This is a sad state of affairs. The Govt. has reserved 15% contracts for surrendered militants, but in reality they corner all contracts and projects.
The common people in Manipur seem to be living in fear in this gun and dada-giri culture. __________________________ Iboyaima Laithangbam IMPHAL: Harassed by "anti-social elements", 230 engineers of the Manipur Public Works Department have put in their papers en masse. But Chief Minister Okram Ibobi, who holds the Personnel portfolio, has refused to accept the resignations. A few hundred engineers of the Irrigation and Flood Control Department and the Public Health Engineering Department are expected to follow suit. Talking to mediapersons, PWD chief engineer N.G. Rashtrapati said the State Government had not taken steps to protect the engineers. On July 1 PWD executive engineer R.K. Mobisana was kneecapped in his house. Following threats to his life, Mr. Mobisana twice requested the State Government to provide security guards twice but to no avail. On the contrary, he was punished for refusing to give in to gunmen's demands, said Mr. Rashtrapati. The incident sparked fear in all engineers.Earlier, chief engineers S. Brajamani and O. Digendra took voluntary retirement, unable to withstand harassment. As part of a rehabilitation policy, 15 per cent of contracts and other projects in all government departments were reserved for surrendered insurgents. This policy is said to be behind the recent problem. Though such reservation was officially closed, reports suggest that gunmen corner almost all contracts. _______________________________________________ Assam mailing list Assam@pikespeak.uccs.edu http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam Mailing list FAQ: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/assam/assam-faq.html To unsubscribe or change options: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam
