Imphal, March 17: Chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh today said the Manipur government would give priority to surrendered militants in the recruitment of personnel for the proposed Third India Reserve Battalion, as part of its policy to rehabilitate them.
He, however, did not say when the recruitment would take place.
The government’s decision follows a threat by the surrendered militants to resume their agitation if the government fails to rehabilitate them.
Ibobi Singh informed the House that at present there were 92 former insurgents under government care and that most of them had outlived the one-year rehabilitation period.
The rehabilitation policy announced by the state government in April 1999 envisages that each surrendered militant would be given Rs 2,000 per month for one year. He will also be given vocational training during that period so that he can start earning once he joins the mainstream after the rehabilitation period.
The chief minister said 152 militants had come overground since the announcement of the rehabilitation scheme.
Of these, 23 have been rehabilitated by giving them jobs in the state home department as constables or riflemen, 19 have turned deserters while some were killed by their former colleagues, he added.
Saying that the government had plans to provide jobs to the former rebels, Ibobi Singh made it clear that only those who qualify in the physical tests would be recruited.
He also said that the government would not appoint them in departments other than the police department taking into consideration their security. “They are not safe in other offices,” he added.
Asking the government how long it would continue to feed the surrendered militants after the expiry of the one-year period, Opposition member Nimaichand Luwang suggested that the state should approach the Centre for financial assistance.
The chief minister assured the House that he would request the Centre to extend the rehabilitation period from one year to two to three years.
Although the rehabilitation scheme specifies that vocational training should be given to the surrendered militants, no such activities have been taken up by the government. Official sources said a special test was held last year to recruit the former rebels in the police department, but the results are yet to be declared, causing resentment among them.
Replying to another question, Ibobi Singh said six security posts each would be opened along Imphal-Dimapur and Imphal-Jiribam national highways to check frequent incidents of extortion, bandhs and blockades. He said one company of either state police or security forces would be posted at each of the posts.