Sudden Outbreak of Hepatitis A Epidemic in Agartala

Agartala, Sep 30 : Authorities have issued alert among both health establishments and citizens following spread of Hepatitis A virus in Agartala and its adjacent areas over the past two months.

According to report, as many as 32 positive cases of Hepatitis A were detected among 45 random samples collected from Agartala during the past two months. Experts have advised to drink water after due purification and filtering.

Dr RK Dhar, Director (Preventive Medicine), Tripura, said here today that though Hepatitis A was not as dangerous as the other strains of the virus, it could develop serious complications unless the patient was given proper medication.

''All the hospitals and nursing homes have been advised to keep a close watch on the patients who complain of common symptoms of the Hepatitis virus and preventive measures have been made mandatory in all the health clinics to contain its spread,'' Dr Dhar stated.

Meanwhile, the Hepatitis Foundation of Tripura (HFT) stated that they had already launched campaign and vaccination programme across the state as a preventive measure.

HFT has been administering Hepatitis B vaccine, as people of Mongoloid origin have been identified to be more susceptible to the deadly Hepatitis-B.

''In India 2-7 per cent of the population is affected by Hepatitis. However, China has achieved 100 per cent success in preventing infection at birth as early as 1995,'' HFT officials said.

AFSPA Extended For 6 Months in Tripura

Agartala, Sep 30 : Tripura has extended for another six months the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), citing militant activities along the border with Bangladesh, an official said Wednesday.

"Though terrorism has come down in Tripura significantly, the government is averse to taking any chances for some more time," a home department official told IANS.

The controversial anti-terror law enacted 52 years ago gives sweeping powers to the security forces to curb terrorism.

"In some areas of the state bordering Bangladesh, the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) are active," the official added.

Of the 64 police stations in Tripura, the AFSPA is in force in 34 police stations and partially in six since 1997.

"The state level coordination committee, supervising the anti-insurgency operation, reviewed the overall situation and suggested to extend AFSPA's term by six months. The government has accepted the recommendation," the official said.

Human rights activists and tribal based political parties describe the act as "draconian" and want its repeal.

"Innocent people are victimised by security forces in the name of anti-insurgency operations," Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT)spokesman Shrota Ranjan Khisa said.

Director General of Tripura Police Pranay Sahaya has refuted charges of human rights violation.

"The success of Tripura in curbing terrorism was discussed in the conference of directors general and inspectors general of police in Delhi last month," he told reporters.

He quoted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as saying that Tripura was the best governed state in the country in terms of curbing terrorism.

Besides Tripura, the AFSPA is also in force in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur, where rights activists and political parties have been struggling to revoke the law.

In view of the outcry against AFSPA, the central government had appointed a five-member committee headed by Supreme Court judge B.P. Jeevan Reddy to examine the necessity of the act.

After visiting the concerned states, the committee submitted its report to the government in October 2006 but its findings have not been made public.

35,000 People of Tripura Suffering From Psychic Disorders

Agartala, Sep 28 : As many as 35,000 people of Tripura have been suffering from severe mental disorders while 12 per cent population were reported to have developed psychological problems as of now, health officials revealed here today.

Director of Tripura Health Services S R Debbarma, at the fifth state conference of Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS), said the health department had been facing a critical situation with regard to providing treatment to the growing number of mental patients in Tripura.

''As per record, about one per cent of our total population has developed severe psychological problems and another about 40,000 people are at the initial phase of mental disorders but we have only 15 doctors to treat them,'' Dr Debbarma said.

He estimated that about 90 per cent of the patients had not yet been brought under the formal treatment protocol because of inadequate infrastructure and lack of trained doctors. And the current trend showed that one person in every four families in the state would develop psychological disorder by 2020 while the number of severe cases would be 15 per cent or more.

Talking to mediapersons leading psychiatrist of eastern India Dr AK Nath said more than 500 million people around the world had been suffering from mental diseases and in India it was about 18 per cent of the total population. Only 21,000 beds were available for the psychic patients in India altogether as of now, Dr Nath mentioned.

