Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday informed the House that the long-awaited result of 10th and 11th Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) will be declared after the end of the ongoing 2nd session of 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly.
He was informing the House against the observation made by opposition MLA, K Meghachandra, during general discussion on Budget Estimates, 2022-23.
He said the present government had made a proposal to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to provide Highway protection force for the national highways of Manipur. However, Rajnath said that if the government gave the approval for Highway Protection Force for national highways of Manipur, then other states of the country may demand the same. Due to this reason, the recruitment rally of 10th and 11th IRB was conducted, said Biren.
ALSO READ: IRB recruitment result in June, trained personnel for highway protection force: CM N Biren
The recruitment of 10th and 11th IRB was conducted in November of 2019 and since then, calling for declaration of the result had become one of the main issues in the state, so much so that candidates even recently stormed the residence of Chief Minister N Biren Singh located at Luwangshangbam, Imphal East.
The CM further informed the House that the state cabinet has approved to identify places to install 34 police stations along the state international border area starting from Jiribam to Jessami and for the convenience of commuters and transporters along the national highways the state government has already introduced highway patrol. Moreover, the state government has given approval to install a security barrack along the two national highways of Manipur, the CM said and informed that a sum of Rs 80 crore has been sanctioned which is not included in the state budget but directly from the centre.
On the other hand, Congress MLA K Meghachandra, while continuing to give his observation regarding the Budget Estimates 2022-23, said that the promises of the government as laid out in the budget are contradictory to what the people expect. He also contended that there is no mention of any special package for the youths and for those battered by Covid-19.
Besides, the real issues confronting the farmers were ignored, he stated and called the budget as “directionless” and opined that the budgetary provisions will only incur additional liability. He also questioned why the government is focussing on open market borrowing when it boasts as a double engine government.
ALSO READ: Biren’s FB nemesis
Leader of the House, while giving clarification against the observation made by the opposition MLA, said the state has the capacity to borrow Rs 1,800 crore after calculating Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) which was earlier allowed to borrow only Rs 400 crore.
He said the state will not borrow the entire amount of Rs 1,800, however, the state can borrow under emergency situations but it does mean that the state will have liability.
Biren said due to the pandemic, development was delayed.
He said the present government is going to take loans from the centre to create a state economy and added that the law-and-order situation is getting better, many tourists are seeking to come to the state too. To establish infrastructures, the government is going to set up luxury hotels in collaboration with Taj Hotel. Moreover, the construction of government quarters near Tribal Colony, New Checkon will generate state income, the CM said and added that the infrastructures set up by the present government will automatically pay the debt of the central loans and clarified that the budget is not directionless.
ALSO READ: Manipur Assembly passes demands for excess grants of five departments
