Manipur News

IMPHAL, September 14: The 5th Tamenglong ADC Chairman Election was held again today at the ADC Hall of Tamenglong.

Namsinrei Panmei, 53 of NPF from Pallong village, who was elected from Lamlaba ADC segment was elected unopposed as the new Chairman of ADC Tamenglong.

However, the election for the post of vice-president has been fixed on September 16.

The new Chairman was sworn in by the Returning Officer Tuntanbou Guangta in the presence of Deputy Commissioner Tamenglong M Luikham and Chief Executive Officer of ADC Tamenglong Joseph Pauline.

Ex-minister Samuel Jiandai, party leaders of BJP and NPF, leaders of civil society organizations and church leaders were present at the solemn occasion.

It may be mentioned that the election of the ADC Tamenglong Chairman was already held on September 9 despite postponement order from the government due to the pressure from the elected members, party leaders and social organization`™s leaders.

As the election was declared as invalid, a fresh notification was issued on September 10 for re-conducting the election on September 14.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/09/tml-adc-chairman-election-reconducted/

IMPHAL, Sept 14: The three bills passed by the State Assembly have nothing that will hurt the interest of the hill peoples. If there is anyone who could point out the lines or clauses in the bill that will harm the interest of the hill people then let us sit down together and discuss the issues.

This was stated by MLA Ng Bijoy, chairman of Manipur Pollution Control Board, who was also involved in the drafting of the bills as a member of the all political party committee.

He was speaking at the launching function of `Mannaba Wayel` a monthly law journal and its website: www.mannabawayel.com at the Manipur Press Club today.

Bijoy also gave a brief explanation on how the base cut off year of 1951 will not affect the native communities especially the Kukis.

He said nevertheless, there is always room for consideration.

Misunderstandings can be cleared through dialogues with the government, he said.

Senior advocate Khaidem Mani who also attended the function maintained that it is only misunderstanding that has created the hill-valley divide on the three bills.

He further explained how the misunderstanding could deepen, unless the people do not try to sort out the differences by sitting down together.

The function was also attended by DIPR director Somorjit Salam, Civil Judge Dr Ch Santibala and AMWJU president W Shyamjai.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/09/bills-will-not-harm-hill-peoples-interest/

IMPHAL September 14: The Manipur Alliance for Child Rights (MACR) organized a State level consultation on Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act today at Manipur Press Club Imphal and resolved to demand a separate POCSO Court considering the delay in justice delivery to the increasing number of related cases.

According to the MACR convener, Montu Ahanthem, it is imperative to brainstorm together on the implementation and progress of the Act in Manipur as accountable and concern stakeholders, to strive at better convergence and wider dissemination of awareness.

K Pradipkumar, chairperson, CWC, Imphal East moderated the vibrant consultation on the theme `Gaps and Challenges in the implementation of POCSO Act 2012`™.

Three experts on the subject N Nonibala, L Pishak and Th Rajkishor were the panelist for the consultation.

The panelist also shared their experiences regarding several cases with the public.

They narrated several interesting cases which gave new insights to the people attending the consultation.

After an indept brain storming the consultative meeting adopted some resolutions including to facilitate the service environment for implementing POCSO Act in Manipur.

The moderator said, `Rectify the unhealthy gendered/sexist attitude of the society towards victims, shifting and burdening the post incident onus to the victims. Popularize the police punishment component in the Act for unwillingness to register POCSO cases and compliance to special POCSO procedures while dealing with victims and other legal entitlements. Demand a separate POCSO Court and proper constitution of Juvenile Justice Police Unit to expedite the cases.

The resolutions also include insisting on the CWC and DCPU to immediately constitute a pool of trained translators for Children with special needs, to initiate a social campaign to address mob justice proposing the option of Legal Justice System so as to avoid the burden on the innocent family members of the offenders while ensuring punishment for the offenders and comprehensive justice for the victims.`™

Unfortunately very few cases have been disposed off in the State till date. For instance only one out of forty cases in Imphal West has been disposed off till date. Inadequate qualified human resource within the police despite the practical exhaustiveness of the procedures is cited as one major reason for delay in the POCSO cases, the convener shared.

The consultation was participated by more than sixty stakeholders namely the district partners of MACR, NGOs working on Child Rights, Child Line, CWCs, JJBs, DCPUs and other stakeholders.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/09/macr-demands-seperate-pocso-court/