R Dutta Choudhury
GUWAHATI, Feb 10 Though the Assam Police and security forces are trying to bring the char areas along the international border with Bangladesh in the face of threats from the fundamentalist forces, severe shortage of infrastructure and other facilities are hampering the efforts and majority of the chars are totally out of reach of the security radar.
Highly-placed police sources said that the threat perception increased in recent years with fundamentalist forces establishing roots in Bangladesh and efforts are on to improve vigil in the vulnerable places to prevent such forces from establishing their foothold in Assam.
But unfortunately, the infrastructure facilities to carry out the job are far from adequate and several proposals to increase the strength of the force in the char areas are pending with the Government. However, on the positive side, the State Government has recently accorded sanction to create a river police battalion after sitting over the proposal for years.
Sources said that Dhubri district of Assam has more than 47 kilometres of international riverine international border with Bangladesh and there is urgent need for improving vigil in the area. But the strength of the police is far from adequate to carry out the job. Of course, the strength of the Border Security Force (BSF) along the Indo-Bangla border has been increased and the border guarding force has presence in some of the chars along the international border, which are of permanent nature, but majority of the chars near the international border are totally out of the security radar.
Sources revealed that the district has around 400 chars but unfortunately there is almost no presence of police or administration in those and no one knows if any fundamentalist force has established bases in those. "It is impossible for anyone to ascertain whether the chars are safe as police personnel visit those only if any major crime is reported," sources admitted.
Proposals for establishing police stations and outposts in the chars to keep a close eye on those are pending with the Government for years and only recently two police outposts in chars are being upgraded to full-fledged police stations. Sources said that the Government recently issued the draft notification for upgrading the outposts at Sukhchar and Fakirganj to police stations and the Finance Department has also accorded necessary sanction to it. The Government is likely to issue the formal notification in this regard shortly.
Sources admitted that up gradation of the two outposts would be beneficial as the strength of police personnel would increase to around 20 in each of the station from the existing strength of around 10 and the stations would be headed by one sub-inspector of police. But the creation of the stations will become useless if necessary infrastructure is not provided. At present, the police has to hire engine fitted country boats to move to any char if any crime is reported and if the Government is really serious in improving policing in the char areas, adequate number of motor boats along with adequate fuel should be provided to ensure regular patrolling of the areas considered vulnerable.
Moreover, proposals for creation of one more police station and two outposts in the chars near the international border are still pending with the Government and sources said that creation of the same without any further delay in vital for improved vigilance.
The problems are myriad, as the students’ letter listed out, calling the consequences of the state government’s negligence. The check gate maintained by the CRPF at Yanpha village has become a menace for the people of Ralan; without the intervention and active monitoring by a border magistrate or SDO ( C ) it is impossible to move even a piece of building material through this CRPF gate, the students said. “This is a crude and ingenuous way of stopping any forms of economic development in the area both by the CRPF and also the officers concerned” the KLRSU lamented.
“The daily harassment of passenger vehicles has taken its toll on the weary villagers of the area. It is not long before they (villagers) take the matter in their own hands” students stated. “The tragedy is that all this seems to happen with the sanction of the government” it stated, referring to orders reportedly issued by border magistrates of both states to the post commanders.
Further, daily provocation by land-grabbers from the Assam-side has made life insecure in the border areas of Wokha. Ralan area is the largest tract of plains under Wokha and has engendered many incursive agenda from illegal migrant workers from Assam, the KLRSU said. “Tensions may flare up at any moment and there are lots of instances to prove that the Assam police are ready and always on the look out to arrest any Naga on the slightest pretext. We mention this to stress the fact that the complicity of the Assam Police in aiding and abetting the illegal immigrants’ incursive agenda makes the people of Ralan area feel like orphans” the students stated.
The students’ organization also wondered why there isn’t a department or agency for Nagaland to look into the welfare of the people living in the Assam-Nagaland border. In fact, the KLRSU explained, the problems for the border people are so precipitated that “we have found out that some people in the border areas are even going up to the extent of openly wondering whether it is a good idea for the Lothas to seek for a district status in Assam itself”.
The students have demanded an SDO (c) officer at Ralan and a separate border magistrate at Uriamghat. The students said to have “heard and read” in the newspapers about an SDO being assigned to Ralan. However, the students found out that the officer in question is “still on leave till date”. “Although we understand the difficulties of an officer, it cannot be an excuse for the government to hold the lives of the entire Ralan sub-division under ransom” the students said.
Further, the students’ organization said a border magistrate was assigned for Uriamghat recently but he holds a dual charge, of Merapani as well. “…it is difficult for one officer alone to man the whole DAB in Wokha district” the students said. The students have cautioned that the matter and plight of the area demands urgent attention before the people decide to take matters in their own hand and things go out of control.
Observing this turn of events, the council convened a meeting in January where a number of decisions were taken by the public of the area. The public strongly affirmed to “protect and defend” the Naga areas “under any circumstances” from the “annexation policies of Assam”.
