Govt would respond to any action against non-local Indian citizens : Ibobi State Govt sees eye to eye with JCLIPS on ILPS
IMPHAL, May 21: Stating that there is no difference of opinion between the State Government and the Joint Committee on ILPS (JCILPS) on enforcement of Inner Line Permit System in Manipur, Chief Minister O Ibobi has cautioned that the Government would rea.....
State lad tops Nagaland Class X Board exams
IMPHAL, May 21: Helaluddin Shah s/o Md Islauddin and Sanarembi of Borayangbi under Kumbi AC has topped the HSLCE 2013 conducted by the Nagaland Board of School Education, results of which was declared in the intervening night of May 20 and 21. Helaluddin.....
More eviction
IMPHAL, May 21 :The State Government has decided to evict encroachers for expansion of roads in Imphal and greater Imphal areas. The State Government has initiated necessary procedures to evict encroachers as it feels that many roads in Imphal and grea.....
KSO suspends strike, blockade
IMPHAL, May 21 : Respon-ding to the assurance of Chief Minister O Ibobi to carry forward the backlog of 474 ST posts in the ensuing recruitment of 2000 numbers of Manipur Police Constables, and also to take immediate action regarding the backlog of 28 dif.....
CM convenes meet
IMPHAL, May 21 :Chief Minister O Ibobi today convened a meeting of the delegates who would be visiting Myanmar along with him and discussed about their forthcoming foreign trip. The delegation which would be led by the Chief Minister would take part in.....
Rabies fear stalks Phumlou village
IMPHAL, May 21: Besides report about three persons succumbing to suspected cases of rabies after the victims were reportedly bitten by dogs, locals of Phumlou village under Imphal West district are gripped with fear. According to a reliable source, atl.....
Shirui Lily Fest Showcases Rich Culture Of Tangkhul Community Cultural extravaganza marks week long fest
UKHRUL, May 21: Cultural items, display of Tangkhul traditional cuisines and attires, flower show, painting competition and entertainment programmes marked the concluding day of the district level Shirui Lily Week-2013 today at Shirui village under Ukhrul.....
Pledge taken to protect human lives, values
IMPHAL, May 21: Like in other parts of the country, pledges were taken to protect human lives and values as Manipur too joined in the observance of 22nd national anti-terrorism day today. The observance is held to commemorate the death anniversary of f.....
NGOs say no to oil exploration
IMPHAL, May 21: Twenty-four NGOs including student organizations and human rights defenders today submitted a representation to Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh urging him to take steps to halt the ongoing oil exploration process and extraction works in the h.....
CSOs raid Hotel Centre Point
IMPHAL, May 21: Volunteers of different civil society organisations today raided Hotel Centre Point at MG Avenue and pulled up its manager. Volunteers of 16 civil society organisations including CLK, IPSA, KEL, ACOAM Lup, PANDM etc raided the hotel and.....
PM corrects age to 80 in RS poll papers
Guwahati, May 21: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Congress Rajya Sabha candidate from Assam, has filed a fresh affidavit correcting his age to 80 prior to scrutiny of the nominations today. The Prime Minister submitted the fresh affidavit two days a.....
Oklahoma tornado Many children among 91 feared killed
MOORE, OKLAHOMA, May 20: At least 91 people, including 20 children, were feared killed when a 2 mile wide tornado tore through an Oklahoma City suburb, trapping victims beneath the rubble as one elementary school took a direct hit and another was destroye.....
MKS condoles
IMPHAL, May 21 :The Maram Students’ Union (MKS) has condoled the untimely demise of its former Education Secretary, R Graceson Rangnamei, a second semester student of MA at MU. A statement issued by the MKS said the union would cherish his associatio.....
‘Go Green Fortnight’
IMPHAL, May 21 :Aimed at promoting greenery, atleast in and around their deployment areas, and furthering its undeterred efforts of preserving the bounty of the nature, the Assam Rifles under a specific roadmap worked out by the IGAR (S) Maj Gen UK Gurung.....
