IMPHAL, Jan 11: The Committee on Protection of Tribal Areas Manipur (COPTAM) has said today that it is a very sad thing that no real autonomy has been granted to the Autonomous District Councils.
\nCOPTAM\u2019s comment came amid the demands raised by Autonomous District Council CO-ordination Committee (ADC-CC) regarding the devolution of power to the council.
\nCOPTAM general secretary Thangkam Lupheng terms it as very unfortunate that the devolution of power to the District Councils has not been implement till date.
\nIn this regard, COPTAM has been demanding for total empowerment of the ADCs by effecting devolution of power to the grass level.
\n\u201cUnless the empowerment and devolution of power is made by an act, the word autonomous is meaningless. So, COPTAM appeals to the government to pass an act for empowerment and commitment of the government for development of the tribal people of Manipur. And the so-called \u2018devolution of power\u2019 by the state government is totally meaningless as no real power has been devolved to the ADCs even after three years of its re-instatement. Without adequate power and autonomy, the revival of ADCs will be completely meaningless and as such, th state government should stop playing with the rights of the tribal people,\u201d COPTAM advised.
\n\u201cMoreover, regarding the indifferent attitude doisplayed by the government so far to the legitimate demands of COPTAM, an executive meeting of COPTAM shall be held very soon to chalk out the next course of action,\u201d Thangkam Lupheng informed.
\nSchedule for the General Elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura and bye-elections to fill casual vacancies in the State Legislative Assemblies.<\/p>\n\n