Worried over competing land claims that mar infra projects, Mizoram govt has new arsenal

Mizoram government has circulated among top officials a recent High Court judgement nullifying a widely-issued land ownership document from being used to claim or allot compensation.

​Increasingly worried over conflicts and delays over compensation for land chosen as sites of various infrastructure projects, the Mizoram government has circulated among top officials a recent High Court judgement nullifying a widely-issued land ownership document from being used to claim or allot compensation.

The Aizawl Bench of the Gauhati High Court had towards the end of June passed a judgement saying Village Councils (the equivalent of panchayats) have no authority to issue “garden passes” (basically land ownership letters for agricultural purposes within the council’s territory) and that no one can claim compensation for land they own through these letters.

“The power to issue a Garden Pass or a pass for any agricultural purpose to any person by a Village Council is not traceable to any power in any land laws prevailing in Mizoram…” the judgement said while striking down a lower court’s order that awarded compensation to more than a hundred petitioners.

Their lands had been acquired by the government for the under-construction railway line from Assam to Aizawl as part of the North-East Frontier Railways’ plans to link all NE state capitals by 2022.

The petitioners had approached the Gauhati HC (Aizawl Bench) saying they had been compensated only for the crops on their agricultural land and not for the land itself.

“The issuance of the same for any agricultural purpose does not give any right to such pass holders to claim any land value. As such, persons having lands covered by Village Council pass for agricultural purposes cannot be entitled to compensation i.e. there cannot be any land valuation made in respect of those lands,” the judgement added.

The judgement was discussed at length during a meeting last week of various top officials to discuss the state’s strained finances and proposals to ease it.

Lalramthanga, Principal Secretary, Chief Minister’s Office, brought the judgment to the meeting’s notice. Copies of it have subsequently been circulated among heads of various departments that are and can be involved in infrastructure projects and accompanying acquisition processes, according to several officials who took part in the meeting.

Several infrastructure projects in Mizoram have been delayed and complicated by land compensation claims, prompting CM Lal Thanhawla to declare in a recent assembly session that “We are a compensation community”, leading to a heated exchange between him and opposition MLA Lalruatkima who demanded the CM’s speech be retracted and struck off the assembly records.

Lal Thanhawla refused and instead reiterated his statement.

Besides the railways project, another project that has been complicated by compensation claims have been the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, which aims to connect the North-East to the rest of Indian through the Bay of Bengal via a sea-port at Sittwe in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

Competing claims for compensation for land acquired for the project has prompted an Anti-Corruption Bureau investigation against the Lai Autonomous District authorities after investigators found out the total size of alleged landholdings along the 100 km highway within Mizoram, according to compensation claims, exceeds the total area of the state of Mizoram by almost 5,000 sq kms.

CM Lal Thanhawla has also said several times that claimants for land to be acquired for the extension of the Indian Army’s Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School (CIJWS), considered one of the best on the world, near Vairengte village have also submitted documents typed out in and printed from a computer although the documents date from the 1960s and 1970s.

Mizoram Cabinet Nod for Closure of 3 PSUs, Downsizing 2 Others

The move to overhaul all state-owned enterprises in Mizoram has been prompted largely by an agreement between the state government and the Asian Development Bank.



Chief Minister of Mizoram Pu Lal Thanhawla.

The state Cabinet has approved a proposal to close down three of Mizoram’s Public Sector Enterprises and restructure and downsize two others.

The move to overhaul all state-owned enterprises in Mizoram has been prompted largely by an agreement between the state government and the Asian Development Bank as part of a USD 100 million loan aimed at managing state finances better.

Another reason has been that successive CAG reports show the PSEs have been making losses year after year and contributing just a fraction of a percentage to the state’s coffers, according to documents accessed by The Indian Express.

The state Cabinet has approved the closure of the 27-year-old Zoram Handloom and Handicrafts Development Corporation Limited (ZOHANDCO), the 24-year-old Zoram Electronics Development Corporation Limited (ZENICS) and the 22-year-old Mizoram Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (MAMCO).