''Coupled with the expansion of average life span of men and women up to 71 and 73 years respectively, the trend of nuclear families, loneliness, feeling of social insecurity in urbanized world, unequal wealth concentration and high expectations in life are the main reasons for mental illness, tension and anxiety,'' Dr Nath observed.

A recent survey indicates that one in five young Indians between the ages of 19 and 25 have a personality disorder but lack of understanding along with the stigma attached to mental health issues prevents many from seeking treatment on time, he attributed.

Referring to the Mental Health Foundation's report Dr Nath said scientific studies had clearly linked attention deficit disorder, depression, Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia to junk food and the absence of essential fats, vitamins and minerals in industrialised diets.

''Food can have an immediate and lasting effect on mental health and behaviour because of the way it affects the structure and function of the brain,'' he added.

125 Died in Road Accidents in 8 Months in Tripura

Agartala, Sep 20 : As many as 125 people died in road accidents in Tripura over the past eight months while 350 people received serious injuries, an official report said here today.

Leading public transport advocacy group of Tripura ARPAN has blamed inefficient traffic management and unprecedented increase in the number of personal vehicles, coupled with encroachment of road space for the accidents.

Problems such as inadequate parking space, improper traffic management, poor public transportation system, lack of walking space for pedestrians were being faced, but no steps were taken for enhancement of road capacity, capacity building of existing public transport system, development of new bypass roads as arterials to decongest the city.

''Due to faulty policy of the government and weak public transport system in the state, every day ten two-wheelers and cars are registered in Agartala and as a result, traffic volume has exceeded the designed capacity on more than 80 per cent of roads,'' ARPAN officials said.

Over 50 per cent of the existing road capacity has deteriorated either due to encroachment or poor maintenance, they said.

The organisation had suggested for penalising both passengers and carriers who pick up or drop from any random places and carry passengers beyond capacity.

Tripura Trains Police For Commonwealth Games Security

Agartala, Sep 15 : Tripura is giving special training to its police personnel for Commonwealth Games security.

Personnel of the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) have been going through rigorous drills in commando training, hurdle crossing, high wall crossing, climbing and jumping and slithering.

Pranay Sahaya, the Director General of Tripura Police, said TSR troopers were apt for the job because of their training, skills and age profile.

"As far as duties in the Commonwealth (Games) are concerned, I think the level of training, skill, and I believe, general response of the people of this place in terms of my boys, and overall age profile, makes them a very good material for such sort of duties," Sahaya added.

He also informed that following a request from the Home Ministry a battalion(around 1,000 troopers would take up security-related responsibilities at Games venues.

"It is one of the six states from where the forces have been drafted and amongst the northeast, for six companies, it is only Tripura state," he said.

India is expecting about two million visitors in New Delhi for the Games, as well as about 10,000 athletes from 71 teams representing 54 Commonwealth member states, which will be held from October 3 to 14.

The 12-day sporting extravaganza will be India's biggest sporting event since the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi.

Tripura Varsity to Launch Bamboo Development Course

Agartala, Sep 13 : India’s first course in value addition to bamboo products, intended to meet demands of the international market, will be introduced in Tripura University in collaboration with the textile ministry’s Bamboo and Cane Development Institute (BCDI), officials said here Monday.
“The theoretical part of the post-graduate diploma course would be conducted in the university campuses while the practical and hands-on training part would be done at the BCDI under the guidance of foreign experts,” university Vice-Chancellor Arunoday Saha told reporters.

According to Saha, bamboo technology and design experts from China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan would conduct the training.

The Tripura University, which was conferred central university status in July 2007, Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the BCDI to conduct the one-year course from the 2010-11 academic year.

“The new course would be industry- and job-oriented. After completion of the course the students would be able to prepare value-added bamboo products, which would be consumer and demand driven,” BCDI officials said.

They said that the value addition and designing would be aimed at meeting the demands of international market.

“Bamboo products of life style, domestic and products useful in everyday life have extreme demand in the national and international markets,” said R.K. Shrivastava, executive director of National Centre for Design and Product Development (NCDPD), another wing of the union textiles ministry.

