago,” he added.

Meghalaya chief secretary W.M.S. Pariat said the state government’s stand in sending the list of nine students to NEIGRIHMS for admission was in order and there was no cause for worry.

Lalthanhawla’s RTI Statement Flayed

Aizawl, Aug 24 : Aizawl-based anti-corruption watchdog People’s Right to Information and Development Implementing Society of Mizoram (PRISM) has criticised Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla for stating that there was no need to appoint a State Chief Information Commissioner (SCIC).

Lal Thanhawla recently had said that there was no urgent need to appoint an SCIC as the people of Mizoram did not fully utilise the Right to Information Act and appointing an SCIC would be a waste of public money.

Reacting to the Chief Minister’s statement, PRISM president Vanlalruata said that the RTI Act had been well utilised in Mizoram and a number of corruption cases unearthed by the people.

“PRISM alone organised social audits in nine villages and has filed a number of public interest litigations in the Gauhati High Court, all based on information acquired invoking the RTI Act,” Vanlalruata said.

He alleged that full utilisation of the RTI Act could not be done because the State Government refused to implement the section 4 of the Act and was not keen to create public awareness as demanded by the section of the Act.

The PRISM also flayed the Congress Government in the State for failing to constitute the State Vigilance Commission as promised in the party’s manifesto in the 2008 Assembly polls.

Tripura Mulls Railway Connectivity Upto Chittagong Port

Agartala, Aug 23 : Owing to the inadequate security in hill section of Assam and slow progress in railway expansion work, the Tripura government is considering to establish railway connectivity between Udaipur (South Tripura headquarters) and Chittagong port (Bangladesh).

Officials here today said the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) had already started the tracks laying work between Udaipur and Sabroom and targeted to complete the project by 2013 while by that time Tripura has requested the Manmohan Singh government to provide fund for expansion of connectivity upto Chittagong port as an alternative cost effective route.

The Indian Railway Construction Company has already finalised alignment of the 13-km Agartala-Akhaura railway track to establish connectivity with the Bangladesh railway network and India has agreed to fund for construction work of 5.4 km area in Indian territory.

Tripura wants construction of a rail link to Chittagong from Agartala through Udaipur, enabling the landlocked state to transport its cargo through Bangladesh's largest sea port.

''Tripura has been demanding railway line up to Sabroom so that cargo can be transported to the Chittagong port and strengthening of surface transport link, construction of a reinforced concrete bridge over the Feni river on the Indo-Bangladesh border at a cost of Rs five crore which can be afforded by the state government,'' officials said.

Tripura Commerce Minister Jitendra Choudhury said once rail line up to Sabroom is completed; the new line would open direct link between the Northeastern states and the Chittagong port and added, ''If the line can be laid, our state can certainly convert the situation to its advantage. Agartala will become the gateway to South East Asia.''

Meanwhile, NFR has suspended Badarpur-Lumding railway service following security threat in the hill section over past few days and as a result, railway link with Tripura and South Assam to the national network has been disrupted again.

Northeast Student Molested in Ahmedabad

Investigating Police Officer Transferred

Ahmedabad, Aug 23 : A girl student from northeast India (Meghalaya) has emerged to be the bone of contention between two factions at loggerheads at MG Science College's eve teasing incident.

The girl apparently hailing from Meghalaya had lodged a complaint to the college authority but reportedly refused to file an FIR. On the other hand, police sources say that a senior police inspector of Gujarat University (GU) police station has been transferred in connection with the case.

The matter started with an eve-teasing case at the college which led to a stabbing incident of a former student at MG Science College campus on Saturday. Tripalsinh Chavada (21), a third year B.Sc student was stabbed by three youths on the campus. The accused have been identified as Avadhesh Tomar, Sashikant and Madhusudan.

According to police, on August 14 the accused had reportedly molested the girl who is a B.Sc first year student in the college and stays in the hostel. This incident led to a fight between the two groups - Tripal and his cousin Tejas who is the son of police inspector KB Chavda and the three accused.

After the case went to Gujarat Police the accused had reportedly attacked and stabbed Tejas on Saturday. Incidentally, on that day Satish Sharma, joint commissioner of police, sector 1, was on visit to the police station. According to the Principal of the college, BK Jain, JCP Sharma had assured providing adequate security and asked the GU cops to nab the accused within two days.