The government had earlier this month notified the Mizoram State Enterprises’ Early Retirement Rules 2015 for employees, and has also set in place a mechanism to absorb employees who do not opt for early retirement. This will be done though relaxation of the state’s Public Service Commission’s selection process, the documents show.

The Cabinet has also approved the “downsizing and restructuring” of two other PSEs — the 30-year-old Zoram Industrial Development Corporation Limited (ZIDCO) and the 26-year-old Mizoram Food and Allied Industries Corporation Limited (MIFCO).

All five PSEs have largely been headed by ruling MLAs for years and even decades, and all but one are currently headed by junior Congress MLAs except for MIFCO, which is headed by a senior Congress leader.

The PSEs together employ about 270 people.

The latest CAG report, tabled before the state assembly this month, shows that the PSEs overall incurred annual losses of between Rs 4.86 crore at its peak in 2010-11 and 1.70 crore at its lowest ebb in 2013-14.

There has been no year in the past six years they have not incurred losses as a group (except for ZIDCO, which registered profits once) even as their annual turnovers over the same period hovered between just 0.02% to 0.15% of the state’s GDP.

The PSEs’ loss-making nature has however been around even earlier. An Asian Development Bank assessment from July 2009 (a month prior to the approval of the USD 100 million loan for the state’s public sector financial reforms) had red-flagged the issue.

“The performance of state public sector enterprises (PSEs) has … affected the state budget. Currently, all of the five small PSEs in Mizoram are loss-making… The PSEs are in financial distress requiring huge amounts of budgetary support to sustain them…. In spite of a periodic infusion of equity capital and grants, the companies continue to report losses,” the ADB said in a report to its board of directors.

NDRF Leads Rescue Operations in Manipur

Assam Rifles finds three survivors in landslide-hit Chandel district

By Khelen Thokchom

Imphal, Aug 3 : A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rushed to Chandel district of Manipur where many people were buried alive following landslides triggered by heavy rain in the past three days. Officials yesterday said landslides swept away all the 21 houses of Joumoul village - more than 200km south of Imphal under Khengjoy subdivision of Chandel which shares border with Myanmar - and 20 villagers were buried alive. Joumoul is under Khengjoy block. The NDRF and the Assam Rifles recovered four bodies today. The Assam Rifles today rescued three survivors, including Robert Hamlet Baite, 47, head of Joumoul village, Assam Rifles sources said. Paite said the village has only 10 houses. Eighteen villagers were at home when the landslides struck. The total population of the village, according to him, is 74. The remaining villagers were in other places when the incident took place. As of now, six survived the landslides. Three survivors reached safer places yesterday. Eight persons were still missing, the Assam Rifles said. The Manipur government has announced Rs 5 lakh ex gratia for those killed in the landslides and floods. Government sources, however, could not give the exact number of deaths in the landslides till this evening. President Pranab Mukherjee condoled the loss of lives in the landslides in Manipur. In his message to Manipur governor Syed Ahmed, the President said: "I am sad to learn about the landslides triggered by heavy rain in Chandel district of Manipur which has resulted in the loss of a number of lives and injuries as well as damages to property. I understand some people are missing and thousands have been left homeless. Rescue as well as relief operations are currently under way." He called upon the state government and other authorities to provide all possible aid to the bereaved families who have lost their members as well as medical assistance to the injured and shelter to the homeless. Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju is expected to arrive here tomorrow to take stock of the flood situation. A 20-member NDRF team landed in Imphal last night and they were airlifted to Joumoul to lead the rescue and relief operations there and other flood-affected areas of the Chandel. "The NDRF is assisting the district administration in rescue and relief operations in Chandel district. They are also trying to recover the bodies. The exact number of casualties is yet to be ascertained," an official source said here. The operation to retrieve the bodies continued till late afternoon. Another team of the NDRF are expected to arrive tonight or early morning tomorrow. Two air force choppers are pressed into service in relief and rescue operations. Khengjoy block development officer Mary Memi said rescue operations were hampered by landslides at many places in Chandel district. The president of the Kuki Students' Organisation in Tengnoupal, Daniel Mate, said because of incessant rain, landslides took place at many places in and around Tengnoupal villages in Chandel district. These places have been cut off from rest of the state. The state government also deployed state disaster response teams to the flood-affected areas. The floods caused landslides in many places and inundated houses in Chandel, Tamenglong and Ukhrul districts in the hills and also in the four valley districts. Five bridges were swept away by swelling river water in Chandel district alone. Road communication between Imphal and the some of the hill districts has been snapped because of landslides. About 300 loaded Imphal-bound trucks were stranded along the Imphal-Jiribam stretch (National Highway 2). Government sources said the exact number of people left homeless by floods is yet to be ascertained. They added that relief camps were opened for the displaced people. The floods also submerged vast tracts of standing crops in the four valley districts of Manipur and other low-lying areas in the hills. According to official sources, floods and landslides blocking roads are regular features during monsoon in Manipur, but the scale of landslides is massive this time. Experts said landslides were extensive this year because of hill deforestation.

