GUWAHATI, June 11 ? Members of North Eastern Region Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (NERCPA) today expressed their astonishment at the report submitted by the North East Study Group to the Centre stating that Chief Ministers of the region have to pay Rs 11 lakh per legislator to buy their support to be in power. The matter was brought to the notice of the NERCPA members who were here to attend the two-day 7th annual conference of the forum. Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) legislator of Assam, Dilip Kumar Saikia raised the matter in the conference today while deliberating on the topic : ?Insurgency problems in the North East Region ? its impact upon socio-economic development?.
Representatives of North Eastern States? legislatures who were attending the conference expressed their resentment on the comment made by the North East Study Group which is comprised of a few former bureaucrates of Government of India. The NERCPA members wanted all relevant documents available with Sri Saikia on the allegations made by the North Eastb Study Group and the chairman of the forum, Sri Prithibi Majhi, the Speaker of Assam Assembly later made those available to representatives from all the eight N-E States.
Later, talking to the newsmen a section of legislatures from different States of the region stated that they would lodge protest against the sweeping and damaging remarks made by the N-E Study Group with concerned authorities.
Meanwhile, representatives from different state legislatures of the region today urged the NERCPA to mount pressure on the Central government to initiate sincere efforts to hold negotiations with all the banned insurgent outfits of the region in the light of the resolution taken by the NERCPA conference held in Arunachal Pradesh last year. Addressing the NERCPA conference today, the Leader of the Opposition in Assam Assembly, Sri Brindabon Goswami stated that legislators and parliamentarians of the region had a key role to play in finding a peaceful solution to the vexed insurgency problem that had stymied the economic growth in the region.
Sri Goswami pointed out that violence had been adopted as a means by a section of people in the region who are frustrated at the non-fulfilment of their aspirations. Addressing the closing function of the 7th NERCPA conference, Governor of Assaml Lt Gen (retd) Ajai Singh said, ?Insurgency is disappearing from Assam and normalcy is fast returning to the State. When Assam has got rid of this insurgency problem it will be a matter of time only when other states of the region will be able to get respite from this problem.? The Governor said insurgency in the North East was not the ?classical? insurgency but only law and order problem with an ethnic dimension which required a different approach to solve it.
Swami said the Centre was prepared to hold peace talks with any insurgent outfit in the region if they did not put any pre-condition. However the Government?s stand was that talks should be held within the framework of the Constitution. The Centre was providing necessary help to all State Governments for modernisation of police forces, he said. To a querry, Swami said if the State wanted the Centre would sanction funds for setting up of more India Reserve Battalion forces in addition to the present four battalions with one battalion already undergoing training.
However the State Government should try to solve its own problems and maintain law and order because it was a state subject, he said. If they (state) felt that police should be modernised they should do so, Swami said adding the Centre was providing every assistance and required help for modernisation of the police forces. The Centre cannot provide ?any number of forces? demanded by State Governments and Manipur should ask for only the necessary and required force, Swami said.
If the State Governments thought they required more forces they could do so by setting up more India Reserve Battalion forces after getting sanction from the Centre, he said, adding the Centre was also prepared to give any kind of financial assistance in this regard. On ethnic clashes in Assam?s North Cachar Hills and Cachar districts, he said that the Centre advised the State to take maximum security measures to prevent the clashes.
Swami, who had discussed the situation in Manipur with the Chief Minister and other senior security officials said that he would go through all the representations and memoranda presented to him by several organisations before submitting a detailed report to the Centre and it was upto the Central Government on what action they should take. He said some of the representations from students? bodies demanded dismissal of the present Congress-led Secular Progressive Front ministry alleging deterioration in law and order situation. However, his duty was only to submit a report on the situation to the Centre, Swami added.