IMPHAL, July 3: The Manipur Legislative Assembly passed six demands amounting to Rs 23,86,14,72,000 today.
Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh who is also the leader of the House tabled the demands for discussion during the sixth day sitting of the ongoing 11th session of the 10th Manipur Legislative Assembly today.
The demands are Demand No 10 Education amounting to Rs 1197,18,84,000; Demand no 17- Agriculture Rs 146,58,04,000; Demand no 20 `“ Community and Rural Developmend Rs 679,29,80,000; Demand no 22- Public health Engineering Rs 272,25,56,000; Demand no 36- Minor Irrigation Rs 85,79,60,000 and Demand no 42- State Academy of Training Rs 5,02,88,000.
The discussion and voting of demands for grants was actively participated by four Opposition MLAs who raised motions for disapproval of policy cuts.
During discussion on the demand for Education, MLAs Th Shyamkumar, L Ibomcha, K Shyam and Dr I Ibohalbi raised motion for disapproval of policy cuts on account of failure to improve the standards of the government schools in term of passing HSLC examination, failure to increase the number of approved teachers/ Lecturers in private schools, failure to shift Johnstone Higher Secondary School from the heart of the city to a suitable place like the foothill of Langol Hills, failure to estend 6th pay scale to the government aided school teachers, alleged appointments of unqualified college principals in government colleges, absence of goals/ objectives in the department, lack of necessary reforms for improvement in the educational system in the State, lack of maintenance of school buildings and irregular utilization of SSA teachers.
In his clarification, the concern minister Moirangthem Okendro said the department is trying hard to extend the 6th pay scale for the aided school teachers, however, this will need an additional fund of Rs 12 crore in a year as there are 1749 teachers in 604 aided schools.
He said the Johnstone higher Secodnary schools which was established in 1885 is considered to be a heritage school, and shifting it is a very difficult task.
Okendro said the Bengali High School in under consideration to be replaced by the Ram Krishna Mission School. The government has also identified Khomdonbisana School in Uripok as the second possible site for the setting up of the Ram Krishna Mission School.
At present there are only about 34/35 students studying in Bengali high School, he said.
He continued that the performance of the government schools is unsatisfactory at the moment; however, the State government has identified eight schools in Imphal area as a pilot project towards bringing quality education in the State.
And there is a visible improvement as the number of students getting admission in the eight schools rose to 2800, he said.
He said there is a shortage of 947 Arts teachers in government schools, 1388 teachers in primary schools, and 639 Hindi primary teachers.
The department is facing certain difficulties due to shortage of funds, however, the problem will be solved at the earliest, he said.
During discussion of Demand no 17- Agriculture, Opposition MLAs Dr I Ibohalbi Singh and K Shyam moved motion for disapproval of policy cut on account of `Failure to develop Agro-based industries in the State, improper use of land resources and lack of practical approaches. During discussion of Demand no 20- Community and Rural Development, Dr I Ibohalhi and Th Shyamkumar moved motion for disapproval of policy cut on account of `Failure to develop a system to stop the system of minus bidding in the e-tender of the PMGSY, Manipur and failure to submit proposal for setting up of rural technology park in the State.
Opposition MLAs L Ibomcha Singh, K Shyam and Th Shyamkumar also moved motion for disapproval of policy cut during discussion on Demand no 22- Public Health Engineering, while MLA K Shyam moved another motion for disapproval of policy cut during discussion on Demand no 36- Minor Irrigation.
During discussion on Demand no 42- State Academy of Training, MLA Shyamkumar moved a motion for disapproval of policy cut on account of `Improper training programmes for teachers (non-scheduling of training programmes).
However, the Opposition MLAs withdrew their motions following clarifications from the concern ministers.