Southern Mizoram Rivers in Spate, 100 Families Homeless

Flood in the Khawthlangtuipui river on the Bangladesh border submerged around 30 houses rendering around 70 families homeless.

Aizawl, Aug 3 : Swollen rivers in southern Mizoram rendered about hundred families homeless while one house was swept away by swirling Chhimtuipui, officials said.

Two houses were also vacated by the inhabitants in Darzokai village, on the banks of the Chhimtuipui river who took shelter in the village community hall.

Flood in the Khawthlangtuipui river on the Bangladesh border submerged around 30 houses rendering around 70 families homeless, administration officials of southern Mizoram Lunglei district said.

Submerged houses included a waiting shed constructed to commemorate the arrival of the pioneer missionaries - Rev. J.H. Lorraine and Rev. F.W. Savidge - by boat in southern part of Mizoram ages back, the officials said.

Reangs Refuse To Go Back To Mizoram

By Nilotpal Bhattacharjee

Aizawl, Jul 31 : Not a single person turned up on the third day of the seven-day verification camp for Bru refugees at Naisingpara relief camp in North Tripura today.

The camp houses 2,469 Bru families. The camp was conducted in four relief camps since June. But barring a woman identified as Porati, no refugee was willing to return to Mizoram.

Mizoram additional home secretary Lalbiakzama told The Telegraph today that no refugee turned up at the verification camp at Naisingpara, the largest relief camp in North Tripura.

"Bru refugees residing in various relief camps in North Tripura have raised a new set of demands. Only a woman reported at the camp in Hamsapara and was willing to be repatriated," he added.

Asked about the fate of the refugees who refused to turn up at the verification centres, Lalbiakzama said the Centre would take the final call. He added that the Supreme Court was also monitoring the repatriation process.

Additional deputy commissioner of Mamit Lalbiaksangi told this correspondent over phone from Naisingpara this evening that a team of officials from the three Mizoram districts of Mamit, Kolasib and Lunglei are at the relief camp since Tuesday.

He said the identification process is being undertaken to determine whether the Bru families are originally from Mizoram. "Once verification is over and the inmates are identified as original citizens of Mizoram, repatriation will begin," he said.

The seventh batch of Bru repatriation began with the identification procedure in two phases. In the first phase, people whose names are enrolled in the electoral rolls in Mizoram would be identified. In the second phase, people whose names are not included in the rolls but who claim to be original settlers would be recognised.

The families, which choose not to return to Mizoram, would be deemed permanent residents of Tripura. The refugees willing to return to Mizoram will be rehabilitated in Mamit, Kolasib and Lunglei. The Mizoram government has offered a rehabilitation package of Rs 85,000 for each family along with food allowance for six months.

Nearly 34,000 refugees living in North Tripura's refugee camps were driven out of their homes in November 1997 in the aftermath of a clash between the majority Mizos and minority Reangs. Between 2009 and 2011, 3,000 Bru refugees were repatriated to Mizoram from North Tripura.