ZU condemns
IMPHAL, May 21 : Condemning the abduction and killing of Poushingdai Gonmei, a cadre of NSCN-IM by the ZUF on May 18, the Zeliangrong Union, Bishnupur, Sadar Area Zone has appealed to all concerned armed groups operating in Zeliangrong areas not to resort.....
Painting competition
IMPHAL, May 20: A State level cooperative painting competition would be held on May 29 by the Department of Cooperation, Govt of Manipur at the premises of Registrar of Manipur Cooperative Societies, Lamphelpat on the theme Cooperative as a means of livel.....
BSNL network
IMPHAL, May 20: Telephone exchanges including GSM mobile, WLL and Broadband connections of BSNL would be disrupted at BSNL installations at Hiyangthang, Wangoi and Mayang Imphal Exchanges, due to sudden breakdown of OFC route near Pishumthong Ningom Leika.....
KRF denies
IMPHAL, May 21: The Kuki Revolutionary Front (KRF) has denied having any knowledge on the alleged abduction of Nepali youths from Gopibung, Mahavir and Shantolabari areas under Kangpokpi PS. Terming the allegation as baseless and false, a statement iss.....
Dispute resolved
IMPHAL, May 21: The dispute between Rangshong, Chief of Awang Longa Koireng and Rengsutsong Koireng was settled under the laws of Satang Area Chiefs' Association at the residence of H Gelmol village chief on May 20. A statement issued by the SACA said .....
New students' body floated
IMPHAL, May 21: Along with announcing formation of a new students' organisation christened Reformist Students' Front (RSF), its general secretary BCY Atiqur said that RSF was formed to take up issues related to rights of the student community. Affirmin.....
Letters to Editor
By : Sangai Letters
In defence of the Hon’ble Speaker
Sir,
Of late the media has been going hype over the alleged appointment of Smt.Th.Nivedita wife of the Hon’ble Speaker of the Manipur Legislative Assembly Shri Th. Lokeshwar Singh as a Under Secretary at the Manipur Legislative Assembly secretariat using an OBC certificate. While it is apparent that there is a hidden political agenda behind the smear campaign which cannot be exposed for want of sufficient evidence but the question of Smt.Nivedita being entitled to belong to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category can be easily ascertained. I must admit that I too was taken aback when the news first appeared and had assumed it to be true. But upon enquiry I realized that there is more than it meets the eye in the entire affair.
To start with an OBC status is granted on the basis of the person’s parentage and not on the spouse (wife or husband). This is clearly stated in the documents provided by the National Commission for Backward Classes which further goes to state that children born of parents who become Class I officers after attaining the age of forty years of age are also eligible for being granted an OBC certificate.
Probing further I also found out that Nivedita’s father the late Thokchom Navakumar had joined service as a social education organizer a grade III post in the year 1963. He was eventually promoted as a Deputy Director in the Education (S) Department in 1987. Being born in 1939 he was already 48 years of age when he became a Class I officer. He retired in 1998 as the Director of the SCERT.He became an MLA in 2007 after two months and 26 days in office he expired. These are facts which are available in the office of the Directorate of Education (S),Govt.of Manipur. On the question of whether Nivedita further qualified to be be an OBC being the daughter of an MLA it has been clearly established by a ruling of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court that “Members of the State Government are Constitutional functionaries but their nature being temporary and often transitory they are not supposed tohave shed their backwardness in such short periods. Therefore the Rule of Exclusions will not apply to the sons and daughters of Ministers and they will be entitled for Other Backward Classes reservation.” This was stated in the Chander Vijay Versus Union of India and Others in the judgment arrived at on 6 July 2004.
Smt.Nivedita also obtained her first OBC Certificate from the Deputy Commissioner’s Office of Imphal West in 2004. She had apparently being renewing her certificate annually and the last was issued in 2011 from the office of the Deputy Commissioner Imphal East.On the question of the competent authority issuing her an OBC Certificate stating her as unmarried without her husband’s name thus becomes irrelevant in the light of the fact that OBC Certificates are issued as children of OBC parents only.