The meeting then decided to approach the state government of Nagaland for immediate posting of a Border Magistrate. Similarly, the state government would be approached for an SDO (Civil) to be posted at Ralan. This posting is in the interest of addressing problems from the border issue before it is too late, the meeting decided. The public of the area have appealed to the state government to “act in time” to “defend and safeguard Nagaland” from the “various annexation policies of Assam”.
| Nagaon |
| Feb 4 : Incompetence, delay, bribery and inefficiency will soon cease to be synonyms for government offices in Nagaon. Computers will replace bulky files even at the grassroots next month, allowing villagers to savour the benefits of “clean” e-governance. In an effort to ensure transparency, the Nagaon administration will put in place a single window system, by which all the state government offices under the deputy commissioner and the 10 revenue circles will be linked to the headquarters through the Assam Statewide Area Network. Most of the work is complete in all the revenue offices. New computers have been installed, offices renovated and staff trained for the single window system. “We have more than 20 computers of our own and these will also be utilised. The server will be kept in the district National Informatics Centre office building which is on the second floor of the deputy commissioner’s office,” an official in the district administration said. The district has already received Rs 10 lakh as special assistance from Dispur for executing the e-governance project. “Knocking on every door to find out the position of a file or an application will be a thing of the past. People will now submit their applications at the public facilitation centre and collect the required documents from there,” Nagaon deputy commissioner J. Balaji said. “The treasury will be fully computerised to ease the formalities,” Balaji said. |
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| A stretch of Guru Teg Bahadur Road. Picture by Eastern Projections |
Kolkata: A day after three tribals were killed in the exchange of gunfire with CPM cadres, the locals in the Lalgarh-Jhargram belt on Tuesday laid siege to the area to begin an indefinite blockade and vowed to spread the agitation in other districts as well.
Fierce clashes had broken out on Monday between the tribals and the CPM cadres, who were taking out a funeral procession of their slain local leader, who was allegedly killed a day earlier by suspected Maoists said to have close links with the tribals in the area. No arrests have been made so far.
Meanwhile, Santras Birodhi Janaganer Committee (anti-police atrocity committee) has called for a 48-hour bandh beginning Wednesday in three districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Congress and SUCI have also given a 12-hour bandh call in the three districts. Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee is likely to visit Lalgarh today.
The clash on Monday took place at Dharampur in the Khasjangal area, when CPM cadres were taking out a procession with the body of their slain leader Nandalal Pal, who was shot dead on Sunday. Both the groups exchanged fierce gunfire and fought with bows and arrows. Three private vehicles were also torched.
“Tribals blocked several areas on Tuesday morning in and around Lalgarh area,” West Bengal Inspector General (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia said.
The Lalgarh-Jhargram area was cut off from the rest of Bengal by the blockade by the tribals, who placed big tree trunks at Ramgarh, Pirakata, Kantapahari and Jhitka areas. Blockades have also been put up at various points in Lalgarh-Midnapore, Lalgarh-Salboni and Lalgarh-Goaltore roads.
Tribals groups armed with traditional weapons, including bows and arrows, manned various entry and exit points in the area. Roads were also dug up in some places. Telephone lines were cut off at some places, affecting police stations and administrative buildings.
The agitating tribal group held a meeting at Ramgarh today. Sidhu Soren, committee’s general secretary, said, “The blockade will continue indefinitely. We will also spread the agitation to other tribal-dominated areas of West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura. Our tribal brothers were mercilessly killed by CPM goons yesterday. We will not allow the police or anyone from the administration to enter our area.”
The district administration and police also held a meeting at Midnapore town, but were tight-lipped over the outcome. “We discussed the situation in detail and a possible way of controlling any more violence in the area,: said Kuldip Singh, IG Western Range, who was present in the meeting.
One AK-56 rifle has been recovered. The deceased has not been identified.
Dhubri: Villagers of Modhusoulmari have alleged that the 3.5km road being constructed from Madhusoulmari to Bashbari at a cost of 266.63 lakh under the Prime Minister’s Gramin Rozgar Yojana, has not followed guidelines, resulting in frequent accidents.
Goalpara: Garos living in the Rabha-Hasong Council area staged a dharna on Tuesday in front of theGoalpara deputy commissioner’s office demanding exclusion of Garos from the council areas. They also submitted a memorandum to the Assembly committee looking after the affairs of the council through Goalpara deputy commissioner Anurag Goel.
Dhubri: Hind Yuvak Sangha, a socio-cultural organisation, on Tuesday felicitated commanding officer of the 21 Jat Regiment, J.S. Shekhawat, and Dhubri superintendent of police, Partho Sarathi Mahanta, for their role in bringing peace and amity in the district and being involved in various social works in the past few years.
Spicezee Bureau
Mumbai, Feb 03: She has been called a home-wrecker, portrayed as a conniving daughter-in-law; but now Sabah Galadhari, Adnan Sami’s wife has opened up as to what made her pull the strings and go public with domestic violence charges against her husband
The otherwise low profile couple came under the arc lights last week after Sabah rushed to the police and filed a complaint against Adnan for being violent. Adnan, who immediately found himself under media scrutiny, was quick to deny all of Sabah’s claims. The singer quickly turned the spotlight on his wife by accusing her of ill-treating his ailing father.