The Bru refugee leaders are demanding higher compensation. They have put forward a charter of demands, which include financial assistance of Rs 150,000 per family, free ration to every repatriated family for two years, cultivable land, political settlement of the ethnic problem and adequate security, among others.

Centre Should Stick To Provisions of Mizoram Accord

By Sanjoy Hazarika


Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in Aizawl, Mizoram, after the signing of the Mizo Peace Accord, July 11, 1986. (Picture credit: Press Information Bureau)

In 1969 the Fifth Finance Commission recommended the creation of ‘special status’ for three states: The then undivided state of Assam, Nagaland and Jammu and Kashmir. The recommendation was to economically help states that are faced by disadvantages of geography, international borders, low population density and other factors.

Over the years, as Assam fragmented with Meghalaya being carved out of it as a state and Mizoram as a Union Territory (which later became a state), and new states emerged from the former kingdoms of Manipur and Tripura, political and economic demands grew for parity in places of turmoil. During these difficult decades, Arunachal Pradesh moved peacefully from being a Tract under the Assam governor’s jurisdiction to the Northeast Frontier Agency (NEFA), and finally became a state in 1987.

Sikkim merged with India in 1975, and in 2002, it became a part of the North Eastern Council.
All the northeastern states along with Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh got the ‘special’ tag. As a result of this, a large amount of money began to flow into these states.

The Centre would grant 90% of the funds the ‘special status’ states needed, while 10% were given as loans. In addition to this, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister and Arun Shourie was the planning minister, the first to hold charge of a new Northeast portfolio (then a department, and not a ministry), a special offer was designed, according to which every ministry would contribute 10% of its annual budget to the Northeast department.

The money was to go to the non-lapsable central pool of resources in the department, which was to become the ministry of DoNER (department of the north-east region). It was the 14th Finance Commission that recommended the ending of the ‘special status’ category and took out provisions under Normal Central Assistance (NCA) and Special Central Assistance (SCA). The chief ministers of the eight northeast states have opposed this, saying that it would ‘drastically affect the finances in the northeast states’ and objected to the fact that the Centre would no longer make good the gap in non-plan revenue expenditure such as local development projects and programmes.

A big worry of the states was that the large central subsidies that were going into medium-term and long-term infrastructure programmes and projects in these states (and quite likely into the pockets of the contractors, officials, politicians and ‘militants’) would no longer come for specific projects, but will be a part of a larger transfer. We cannot forget that these states have a history of 30-50 years of conflict. As a result of the violence, they have lost out on opportunities for growth as well as innumerable lives and livelihoods. 

The calculations of the Centre and the finance commission suffer from a fundamental flaw when it comes to Mizoram.

It’s simple: The ’special category’ issue is one of the key provisions of the 1986 landmark peace accord between the Mizo National Front (MNF) and the Government of India as well as the local government. The agreement has made Mizoram one of the most peaceful states in the country. In Clause 6 of the Mizoram Accord’s Memorandum of Understanding, the status is spelt out: (a) The Centre will transfer resources to the new government … and this will include resources to cover the revenue gap for the year, (b) Central assistance for Plan will be fixed taking note of any residuary gap in resources …

The MNF, it may be recalled, revolted against India in 1966, and received arms, funds and training from, and in China and Pakistan. The Government of India’s response was nothing less than brutal, uprooting two-thirds of the civilian population from their homes, burning villages and settling them in new fenced-in protected villages or regrouping centres. This remains one of the most undocumented and unresearched parts of the Centre’s campaign in Mizoram. That both sides showed courage and statesmanship to rise above the bitterness and bloodshed to sign a peace treaty 20 years after the first shots were fired needs to be recognised regularly. That the peace has been sustained for the overall part for nearly 30 years is no mean achievement and has happened because of the determination shown by a highly knowledgeable and educated public, the church, the governments of different parties and civil society.

This is to be underlined, especially when conditions in parts of Manipur, Nagaland and Assam remain unsettled and unresolved. The latter represents a different set of issues and stories, which we shall not dwell upon here.

