Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Monday said that the state had issued a total of 1,62,902 permits to visitors to the state since the implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP). As many as 3,636 permits have also been renewed, he said.
The chief minister was responding to queries raised by opposition MLA AK Mirabai during the question hour of the ongoing budget session of the House. He assured the House that his government is fully committed and prepared to protect the indigenous people of the state. The permit was issued from January 1 to December 31, 2020.
Singh also informed the House the state has earned a sum of Rs 25,278,000 from the permit system.
The ILP system came into force in the state from January 1 after the extension of the Bengal Frontier Regulation on December 11, to give Manipur relief from the purview of the Amended Citizenship Act. There are four types of permits which are issued against the payment of certain amounts as per the nature of the permits. The permits are issued in ILP counters set up in border areas, airport and all the districts which include special, temporary, regular and labour permits.
Replying to a question and supplementary raised by MLA Surjakumar Okram, the chief minister said that steps will be taken up to subsidize the rate of charges for COVID-19 testing after consulting with the stakeholders, including private hospitals and clinics. He said a total of 5, 19, 458 test has been conducted till February 2, 2021, of which 4,34,960 test and 84,498 tests were carried out at government and private facilities respectively. As soon a case is reported, contact tracing is conducted to prevent further spreading of the virus, thus lowering the rate of infection.
The House unanimously passed supplementary grants for fiscal 2020-21 amounting to Rs 31,772,435,119 on the fourth day of the full budget session. In addition, it also passed the Manipur Appropriation (No.1) Bill, 2021(Bill No.10 of 2021) and the Manipur Appropriation (No.3) Bill, 2021(Bill No.12 of 2021).
