Manipur halts benefits of key government schemes to unrecognised villages

The Manipur government has decided that people living in unrecognised villages in the state would no longer be eligible to get benefits of schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Minister Sapam Ranjan said on Friday.
The state Cabinet approved the move two days after Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that several officials had given recognition to hill villages for the benefit of their community, without obtaining approval from the state government.
“Only the villages recognised by the government will be given government schemes. This will include MGNREGA. These (benefits) will not be given to the people living in unrecognised villages”, Manipur Minister for Health and Family Welfare and DIPR Sapam Ranjan told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.
One just cannot set up a village, give it a name and avail the benefits of those schemes, said Ranjan, adding, “We cannot have villages growing by leaps and bounds. So, it is important to follow the rules”.
A total of 51 listed agenda items, apart from a few unlisted ones, were discussed in the meeting chaired by Chief Minister Singh, Ranjan said.
Among other issues discussed in the meeting were the current socio-political situation in the state, which has been largely disturbed in the wake of the ethnic violence between the Kuki-zo and Meitei communities. “The cabinet also reviewed the disturbed area status in the state”, Ranjan added.
The government had on Monday, October 7, extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) by another six months in Manipur, excluding 19 police station areas falling under the Imphal valley and a region that shares its boundary with Assam.
Sapam Ranjan further informed that the Cabinet also discussed jobs on contract for different departments, appointments on compassionate grounds in the police department and getting land for the establishment of a police station at Nungsai and a police outpost in Joujangtek area.
The Cabinet also discussed the dengue situation in the state as Manipur has witnessed a rise in cases over the last two months.
“Coordinated and responsible efforts by the public are required to reduce the source of dengue. We have to destroy the breeding grounds. I reiterate once again, if we take (dengue) lightly, it will be serious for all of us”, the health minister said.
He said that the number of dengue cases is lower now in comparison to that last year, when around 2,500 cases were reported in the state.
“Till yesterday (Thursday), there have been 1,195 cases with Imphal and Imphal West districts together accounting for 1,070 cases. We have lost 3 to 4 precious lives to dengue”, Ranjan said.