Anything that vitiates or dilutes the Mizoram Accord, the only peace agreement to have held in more than a half century of conflict in the northeast and which has been passed by Parliament, is unacceptable.

It is, therefore, heartening to note that the sub-committee of chief ministers set up by the Niti Aayog has tabled a draft report saying that for this category of states, the old formula should continue.
Changing the status would create new problems: The question will surely be asked — what is the value of a peace accord if there isn’t an economic dividend, let alone a political one? The Government of India needs to firmly assert that the interests of Mizoram and its special status compatriots will not be harmed.

Sanjoy Hazarika is director, Centre for Northeast studies at Jamia Millia Islamia University. The views expressed are personal.

Government To Revamp Oil Activity in Northeast India

By Animesh Singh
   
New Delhi, Jul 31 : The government plans to revamp exploration and production activities in the northeast sector with the aim of restoring it as the country’s hydrocarbon hub.

A series of ambitious steps like improving the output in the upstream, midstream and downstream activities as well as reviving the infrastructure are part of a vision document for the region, which is being readied by the petroleum ministry under supervision of the Prime Minister’s office.

The document, sources privy to the development said, is likely to be prepared within a month as the petroleum ministry has already set up a committee headed by additional secretary A.P. Sawhney to supervise its preparation. Crisil has been hired by the ministry to provide consultancy for the purpose.

The development of north-east region is a key part of the Narendra Modi government’s agenda, and in fact the Prime Minister had earlier stated that by 2022, when the country will be celebrating the 75th Independence Day, he is keen to reduce the total oil imports from the current 77 per cent to 67 per cent.

With the PMO directly involved in the revival of the hydrocarbon sector in the region, petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan visited Assam in April 2015 and toured the oilfields in Digboi, Duliajan, Nazira and Numaligarh.

Mr Pradhan, during the course of his visit, had indicated that the government will soon be coming out with a vision document for boosting production as well as investment in the petroleum sector in the region.

The committee headed by Mr Sawhney has held a series of meetings to finalise the vision document and sources informed this newspaper that improving the output in the upstream activities from the current 4.5 million tonnes per annum to 6 million tonnes per annum is going to be one of the key aspects of the policy.

Apart from this, upgrading the refining infrastructure and improving refining capacities as well as evacuation procedures (especially of gas), are also part of the vision document, sources added.

Official sources said that considering the fact that the law and order situation in the north-east region is always fragile, and land acquisition is also a major obstacle there, the government, while looking to give a boost to the petroleum sector, plans to ensure that these issues are streamlined.

They however refused to divulge any details about the timeline within which the reforms in the petroleum sector are to be implemented once the vision document is prepared.

4G Reaches Northeast

As part of the trial offer, Airtel customers in Shillong will be able to avail a complimentary upgrade to 4G services at 3G prices.

Guwahati, Jul 31 : Country's largest private telecom operator Bharti Airtel today rolled out latest 4G technology in Meghalaya's capital Shillong, the first in northeast.

"Bharti Airtel Ltd, a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, today launched 4G trials exclusively for its customers in Shillong," the company said in a statement.

As part of the trial offer, Airtel customers in Shillong will be able to avail a complimentary upgrade to 4G services at 3G prices, it added.

"Today, as we launch Airtel 4G trials for our existing customers in Shillong, they will be uniquely positioned for a superlative 4G experience.

"We are committed to building a world class 4G network in the region," Bharti Airtel CEO (Assam and northeast) Saurabh Goel said.

The company started the testing of 4G signals in Shillong about two months back and is emphasizing on this entire process so that customers do not face any issue once the facility is introduced.

As part of its plans to expand customer base, Airtel has also announced "go-to-market partnerships" with Samsung and Flipkart for 4G devices.

The company claimed that the 4G services will enable customers to avail superfast internet speed with facilities such as high definition video streaming with zero buffering, downloading up to 10 movies in less than 30 minutes, uploading two high resolution photos per second and connecting multiple devices without compromising on the experience, among others.