“Proper use of bamboo resources with the use of modern technology can give a big boost to the economy of the northeast India as apart from the domestic market, there is tremendous potential for exporting bamboo products, particularly to European countries and the US,” he said.

Of the 1,250 bamboo species throughout the world, India has 145. Bamboo forests in India occupy approximately 10.03 million hectares, which constitutes almost 12.8 percent of the total forest area of the country. About 28 percent of the total bamboo area of the country is located in northeast India.

“The distribution of species and the quantity of bamboos, however, is uneven and more than 50 percent of the bamboo species and 66 percent of growing stock, out of about 80.42 million tones, occurs in northeast India,” an official document said.

“There are about 1,500 documented applications of bamboos. The major ones are use in building materials, agricultural implements, furniture, musical instruments, food items, handicrafts, large bamboo based industries (paper pulp, rayon etc.) and packaging.”

NCW Concerned Over Domestic Violence Against Women in Tripura

Agartala, Sep 12 : National Commission for Women (NCW) member Wansuk Syiem has expressed concern over increasing number of domestic violence incidents against women in Tripura.

Speaking at a seminar on ''Safe Home and Safe Family'', organised by Tripura Women's Commission here yesterday, Ms Syiem said crime against women, including atrocities, was on rise in the country and Tripura was no exception.

Referring to statistics, she said as many as 485 cases of domestic violence against women and 173 dowry-related deaths were registered during 2009-10 in Tripura. The figure was only 506 in 2006, 581 in 2007 and 752 in 2008 in the state, she added.

''At least one case in every three minutes is registered related to crime against women, average 50 dowry related cases registered everyday and a hundred of women are raped in every 29 minutes in country, which shows the pathetic condition of women in the society,'' she pointed out.

Besides Ms Syiem, two other officials of NCW, Social Welfare Minister Bijita Nath and top officials of the state administration, including Chief Secretary S K Panda, also spoke on the occasion.

Tripura Gets Tough Against Chemical Contamination of Food

Agartala, Sep 7 : To prevent rampant use of chemicals in food items for preservation, the Tripura Health Department has initiated a move to impart training to food inspectors to implement the Food Safety Standards Act 2006.

Director, Health Service (Preventive Medicine) Dr R K Dhar said here today that Calcium Carbide was being used for preservation and early ripening of fruits while Melamine and Formalin were being used in sweet foods and beverage processing outlets in the state.

He said following latest communiqu of the Union Health Ministry, the state government appointed a safety officer and after extensive and rigorous training on the Act as well all related issues of food safety, food inspectors would be enforcing the law.

''Since Tripura does not have enough production of seasonal fruits, the traders were importing premature fruits from various parts of the country and the consignment is transported to the state almost after a fortnight. After reaching here local fruit dealers use Calcium Carbide for ripening that triggers serious health complications and pollutes the environment,'' Dr Dhar underlined.

Similarly, the sweet foods and beverage processing units here used Melamine in high concentration in milk and mixed Formalin to preserve perishable food items, Dr Dhar pointed out, adding that though Formalin directly affected the human body after consumption, Carbide generates harmful Acetylene gas when exposed to the atmosphere.

These kinds of chemicals not only reduce the food value but also cause diseases like Cancer, heart syndrome, liver and kidney related diseases and also affect the eye-sight of human beings, which had compelled the state government to think seriously on the issue.

Under Food Safety Standards Act 2006 all the food processing units and sellers and vendors need to have voluntary disclosure regarding non-use of harmful chemicals and at the same time, every seller, including hawkers and small vendors, would require to take license, Dr Dhar added.

Science Village Coming in Tripura

Agartala, Aug 31 : A Vigyan Gram, or a science village, is to come up on the outskirts of Tripura's capital, complete with a museum, library, planetarium, botanical garden, bird sanctuary and other attractions to popularise science among the masses.

The Vigyan Gram, to be modelled on the lines of science cities in various cities in India, would be set up at a cost of Rs.35 crore in western Tripura's Badharghat, a village on the outskirts of Agartala.