Furthermore, Sami even accused Sabah of being unkind to his son Azaan, from a previous marriage. But speaking to a news daily, Sabah denied all the charges Adnan made, said, “I have decided to go away from his life. It’s been a year that I am undergoing mental trauma and I cannot take it any more. I am living in fear.”
“We had two months of bliss... then I realised he had a major alcohol problem. It increased by the day. He would get violent. I was traumatised mentally and physically. On one occasion, he drank so much that we had to cancel a show in London. I had to tell the organisers that he had fallen in the bathroom. But I have saved his dignity several times covering up like this. After being abusive, he would apologise and I would forgive him. It became a pattern. But I loved him so much.”
Even after being repeatedly tortured Sabah didn’t share her marital problems with anyone. However, when Adnan started womanising, Sabah could take it no more. “He also began womanising and got someone home in my absence. He goes to discos and dinners with women after telling me they are friends”, she added.
The otherwise low profile 
London, Feb 3 : Recession-hit restaurants in Britain have started offering free food and major discounts to entice customers, many of whom have stopped eating out frequently following job losses and salary cuts.
Offering free food was one of the ways of beating recession in the 1980s, and restaurant owners hope it will again do the trick now. The innovative offers come amidst reports that hundreds of Indian and other restaurants have closed shop in recent months.
The offer of free food is premised on the belief that customers would be too embarrassed not to leave behind money after dinner. Restaurants owners believe that except students, most customers would not leave without leaving money behind.
The menu card at The Little Bay in Farringdon in London does not mention prices for dishes. Customers pay only for the drinks.
Restaurant owner Peter Ilic said, "You can leave 50 pounds or nothing; it doesn't matter, I will treat you the same," he said, and claimed that it was not a desperate measure to beat the steep fall in business.
According to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers report on Hospitality and Leisure, 141 restaurants closed down in the final quarter of 2008. In total, 363 restaurants suffered insolvency in 2008 – a 32 per cent rise on the year before.
Faced with supermarkets offering cheaper ready meals, Indian restaurants too have taken to innovative measures to revive business. These include reducing prices and packages offering 'eat as much as you can' prices.
NEW DELHI: Home minister P Chidambaram will visit Manipur and Nagaland on Tuesday to have a first hand account of the security situation in the two troubled states.
Chidambaram will hold a security review meeting at the Imphal secretariat with chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and senior officials. From Imphal, he will fly to Nagaland's commercial capital Dimapur where he will hold another security review meeting at the Police Training Academy at Chumukedima.
Chidambaram is likely to emphasise the need to ensure strict enforcement of the ceasefire ground rules with NSCN (IM) and NSCN (K). The infighting between rival Naga groups has been a matter of anguish for the home ministry.
| Enhanced pay for ‘difficult’ postings | ||
Guwahati, Feb 3 : Dispur today announced monetary incentives to motivate doctors to serve people in “difficult” areas of the state that are geographically isolated and afflicted by militancy, floods and epidemics. Health and family welfare minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, told newspersons that the doctors, who would be posted in six notified “difficult” areas, would receive higher pay than their counterparts serving in other parts of the state. The areas are Dhakuakhana, Jonai, Mancachar, Sadiya and Majuli subdivisions, apart from Karbi Anglong and NC Hills districts. Sarma said an additional Rs 7,000 would be paid to a sub-divisional medical officer, Rs 5,000 to senior medical and health officers, Rs 4,000 to medical and health officer and Rs 3,000 to medical officer (ayurvedic) for their services in these “difficult” areas. “Apart from the enhanced pay package, a specialist doctor in any of the categories will receive additional amount of Rs 6,000 for serving in the “difficult” areas. For example, if the sub-divisional medical officer is a specialist, he or she will receive a gross additional amount of Rs 13,000 (Rs 7,000 + Rs 6,000),” he said. Sarma said the doctors appointed directly under the National Rural Health Mission would get an additional Rs 8,000 for serving in “difficult” areas. The minister said many doctors refuse to go to these areas due to their remoteness, difficult terrain, apart from being prone to militancy, floods and epidemics. While floods and erosion afflict Majuli, Dhakuakhana, Jonai and Mancachar subdivisions, law and order problems due to insurgency turn off doctors from shifting base to Karbi Anglong, NC Hills and Sadiya. Sarma said the government had made it mandatory for doctors who want to pursue post-graduation to serve at least one year in the rural areas before going in for higher studies. He said the students who fail to meet the criteria would not be allowed to appear for the post-graduate entrance examination. The new rule will come into force from the academic session of 2010-11. During their rural posting, the doctors will get attractive pay packages,” the minister said. The government move has generated mixed reactions among the medical fraternity. G.K. Das, additional director in the directorate of health services, welcomed the government’s initiative and said it would go a long way in motivating doctors to serve in the “difficult” areas. “I started my career in Karbi Anglong district and served there for 20 years. The initiatives taken by the present government deserve praise,” Das said. “Monetary incentives alone are not enough. The doctors must be assured of security and better infrastructure. If we do not have infrastructure, how can you expect us to serve better?” a young doctor asked. |
