As the sixth session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly commenced on Wednesday, Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who is also in-charge of finance, presented relief measures and support from the central government for internally displaced persons (IDPs) on the floor of the house during the budget presentation.
CM Biren said that the scheme for interim relief to people whose houses had been burned down was started by the state government to give relief to displaced persons. A 25 per cent advance amounting to Rs 15 crore has been sanctioned by the government for release to the affected households, the CM said.
Since the outbreak of the unrest, both the central government and state government have been working tirelessly, he added.
As a special measure, the central government approved a relief package of Rs 101.75 crore as a one-time special assistance for operation of relief camps for people of displaced due to violence in the state, Biren said.
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He informed that the amount released under this scheme was used for meeting expenditures incurred on running relief camps including recurring expenditures on consumable items like rice, dal, cooking oil, vegetables, water, milk, soap and one-time expenses towards setting up of relief camps such as CGI sheets, mattress, bed sheets, blankets, gas stoves, cooking utensils, electrical items, bucket etc.
Another package of Rs 209.45 crore was also approved for running schemes of relief and rehabilitation and rehabilitation of victims/persons affected by ongoing law and order. Scheme for providing temporary shelter to displaced families for 3000 shelters was approved by the Centre for Rs 145.18 crore, the CM said.
Another scheme approved by the Central government is the scheme for compensatory packages for farmers. Under this scheme, an amount of Rs 38.60 crore has been approved and an amount of Rs 18.91 crore has been released till date. This amount has been released to the total number of 3483 farmers as on date, the CM informed the floor of the house.
CM Biren further stated that the Centre had also approved to provide IT services in violence affected districts. Plans are afoot to invest Rs 11.00 crore and install 1100 computers in violence affected districts at the cost of Rs 1 lakh per node, he said. This will ensure that internet access is given in all violence-affected districts. These centres would serve as internet access points and computer based exam centres. Further, to ameliorate the living conditions of the relief camps inmates, TV sets have been provided to relief camps at the cost of Rs 3.35 crore, the CM said.
Keeping in view the difficulties faced by internally displaced persons (IDPs) in meeting regular expenses related to clothing and personal belongings, the state government has been extending financial assistance of Rs 1000 per person. So far, this facility has been extended four times and has benefitted about 6000 IDPs. An amount of Rs 23.48 crore has been spent on this relief measure.
Scheme for complementary nutrition and personal hygiene was another scheme approved by the government of India for an amount of Rs 89.22 crore. This scheme provides complimentary dietary support like milk, eggs, oats, etc., complementary nondietary support like diaper and limcee tablets, and one-time support for purchase of blankets, flasks and storage boxes for all relief camp inmates. The state government has also released funds from its own resources for these schemes and reimbursement is being claimed from the Centre from time to time.
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He said that the state government is aware of the difficulties faced by the displaced people, especially loss of their homes. Under the permanent housing scheme for the displaced persons whose houses had been burnt down, the state government has rolled out a scheme to build 5000 permanent housing in the initial phase with estimated cost of Rs 375 crore. Under this scheme, an amount of Rs 21.67 crore has been released to the DCs concerned for taking up works related to the scheme.
The state government has extended financial assistance of Rs 3000 per day per candidate with a maximum of 3 days to those candidates from the hill areas for appearing in UPSC examinations. Till date, the state government has spent Rs 29.34 lakh on this facility for disbursement to 326 candidates at Rs 9000 per candidate.
The state government had created Rs 10 crore State Corpus Fund for extending ex gratia to the deaths and injured persons. This will ensure that there are no gaps in disbursing ex-gratia to the eligible next of kins of those persons who died in the unrest.
In order to address the difficulty faced by Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in generating regular income, my government has launched “ CMESS- Special Support to Successful Start-Up and Entrepreneurs for employment of IDPs”. Under this scheme, financial support of upto Rs1 crore with 35% subsidy is being provided to Start-Ups who will provide employment to IDPs in their enterprises. Also, under CMESS for IDPs, a one-time credit of upto Rs.50,000/- has been provided with 30% subsidy on any bankable business activity and so far. 339 IDPs, including those from the hill districts have benefited with financial support of Rs 1.61 crore.
In order to create better prospects of livelihood opportunities to the inmates in the relief camps, the state government has taken up a decision to meet office requirements of government offices with the items produced by the relief camp inmates. For this, the Manipur Handloom and Handicraft Corporation (MHHDC) and Manipur State Rural Livelihood Mission (MSRLM) have been appointed as Nodal Agencies. An initial amount of Rs 50.07 lakh only has been released to MHHDC for this initiative.
CM Biren also said that to deal with women related crimes, an amount of Rs 5 crore Corpus fund has been set aside and kept at the disposal of Manipur State Legal Service Authority under “NALSA Scheme for Compensation to victims of crimes against women” so that immediate relief and support can be provided.
Sufficient funds will continue to be provided for relief and rehabilitation of people who have been displaced, he added.