The National Council of Science Museums (SCSM), an autonomous society under the ministry of culture, has extended all out supports in setting up of the 'science village',' Tripura Science and Environment Minister Joy Gobinda Deb Roy told IANS in an interview.

The Tripura State Council for Science and Technology (TSCST), an autonomous body under the state's government's science, technology and environment department is the nodal authority to look after the management of the proposed science village, which would be a regional level science hub.

Deb Roy said: 'The science village will have a museum, library, planetarium, botanical garden, heritage park, bird sanctuary, aquarium, auditorium, children's park and a laboratory.'

'It would also have an exhibition zone, educational demonstration arrangement, playing zone for children and science book stalls.'

Already 9.20 acres of land has been earmarked for the science village, which is scheduled to open in the next 33 months, when the first phase gets completed. The entire Vigyan Gram would be completed by four years.

'The science village project seeks to develop awareness among people, the literacy and outlook of young students and people, specifically with respect to science,' the minister said, adding that it will help people to learn about science and scientific works through recreational activities and promote research works. The project will also contribute towards generating employment opportunities and promote eco-tourism.

According to the project report, the Vigyan Gram is envisaged to attract students and science enthusiasts from Bangladesh, especially with the government of India planning to enhance connectivity with the neighbouring country by setting up rail, road and water ways links through the northeastern state.

'The Vigyan Gram would attract students, science enthusiasts, teachers, researchers and tourists from different parts of India and neighbouring countries,' the project report said.

The report also states: 'The outreach programmes of the Vigyan Gram are likely to change the mindset of terrorists and surrendered militants by imparting knowledge on various scientific issues pertaining to day to day life and making a habit of logical belief.'

Minister Deb Roy said the Vigyan Gram would also offer 'excellent non-formal educational facility' to supplement the formal science education imparted in educational institutions.

'Setting up of Vigyan Gram would be an integrated approach towards free-choice learning of science for all concerned,' the minister said adding that the main objectives of setting up of the Vigyan Gram includes, to grow, nurture and stimulate a culture of science and develop a scientific temper among the people in the northeastern region and to promote innovative and experimental activities through a hands-on learning process.

'The Vigyan Gram would also help to promote and exhibit interaction of science, technology, energy and environment with human life and to enhance scientific awareness among the people at large and to showcase the latest scientific and technological breakthroughs.'

(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in)

Cyber Forensic Lab to be set up in Tripura

Agartala, Aug 24 : With the growing incidence of cyber crimes and online money transaction sabotage, the Tripura government has decided to set up a Cyber Forensic Laboratory with all modern equipment in the state.

According to a report, following the request of Tripura Police, the Union Home Ministry has given the nod for setting up the cyber forensic lab under CID wing of the state police.

''With the opening of the proposed forensic lab, the entire Northeast region can also seek the support of the cyber lab to detect any cyber crime,'' said officials here today. The laboratory will be built near state's forensic laboratory.

Selected police personnel would undergo special training to handle computers and online networks used in a cyber forensic laboratory.

They will also be trained to tackle all kinds of misdeeds committed during online banking transactions, the officials added.

As many as 16 cases of cyber-related crimes, especially forgery during transaction through ATMs and online lottery, had been recorded in Tripura in the past two years.

Tripura Mulls Railway Connectivity Upto Chittagong Port

Agartala, Aug 23 : Owing to the inadequate security in hill section of Assam and slow progress in railway expansion work, the Tripura government is considering to establish railway connectivity between Udaipur (South Tripura headquarters) and Chittagong port (Bangladesh).

Officials here today said the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) had already started the tracks laying work between Udaipur and Sabroom and targeted to complete the project by 2013 while by that time Tripura has requested the Manmohan Singh government to provide fund for expansion of connectivity upto Chittagong port as an alternative cost effective route.

The Indian Railway Construction Company has already finalised alignment of the 13-km Agartala-Akhaura railway track to establish connectivity with the Bangladesh railway network and India has agreed to fund for construction work of 5.4 km area in Indian territory.

Tripura wants construction of a rail link to Chittagong from Agartala through Udaipur, enabling the landlocked state to transport its cargo through Bangladesh's largest sea port.

''Tripura has been demanding railway line up to Sabroom so that cargo can be transported to the Chittagong port and strengthening of surface transport link, construction of a reinforced concrete bridge over the Feni river on the Indo-Bangladesh border at a cost of Rs five crore which can be afforded by the state government,'' officials said.

Tripura Commerce Minister Jitendra Choudhury said once rail line up to Sabroom is completed; the new line would open direct link between the Northeastern states and the Chittagong port and added, ''If the line can be laid, our state can certainly convert the situation to its advantage. Agartala will become the gateway to South East Asia.''

Meanwhile, NFR has suspended Badarpur-Lumding railway service following security threat in the hill section over past few days and as a result, railway link with Tripura and South Assam to the national network has been disrupted again.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister to Visit Tripura on Sept 14

Agartala, Aug 17 : Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni will visit Tripura on September 14 to lay the foundation stone of a War Museum to be dedicated to Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

According to official sources here today, Ms Moni will be on a two-day visit to Tripura along with a delegation.

She would enter the state through Akhaura Check post and then leave for Belonia to lay the foundation stone at Chittakhola in Belonia on September 15 next, said state Industries and Commerce Minister Jitendra Choudhury.

He said during Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, Chittakhola had functioned as one of the 11 warfront camps in Tripura and a large number of liberation warriors at Chittakhola used to sneak into Bangladesh to launch guerrilla offensives against Pakistani army camps or mobile units.

Tripura Police to Investigate Women Trafficking Case in Haryana

Agartala, Aug 17 : The Tripura government has decided to send a police team to Haryana for investigation into alleged selling of two girls from Kanchanpur area of North Tripura by the villagers.

Police sources here today said two girls from poverty stricken families were sold to a ''marriage bureau'' in Haryana in April. One Prant Nath and his wife Bela Rani Nath, who had been doing business with Dharmanagar based Santosh Das, were accused in the case.

According to report, the Nath family had assured the victims' parents that they would be given jobs in Haryana but the girls were sold to a marriage bureau.

The victims' families brought the matter to the notice of the Tripura Women's Commission last month and the commission launched investigation.

Women's Commission officials said that initial investigation established the allegations and a police team would go to Haryana next week for follow up action. They said with the declining sex ratio in Haryana, these kinds of activities were increasing and innocent poor families in the Northeastern region were falling prey.

14 Inmates Get Remission in Tripura

Agartala, Aug 17 : Tripura Governor DY Patil has given the approval for the remission of jail term of 14 inmates on the occasion of 64th Independence Day celebrations.

The inmates were released last evening, officials said here today.

According to report, eight inmates from Agartala Central Jail and three each from Belonia and Sonamura Sub-jails were released with the approval of the Governor for their good conduct and behaviour.

Though the inmates had been awarded rigorous imprisonment for various crimes, jail authority send a recommendation to the advisory board last month with the approval of the Home Department for relaxation on their conviction period.

All of them earned minimum remission period of six months except one who got a remission of two years seven months and 12 days as he was a convict of life imprisonment, jail officials added.

Development Works Would Curb Extremism in India: Expert

Agartala, Aug 6 : Former Director General of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Shankar Sen today opined that development activities would curb insurgency and that the extremists were the main violator of human rights in India.

The retired Indian Police Service (IPS) official remarked that Tripura has emerged as a model in carrying out successful counter insurgency operation.

The state government had conceived a complete different model by resorting to massive developmental activities instead of violent retaliation yielding good results.

''I feel the Tripura model would be best in fighting extremism in the Indian states,'' Mr Sen suggested and opined that following the Jeevan Reddy Commission report some provisions of Armed Force Special Power Act (AFSA) needs to be diluted.

Sen also expressed serious concern over the growing incidences of human rights violation in India.

''Previously, NHRC received an average of 3,000 complaints annually but now the figure has croseed 70,000,'' Mr Sen said that human rights were violated at home, workplaces, schools and other public arenas.

He also expressed concern over the increasing incidences of custodial death in India.

