People's Democracy

Tripura CM Meets PM on State’s Problems

ON July 17, 2013, the chief minister of Tripura, Manik Sarkar, had had a meeting with the prime minister of India at the latter’s residence at 7, Race Course Road, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.  During the meeting, the chief minister submitted a memorandum to the prime minister of India, which was concerned with the issues relating to road, rail, air and telecom connectivity of the state of Tripura, including the connectivity with Bangladesh, repatriation of the Reang (Bru) refugees and release of the Assam Rifles Ground land. The prime minister gave a patient hearing to these issues and assured the Tripura chief minister that these would be taken care of. The prime minister instructed his officials to present these issues before him for necessary action.

The memorandum described the state of Tripura as one that has been one of the worst victims of the partition of India. The state suffered from geographical isolation for many decades, which adversely affected the development process in the state. Over the last few years, there has been some improvement in the connectivity but this improvement is still nowhere close to what is necessary. It was in this context that the government of Tripura thought it necessary to place some significant points regarding connectivity related issues before the prime minister of India for his consideration.

[Earlier, on behalf of the whole council of ministers in the state, a group of ministers from Tripura had submitted on June 21, 2013 a similar memorandum to the president of India, when he was on a visit to the state. (See People’s Democracy, June 30, 2013.) The memorandum sought to draw the president’s attention to the myriad problems the state has been facing ever since the partition of the country.]

Apart from discussing with the prime minister other problems facing the state of Tripura, the chief minister also raised the issue of Reang refugees who have been given shelter in the state as part of the Left Front government’s humanitarian duties. However, the fact remains that this is imposing a huge burden on the finances of the state which is already facing a severe resource crunch.

As it is, over 37,000 Reang refugees, who migrated from Mizoram to Tripura due to ethnic violence in Mizoram, have been living in Tripura for over 15 years now. This has given rise to various socio-economic problems as well as law and order issues in the state. The government of Tripura has, in this connection, sought the prime minister’s help, so that these families are repatriated with dignity at the earliest to their places of original residence in Mizoram.

The chief minister also raised the issue of land given to the Assam Rifles. About 49.90 hectares of land has been under occupation of the Assam Rifles at Agartala. Included in this land is a playground which was earlier being used for games and sports prior to its occupation by the Assam Rifles in 1971. The Assam Rifles headquarters, including the said playground, are now located in the heart of the Agartala town, close to the new assembly and secretariat complex, which is not a desirable situation. The Left Front government of Tripura has been requesting the union ministry of home affairs since 2005 for release of the land related to the playground measuring 11.10 hectares only, so that it could be developed as a modern sports complex for attracting the youth of the state to games and sports, without dislocating the Assam Rifles. The state government has also offered to the Assam Rifles a separate plot of land of equal area or more for its training and outdoor activities. Further, sports persons from different sports organisations in the state, including students and youth, have given representations and also drawn the attention of the prime minister in this regard. The state government has sought the prime minister’s help regarding this long pending important issue, so that the Assam Rifles is advised to spare 11.10 hectares of vacant land as proposed by the state government.