However, even after two days the accused are still at large. In the meantime, senior police inspector NR Chauhan has reportedly been shifted owing to the 'lax attitude' shown in this case, sources said.

People From Northeast India Vulnerable to Hepatitis B: Experts

Agartala, Aug 23 : People belonging to Mongoloid origin have been identified as more susceptible to deadly Hepatitis-B, said experts involved in eradication programme of the disease in Tripura at said here today.

Talking to UNI here at the celebration of seventh anniversary of the Hepatitis Foundation of Tripura (HFT), President Dr Pradip Bhowmi said they have been studying the factors indulging Hepatitis in the state for past five years and initial investigation revealed that the tribal communities were vulnerable to hepatitis.

Supplementing the input, President of Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, USA Dr John L Damonti, who has also taken part in the celebration here, said, ''There could be ethnic and genetic factors behind the spread of Hepatitis B. That is why tribal people are found more vulnerable than the others.

The Northeast region of India is a case in hand.'' The problem has aggravated further due to the regions proximity with countries like China and Taiwan having high rate of Hepatitis B infection. Taiwan is the worst affected with 18 per cent of the population being affected.

In China it is, however, less than Taiwan but higher than India, Damonti attributed. ''In India 2-7 per cent of the population is affected by hepatitis, nevertheless, China could achieve 100 per cent success to prevent infection at birth in as early as 1995,'' he said.

However, Dr Bhowmik, pointed out that Arunachal Pradesh adjoining China was also having high number of Hepatitis B infection at 21 percent. The rate is extremely alarming considering the national average of about eight per cent Hepatitis B infection among indigenous population of India.

In Tripura the Hepatitis B infection has taken a sharp fall with massive vaccination drive carried out by the HFT with the state government in a Private Public Partnership model.

''In 2002 when we started our programme Hepatitis B affected tribal population stood at about 13 per cent-most of them tribal and now it has decreased to a great extent,'' HFT Secretary Dibakar said, adding about four lakh people had already been vaccinated in the state.

As many as 25 delegations from different countries and states of India took part in the technical sessions being organized on the occasion of seventh anniversary of HFT, he added.

E-friendship Campaign, An Effort to Bridge Gap Between Indian Youths

By Aamarpita Banerjee

With the aim of building a virtual bridge between youth from the city and those from far-flung areas that are otherwise disconnected from the rest of the country, a group of young volunteers from the city are starting an e-friendship campaign. These youths are a part of Aseem Foundation and are mostly students and young working professionals.

The foundation works for the cause of students from far-flung areas, and believes that there is an urgent need for the youth of these areas to interact with their counterparts from other parts of the country to help them get their voice heard.

The campaign is the brain child of Sarang Gosavi who has been working in areas like Jammu and Kashmir and north east states for almost 10 years now. It was when he visited these states that he realised that the youth from these places had several reservations and insecurities.

“The youth from these areas are disconnected from the rest of the country. They do not feel that they are a part of the country. They feel the rest of the country also considers them outsiders, which is wrong,” said Gosavi. Keeping this problem in mind, Gosavi started visiting these places and interacting with young boys and girls.

“Most of the students are so insecure because they hardly get a chance to interact with people outside their state and thus do not know the views and opinions of people from the other corners of the country,” said Gosavi. Over the years, Gosavi has collected more than 2000 email addresses of students from areas like Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur.

“I have over 1000 email IDs of Kashimiri students, 250 from the north east. Volunteers from my organisation will interact with these students through weekly emails. Through these interactions, we will try to understand what are the issues in the minds of these young people and try to solve them by giving them guidance,” added Gosavi.

As many as 58 volunteers have already signed up for the campaign and it will kickstart in a week’s time. Even the volunteers are very excited about the campaign and are expecting a positive outcome.

“Because of the violence in the valley, we hardly know people from those areas. Those areas are also far from development and they do not know what are the avenues available for them outside their home. So, apart from being an interesting activity where we will be able to make friends with them and guide them, we will also get to know so much about their cultures,” said Sanskruti Bapat, a volunteer who recently completed her masters degree in History.

Echoing Sanskruti, Sai Barve, another volunteer, said, “What we know about these states is different from the reality. You get to know this that only when you visit these states. But since it is not always possible for all of us to visit these places, the internet is the best medium to stay in constant touch. And I know we will be able to make a difference,” said Barve.