''If any incident of custodial death occurred and the police refused to accept complaints it should immediately be reported to the higher authority,'' Sen suggested.

Fresh Census Begins in Tripura Refugee Camps

Agartala, Aug 4 : A fresh Census for Reang refugees lodging in six camps of North Tripura for over a decade following ethnic clash in Western Mizoram began last week with the initiative of the Mizoram government.

Officials in North Tripura today said owing to a miscalculation in the head count of refugees, the Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF), the apex body of the Reang refugees, had initiated rechecking of the numbers to clear all ambiguity.

The head counting had begun on July 31 following instruction from the Mizoram government to pave the way for repatriation of Bru refugees and is expected to be completed by August 7, Elvis Chorky, MBDPF president, said.

He said the refugees were categorized into two groups - those who migrated en masse in 1997 and those in 2009.

The first category of refugees had fled Mizoram following communal tension triggered by the killing of a forest guard inside Dampa Tiger Reserve in October 1997 by militants belonging to the erstwhile Bru National Liberation Front.

Mr Chorky informed that after finalisation of the number, the Mizoram government was expected to take back the remaining refugees who were evicted from their homeland in November 2009. At present 422 Bru families are still living in different camps.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had also assured Bru leaders that the Mizoram government was instructed to ensure return of all refugees before October this year and the Union Ministry would take all efforts to ensure the repatriation.

Elite Tripura Troopers to Provide Security During CWG

Agartala, Aug 1 : Tripura State Rifles (TSR) troopers, specialised in combat actions, will help in providing security during the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi following a request from the union home ministry, a top official said here Sunday.

"Following the request from the union home ministry, one battalion (around 1,000 troopers) of TSR is expected to take up security-related responsibility during the Commonwealth Games," Director General of Tripura police Pranay Sahaya told IANS.

He said: "The TSR jawans, led by senior officials, would be posted in and around the Games venues and Games village on Sep 15. They would remain there till Oct 20."

The Games will take place Oct 3-14 in New Delhi.

"The state government quickly responded to the home ministry's request to position the India Reserve Battalion of TSR to give protection during the sports event," the Tripura police chief said.

The TSR was constituted in 1984 to counter terrorism in the northeastern state - 75 percent of its troopers are from Tripura while the remaining are from across the country. At present, there are 13 TSR battalions in Tripura.

Of the 13 battalions, nine are Indian Reserve Battalions category, which means they can be deployed anywhere in India as and when required.

The DGP said that due to its success, skill and accountability towards people's safety, the TSR has been perceived as a model force by various Central Para Military Force (CPMF) and various state governments.

"Till now TSR troopers have successfully discharged election-related duties in many states in India, including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal," Sahaya said, adding that the combat force has been playing a crucial role in curbing militancy in the northeastern state.

"The TSR's formation and training have been modelled on the Border Security Force (BSF) and Assam Rifles. Over the years, the elite state force has increasingly become a key combatant force to flush out over the three-decade-old militancy from this mountainous state, bordering Bangladesh," the senior IPS officer said.

TSR runs its own counter-insurgency and jungle guerrilla warfare institute at Kachucherra in Dhalai district in northern Tripura, similar to the army's Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School (CIJWS) at Vairengte in western
Mizoram.

Troopers of the TSR a few months back had bagged all the 14 top positions in the Police Commando Instructor Course (PCIC) at the National Security Guards (NSG) campus in Manesar, Haryana.

"The daredevil TSR troopers bagged all 14 top positions in the 75-day course held at the NSG academy in Manesar," Deputy Inspector General Nepal Das said.

"The TSR jawans outshone their counterparts from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Orissa, Assam, Delhi and Chhattisgarh in quick shooting, commando actions, running and other events."

Northeast's 1st Bio-Fertilizer Plant Starts Operation in Tripura

Agartala, Jul 27 : The Northeastern region's first Bio Fertilizer Production centre on private initiative started operating at Budhjungnagar Industrial estate on the outskirts of Agartala.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar yesterday formally inaugurated the unit at a cost of Rs 1.75 crore spread over about 2.5 hectares of land. He said it would help in the state government's drive of ensuring a clean environment.