Now we come to the moot question of the actual appointment procedure.It should be borne in mind that it was Shri Irengbam Hemochandra the present Hon’ble PHED Minister who had recruited her as an Under Secretary when he was the Speaker of the Manipur Legislative Assembly. It is also a fact that her husband Shri Th.Lokeshwar Singh was the Deputy Speaker but under Article 180 of the Constitution of India a Deputy Speaker has practically no role to play in the administration and conduct of the Assembly in the presence of the Speaker in the House. This is also clearly laid out in the Practice and Procedures of the Parliament. Here I may add that any RTI activists can seek information as to whether the Deputy Speaker Shri Lokeshwar was consulted or his views sought in the appointment of 144 persons as Contract Employees of the Assembly besides Nivedita by the then Speaker Shri Irengbam Hemochandra or not? I think then things will roll on its own and our media fraternity will have much to write about.
All this media hype tantamount to penalizing Smt.Nivedita for no fault of hers and denying her basic right to be granted an OBC Certificate and her husband Shri Lokeshwar Singh being made a political scapegoat what with a highly respected former legislator and a person who had once held the post of the Deputy Speaker namely Shri O Joy Singh demanding a House Committee to probe into the matter and if found guilty then Lokeshwar should resign if not all the Legislators should unite and remove him from office and if that too fails the Manipur State Legislative Assembly should be dissolved. Under what provision of the Indian Constitution that is to take place he did not mention. But when a man like Shri O.Joy a man we hold in the highest esteem and compared his role with that of the late Bhupesh Gupta of the CPI in the Indian Parliament speaks out like that, I though I should share this little finding of mine with the general public so that the matter is settled once and for all.And if any of what I have said is incorrect I stand to correction and would be grateful to the person concerned for pointing out that error.
Yours faithfully,
Yambem Laba
Yakairol
Why are you doing a U-turn? I read your article in Statesmen in which you condemned the procedure and the OBC. And, now you are supporting her and the Speaker. I doubt your integrity.
rajj
What r u trying to convey Sir. The truth is that the norms and rules are bent by those in power. Why r u trying to save their skins? What is your intention? Forget about her being an OBC or not for a moment and lets take up the process/method of her appointment for the post. I bet you can see the skeletons in the cupboard. Dont try to mislead us, nowadays most are educated and can decide the wrongs and the rights.
Dayanand
"In defense of a corrupt Speaker" sud hv been more appropriate.. period.
shasi
Mr Yambem does not seem to understand the most basic legal argument - a certificate obtained under false information is null and void. The information which Mr Yambem brushes aside as irrelevant is indeed a crucial fact in this case, namely, the candidate's renewed OBC certificate of 2011 was obtained under false information because, although she was married by then, the certificate shows that she is unmarried. Therefore, the renewed OBC certificate of the candidate is legally null and void.
Robert
What on earth is wrong with you Mr. Laba?What would possess a man like you to write such thrash? Perhaps you have become one of those who are experts in twisting things to their advantage at the cost of the poor people who are the intended benefeciaries. Are you trying the tell the public that there is nothing fishy and underhanded in the way she was appointed under secy of the assembly?Shame on you. You should seriuosly consider giving up juornalism if this is the kind thrash you are going to write.Maybe you have gone senile.
TRIBAL TIMES
FUNNY, Y. LABA... I WAS CONVINCED SOMEHOW WITH YOUR FEW PARA....BUT UNFORTUNATELY.... NONE THE LESS, YOU ARE JUST A COWARD. ARE YOU A DOCTORATE FROM OXFORD? CAMBRIDGE? OR HARVARD? HOW MUCH MONEY DO LOKESHWOR (THE SPEAKER) GAVE YOU TO WRITE THIS ARTICLE? A CORRUPT ARTICLE FROM CORRUPT WRITERS'' SPONSORED BY CORRUPT POLITICIAN. AREN'T YOU ASHAMED? HOPE YOU HAVE SEEN THE ABOVE COMMENTS BEFORE ME. THANKING YOU.
