Governor takes a dig at the performance of civil administration and police

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IMPHAL, September 25: The state Governor Gurbachan Jagat has stated that good governance and development must be emphasized for achieving the goal of peace.

The Governor said this while inaugurating the seminar on “Good Governance in Manipur – Dialogue with Civil Society and Capacity Building & Management”, organized by the State Academy of Training, Manipur, State Level Nodal Agency, Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Bombay Natural History Society this morning.

He said, “Good governance is a basic right of the people of the country and it should be adhered to throughout the country whether there is a conflict situation or not. Over the years, we have seen a gradual erosion of values and traditions and a steep decline in the moral and performance levels of the civil administration, police included.”

He further said that development, prosperity and social justice could have been achieved through efficient and honest governance, compassion for the people in the hearts of the political and bureaucratic classes, emphasis on Health, Education, infrastructure development, Power, etc. However, the opposite happened. The value system in society at first changed gradually and then it snow balled, that is, money became the only objective worth attaining. Nobody questioned the source of this money.

He said, good governance should be there always whether there is a conflict or not and where there is incompetence and corruption and injustice such areas become a breeding ground for new conflicts.

“The Government should not hesitate to take the lead in initiating talks. In all such talks, the people of the area should be directly involved and nobody should be allowed to have the monopoly of speaking on their behalf”, he added.

Governor Jagat further said that there seems to be a growing disconnect between regional aspirations and the view that the Centre takes of these aspirations. Hence, it is all the more important that the Governments at the Centre and at the State involved, whatever political parties they might belong to, should keep the National interest in view and come to a common understanding regarding the strategy and tactics to be adopted to deal with the situation. Visible differences between the two only encourage the leaders of these movements to try and exploit these differences by whipping up regional sentiments.

He said, “Governance can become a top priority in such situations and we now have to invest much more in increasing development, giving justice to the people and fighting the underground then we would have to had we started with good governance all over the country.”

He further said that police and security forces need to be sensitized in case of operations conducted within the country. In the initial training as well as in the refresher courses, they should be taught the basics of human rights and they should also be taught that we are engaged in a struggle with our own people and hence it needs different handling. This should be re-enforced in daily briefings before any important operation. Any intentional act of violation of human rights should be severely dealt with within a short period so that the message goes home to all the others.

The 3 day seminar was attended among others by Prof Amar Yumnam, Prof Ch Priyoranjan, Dr Bijyalaxmi Brara of Manipur University, top officials of the government including DGP Yumnam Joykumar and representatives from civil society and media.

Situation worsens in Assam, half the state flood hit
GUWAHATI, September 25 (Agencies): The flood situation in Assam worsened today with the water level of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries continuing to rise, leaving 15 lakh people affected and 1,972 villages in 16 districts submerged.

In the Majuli island in Jorhat district, flood water inundated the sub-divisional office and the Majuli jail from where 41 prisoners were shifted to the Jorhat Central Jail in a special ferry yesterday, officials said.

Nine of the famed Satras (Vaishnavite monasteries) and 40 educational institutions in Majuli have also been submerged by the Brahmaputra. Over 70 per cent of Majuli`s 890-square kilometre landmass remained under water.

A total of 166 relief camps have been set up across the state for flood-affected people. Over 2.31 lakh people have taken shelter in the camps.

The third wave of flood has inundated 63 revenue circles of Baksa, Barpeta, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Jorhat, Kamrup Rural, Kamrup Metro, Lakhimpur, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sivsagar, Sonitpur and Tinsukia districts.

The Brahmaputra River is above the danger level at Dibrugarh, Nematighat, Tezpur, Dhubri, Guwahati and Goalpara.

Similarly, the Burhidehing is flowing above danger level at Khowang in Dibrugarh district, the Subansiri at Badatighat in Lakhimpur, the Dhansiri at Numaligarh in Golaghat and the Jia Bharali at N T Road Xing at Sonitpur.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi yesterday directed the administration to use helicopters and mechanised boats to step up rescue and relief operations in the flood-hit state.

Gogoi, who is in Japan, spoke to revenue minister Prithibi Majhi, water resources minister Rajib Lochan Pegu and Chief Secretary Naba Kumar Das over the phone and directed them to step up rescue and relief operations.

The chief minister has directed adequate food materials be supplied to the flood-affected areas and asked all ministers in his Cabinet to visit the affected districts immediately and oversee relief and rescue operation.

The National Disaster Response Force, the State Disaster Response Force, the Army and the Indian Air Force are engaged in rescue and relief operations.

Troops of the Tezpur-headquartered Gajraj Corps of the Indian Army provided relief to more than 6,000 flood-affected people in Sonitpur district in central Assam, besides distributing 2.5 tonnes of food packets.

Among the worst-affected are Dhemaji district in upper Assam where 622 villages have come under the impact of the flood.

Parts of National Highway 52, which connects Dhemaji and Arunachal Pradesh, has come under flood water and there are fears of scarcity of food and other material in the district.

In Guwahati also, rising waters of the Brahmaputra have submerged areas of Pandu and Adabari localities in the western part of the city.

Most of the Kaziranga National Park in Golaghat district lay under water and wildlife, including the world-famous one-horned rhinos, are moving towards higher grounds.

A one-horned rhino was killed by poachers in Disbalu Chapori in Kaziranga. The poachers reportedly chopped off the rhino`s horn.

Over 70 per cent of the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in central Assam`s Morigaon district was also submerged with as many as 18 of the 22 guard camps in the sanctuary going under water.

However, there is no report of any loss of wildlife in the Pobitora sanctuary.

Assam flood toll rises to 12
GUWAHATI, September 25 (Agencies): The overall flood situation in Assam remained unchanged and the death toll rose to 12 on Tuesday, official sources said.

The third wave of floods has affected nearly 15 lakh people rendering 14 lakh of them homeless in 16 districts of the state.

The sources said the toll increased as three deaths due to the disaster were reported from Lakhimpur and Hajo.

One person drowned and two others including a boy were washed away by swollen Brahmaputra in Lakhimpur and north Hajo.

The situation was serious in the city with areas of Gorchuk, Sunsali, Pandu, Kharguli and Fancy Bazaar submerged as the water level of Brahmaputra suddenly rose due to heavy rains in the upper reaches.

The district administration has taken all measures to ensure there is no casualty due to the rising water.

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