Speaking on the occasion Mr Sarkar targeted the Centre and alleged that though it had given emphasis on agriculture in the current five year plan, land reform and other issues related to the interest of the farming community had not been resolved because more than 75 per cent of Indian farmers did not have their own land.

''The National Development Council has stressed on corporatization of agriculture but we strongly oppose the move because it will destroy the very objective of allotting good amount of fund for agriculture during this plan period,'' Mr Sarkar underlined.

He pointed out that Tripura had been using only 41-42 kg fertilizer per hectare while it is 78 kg per hectare at the national level.

Mr Sarkar maintained that farmers of the state had been facing acute crisis of fertilizers almost every year as a large amount was being illegally exported to the neighboring country.

This illegal business was going on through almost all the borders of the state though barbed fencing has been erected on the international boundaries, he said.

UNICEF to Formulate Strategy on 'Gender Mainstreaming'

Agartala, Jul 27 : To address the problem of atrocities against women migrants and other fringe groups, the UNICEF has invited Census officials of eight Indian states, including Tripura, to an open house strategic discussion on Gender Mainstreaming in New Delhi on July 30.

Director Census (Tripura) Dilip Acharjee here today said besides Tripura, West Bengal, Haryana, New Delhi, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa and Chandigarh had been invited to formulate strategy to tackle the problem.

''UNICEF has identified infants, girl children, elderly domestic helps as the most vulnerable groups in these states and the discussion would include issues like average marriage age of girls, women literacy and participation of women in decision making process and combating migration of women from and to the states,'' Mr Acharjee said.

Referring to Census record Mr Acharjee maintained that there were reports of migration of girl children from south and north Tripura to North Indian states in connection with marriage and seasonal migration of labourers from Jharkhand and Bihar for the brick industry.

However, he pointed out that the situation was not so grim as compared to other states of the country.

He also added that Tripura had already taken steps to ensure political and economic participation of the women in the family decision making and other spectrums of governance.

The state has already introduced 50 per cent reservation for women in all political institutions early this year and in the last three-tier panchayat election more than 35 per cent of women got elected.

Tripura Shifting Cultivators Settle For a Permanent Farming Mode: Rubber

By Sekhar Datta

Change of trade

Agartala, Jul 20 : Latex is luring 30 nomadic families, which were spotted in different locations in three successive censuses, into settling down — with organised rubber plantations edging out the “bohemian” jhum cultivation.

Rankubai, the fabled village peopled exclusively by Reang shifting cultivators, is now a visible dot on Tripura’s hillscape in Gandacherra subdivision bordering Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh.

A primary school, two Mark-II wells, a tenuous road linking the new hamlet to Raisyabari market and occasional visits of rubber board officials are the first marks of development.

“It was with sustained persuasion and cajoling that we managed to win over the headman of the nomadic Rankubai village, Chitradhar Reang, 60, to make a new beginning. When they agreed, we allotted 45 hectares of land to 30 owners for rubber plantation. The Rubber Board came forward, providing them with earning for work on their own land since 2005.

We have also been allotting work to them under various centrally sponsored schemes and in another two years the villagers will earn substantially from their rubber gardens,” said Shailaram Reang, joint director of primitive group programme department.

He recounted how resettlement projects for shifting cultivators — mostly Reangs — had failed earlier because within two or three years, the indigenous shifting cultivators would get tired of their new way of life and desert the resettlement areas after selling tin, timber and other household goods provided by the government.

“The entire way of life, ethos and values of the shifting cultivators revolve around jhum or shifting cultivation and without congenial conditions they tend to leave the settled way of life. Fortunately, rubber cultivation in hilly areas replicates their lifestyle in many ways,” said Reang.

Altogether 5,000 of Tripura’s 27,500 hardcore shifting cultivators have been resettled in newly created villages through rubber cultivation and the rest is also expected to be won over to the new way of life.

Apart from the resettlement scheme sponsored by the government and assisted by the rubber board, rubber cultivation is rapidly transforming Tripura’s socio-economic profile.