PASIGHAT: The Pasighat district health department is going all out to control mosquito-transmitted diseases like malaria, dengue and recently detected Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in the district. Headed
KOHIMA, May 26: The mountainous state of Nagaland is rich in both flora and fauna. A visit to any village offers an insight into a unique way of life and of a people who undertake daily chores with a smile on their faces.
AGARTALA, June 8: Growing concerns over climate change owing to environmental degradation has led to acceptance of the concept of green energy in Tripura. The Tripura Renewable Energy Development Authority (TREDA) and urban development department in association with the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) have been actively working to promote green energy.
HELSINKI, June 10: India will stand to significantly gain from a new technology on solar power as it is cheap, green and efficient, says Michael Gratzel, winner of this year
<p>ITANAGAR, June 18: Governor Gen J J Singh, who is also the President of the NERIST Society, would inaugurate the Integrated Bio Diesel Reactor System of 250 litres capacity per day, sponsored by Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, at NERIST on June 22 next.</p>
Dibrugarh, Sept 14: The Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification scheme (RGRES) has turned into a fiasco in most of the rural areas as villagers remain deprived of power supply despite claims of its successful implementation by the authority.
Agartala, Sept 21: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar on Tuesday commissioned a 21 MW gas-based power project in Tripura, which is expected to ease the electricity shortage in three northeastern states of Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.The Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL) has executed the project at a cost of Rs 80 crore with the financial assistance from the North Eastern Coun
High-level government delegation to visit Champang oil fields KOHIMA, Jan 7: The Cabinet Sub-Committee for Oil Exploration set up by the Government of Nagaland will undertake an official visit to Champang village, commencing from January 8.
National and regional parties contesting the March 3 Meghalaya Assembly polls toe the Khasi Students' Union (KSU) in opposing the proposed Uranium Mining in West Khasi Hills district. The KSU called an all-party meeting today to question the political parties' stand on the vexed uranium mining issue in West Khasi Hills district. The BJP, NCP, UDP, KHNAM and the HSPDP attended the meeting. The UDP sent a letter of support in the opposition to the proposed uranium mining, while the Congress and the MDP abstain from the meeting.
Land Policy Is the Asom Government violating its own land policy resolutions by taking up a policy of giving settlement of Government khas agricultural and ceiling surplus lands to the industrial workers ignoring the interest of the indigenous people of the State? By our Staff Reporter GUWAHATI, Feb 21: This question has been raised by the Purbanchal Nagarik Samity (PNS), an apex body of various citizens' fora of upper Asom. The PNS is of the view that such a calculated step on the part of the State Government to deprive the indigenous agricultural workers has been motivated by its desire to appease the tea garden workers so as to get their support. Even though Asom has 69 lakh acres of agricultural land and 1.35 lakh acres of ceiling surplus land acquired till 1975, about 2.29 lakh agrarian families are completely landless and homeless, while 1.8 lakh families are with less than eight bighas of land and 2.86 lakh families are with less than five bighas of land till September, 1969. This was stated in the resolution of the Government Land Policy, 1972 published on July 21, 1972. According to the citizens' bodies, the State Government itself admitted in its policy paper in 1975 that the problem of landless cultivators was increasing day by day, while in the Government Land Policy of 1989 the Government lamented that during the last 16 years land settlement could not be given to genuine beneficiaries. Thus the Government has recommended for settlement of ceiling surplus lands to agriculturists expeditiously, they pointed out. "Although the State Government, in its 1989 Land Policy, banned the transfer of agricultural lands to non-agriculturists and industries, the Government itself has with impunity been violating its own land policy resolutions and taken up a policy of allotting Government khas agricultural and ceiling surplus lands to the industrial labourers since 2001,' the PNS resolution said. It also said that to expedite such settlement of land, the Government had also formed high-power committees in each district in March, 2007. "However, the poor indigenous agriculturists are left at the mercy of God even during calamities, with more than two lakh families being landless and homeless, and their number increasing every passing day,' said the resolution adopted at a meeting of the PNS in Dibrugarh. Though the land policy of 1968 itself declared a ban on transfer of agricultural lands to non-agriculturists, which was also repeated in the Land Policy Document of 1972, the Government officials have started issuing circulars to allot land to ex-tea garden workers, said Ajoy Baruah, joint secretary of the PNS and general secretary of the Dibrugarh Nagarik Sangha, while talking to The Sentinel. In this regard, Baruah pointed out the land policy adopted by the State Government in 1989 (published in the Assam Gazette on August 23, 1989), where it has been clearly stated: "All allotment of land for ordinary cultivation will be made with the indigenous landless cultivators, that is the persons who actually cultivate the land themselves.' The PNS further said the industrial labourers, who are neither contributors nor beneficiaries, and not residents of revenue villages, have been injudiciously included in the Panchayati Raj system. The PNS is of the opinion that such a step has further complicated the very concept of the Panchayati Raj. The apex body of the upper Asom citizens' fora, in an initiative to mobilize public opinion against the alleged injudicious policy adopted by the State Government, has taken a move to hold a State-level convention in association with the Asom Jatiya Mahasabha and the Senior Citizens' Council of Guwahati.
Although the State Government has declared some villages as "model village' from time to time its apathy towards them has raised a question mark about the Government's sincerity in making these villages as model villages. Jhaskal village under Satrasal GP in Dhubri district located in the far-western Part of the Indo-Bangla International border is a glaring example of underdevelopment. After 21 years of its declaration as a model village, Jhaskal area is still to see the light of development in communication, healthcare, education power supply, agriculture etc. Situated under Agomani Development block in Golakgani LAC, Jhaskal was formally declared as a model village and its foundation stone was laid on April -11, 1987 by the then Chief Minister of Asom Prafulla Kumar Mahanta. Though the people of the village are largely dependent on agriculture, they are deprived of the modern methods of agriculture including superior quality seeds, manure etc. Even the peasants do not get the right price for their produced goods. The education scenario in the village is also grim. The two ME schools established 22 years ago through public donations are yet to be provincialized by the Government. Great Jhaskal area has four Government LP Schools. These schools lack basic infrastructure like desks and benches. In comparison to students enrolment, there is also shortage of teachers. Three schools are still running with a single teacher each. In the name of healthcare, there is a sub-centre at Jhaskal but its lacks adequate nurse and medicines. As a result, for simple disease, the patients have to rush to Satrasal or Agomani for treatment. Road communication in the area is also very deplorable. In the monsoons due to lack of repair work, the village roads become muddy and waterlogged. Though there was a PWD road through the villages in the past, it was declared as a border road in 1985 at the time of fencing of barbed wire across the Indo-Bangla border resulting in a lot of troubles to the border people. Now, the villagers have to use the road as per the time and permission of the BSF. If not, they have to face action from them. Another grey area of this "model village' is power. The transformer remain out of order in majority of the days in the year making the villagers the worst sufferers. The village is also deprived of potable water. Though a Public health and Engineering scheme was launched at jhaskal Part -1, the people are deprived of its service. After six months of service, the scheme is lying abandoned for 19 to 20 years. It is worth mentioning here that several hundred bighas of lands in the area fall into India's side of the
