Meghalaya to set up PAC

Shillong, February 6: To improve policing in this northeastern state, Meghalaya government Monday said it is constituting a 'Police Accountability Commission' (PAC) aimed at improving work culture and discipline of the force.

"We have decided to set up a police accountability commission, which is constituted as per Section 74 of the Meghalaya Police Act (MPA)," Meghalaya Home Minister HDR Lyngdoh told reporters.

On the role and function of the commission, Lyngdoh said, "The function and powers of the commission will be similar to that of a civil court enforcing trials and suits against any complaints against the department or its personnel."

Headed by the Home Minister, the commission will have the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP) as members.

Apart from the officials from the government, Lyngdoh said, the commission will also have non-official members.

The Home Minister said the non-official members of the Commission will be a retired officer not below the rank of a Principal Secretary, a retired officer not below the rank of a IGP and a person having 10 years experience in public administration.

Last year, in compliance with the Meghalaya Police Act, the state government has set up the State Security Commission headed by the Chief Minister. (PTI)

Funds for demolishing quake-damaged buildings

Gangtok, February 6: With the September 19 earthquake in Sikkim leaving many houses damaged, the Urban Development and Housing Department has suggested that funds be provided to house owners for carrying out demolition on their own.

According to a notice by the Sikkim government, the damaged buildings were at risk of collapsing as was the case with one at Singtam, about 30 km from here, four months after the quake.

UDHD sources said that the biggest problem was the significant monetary expense to be incurred by house owners to bring down their structures.

On the other hand, demolition by the UDHD was a time consuming process and the department was unable to take up demolition of the large number of houses that had been issued notice.

The Department, the sources said, has, therefore, placed a proposal with the state government suggesting that monetary assistance be provided to house owners for undertaking demolition on their own.

The department would provide any technical assistance if necessary, they said.

The department, after overseeing the demolition of some structures in Gangtok, discovered that it would be impossible for it to continue with the demolition of all buildings marked to be taken down throughout the state. (PTI)

Garo terrorists treated us well: Freed engineers

Shillong, February 6: The two Meghalaya government engineers who were held hostage by Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) terrorists describe their 11 days in captivity as "fearful", but say they were treated well.

Assistant executive engineer Apus Pohthmi and junior engineer Bonnieface Majaw of the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL), posted in West Garo Hills district, were freed by GNLA Saturday night after trekking almost 30 km of dense forests, hills and rivulets.

"They (terrorists) provided us good food and looked after us well, but our experience was fearful, as we didn't know what was going to happen next," Pohthmi told journalists.

"We didn't see any camps but we were kept captive in the jungle whole day and night under the supervision of a GNLA action commander, Kamphret Sangma," he said.

Pohthmi and Majaw were given a public reception at the MeECL office in Shillong Sunday evening on their arrival from Rongkhon village in West Garo Hills district.

"They released us after the (Meghalaya) government assured that every non-electrified village in Garo Hills would get power connection," Majaw said.

GNLA, which was declared a terrorist organisation, had claimed the two engineers were abducted due to the failure of the government to provide power connectivity in the three insurgency-ravaged districts of Garo Hills in western Meghalaya.

The government, on the other hand, says it has launched various schemes for improving power supply, including implementing the Rajiv Gandhi rural electrification programme in Garo Hills.

According to the duo, they were kept somewhere in Nokrek reserve forest after being abducted by four armed GNLA terrorists from their official quarters at Rongkhon.

GNLA had abducted another engineer, Marshal R. Swer, on the same day, but he was immediately released. "They had some conversation and released Swer, but Pohthmi and I were held back," Majaw added.

On Saturday night, the terrorists after informing the engineers that they were being released helped them out of the jungle.

"Finally, they showed us a metalled road downhill and asked us to take its course and reach our residential quarters. We hitched a vehicle and returned. We are so happy to be back," the duo echoed.

Several organisations, including MeECL employees, separately appealed to the GNLA for the immediate and unconditional release of the engineers on humanitarian grounds.

Over 30 people, including security personnel, have been killed while more than 10 were abducted for ransom in the area in the last one year by GNLA rebels. (PTI)

Imphal NGO bags Int’l Green Award

IMPHAL, February 6: An Imphal-based NGO, Centre for Research on Environmental Development (Cred), has bagged the prestigious Green Globe Foundation Award 2012 in New Delhi for 'Outstanding Contribution by a NGO'. Cred works at the grassroots level on critical issues like environmental degradation, generating mass awareness on pollution-related issues, mobilizing local communities in sustained high-pitched campaigns and engaging in legal activism through public interest litigation, thus forming the backbone of the green movement in India.

"We are so grateful to the foundation for having recognized our unrelenting efforts to join the global green movement to save our planet," said Cred secretary T Leikhendra Singh. tnn

Some of the major projects currently taken up by Cred include solid waste management programmes , one under the Imphal Municipal Council ( IMC) covering eleven wards at the capital city and the other at the centre-run Regional Institute of Medical Sciences ( Rims) here.

Jointly sponsored by various bodies including the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Sustainable Development Forum, the awards were given at the 12th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2012.

"Since the authorities are yet to provide a permanent garbage dumping ground, Cred along with other NGOs of the state engaged in the solid waste management programme of the IMC dump the city garbage at Lamphelpat in Imphal West, the temporary solid waste dumping ground," he said.

"This being the case, we are mulling over to set up a garbage recycling project at Imphal in the near future ," he hoped.

" We are targeting to convert solid waste to manure by microbial composting and waste to energy which are also key components of our dream recycling project to ensure control of global warming," he said.

"In the initial stage we had a poor manpower but now we have over 130 employees and all of us are actively engaged in our ongoing two major solid waste management projects taken up in the city area," Leikhendra said. (TNN)

NE focus of seminar at Guwahati University

GUWAHATI, February 6: A two-day national seminar entitled 'Democracy and Diversity in North East India' will be held at Gauhati University (GU) on February 9 and 10.

The seminar will be organized by the department of political science of the varsity and sponsored by UGC-SAP (special assistant programme). It will focus on the northeast, which is one of the most diverse regions in the country, with eight states in its fold, and will explore the unique characteristics of each of the states and the impact of democracy on the region.

The intense political strife the region has faced and been subjected since Independence will also be a talking point in the seminar along with the rise of 'identity politics'. Professors from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Rajasthan University (RU), Orissa University (OU) and from Nagaland, Manipur and other universities and educational institutions in the region will take part in the seminar.

"The seminar is an attempt to analyse the impact of democracy in the region in the lines of creation of new states and that of autonomous councils as well. It will try to understand the problems of integration and why the issue of economic development could not be addressed properly, and will study the policies adopted by the state and the central governments with respect to diversity in the region," said Alaka Sarmah, seminar coordinator: Democracy and Diversity in North East India.

"What we will seek through this national seminar is to understand the efficacy and credibility of a democratic political system and how it functions in dealing with differences cropping up within the political system, and other important aspects. Professor Balbir Arrora from JNU, Peter D' Souza, director of India Institute of Advanced Studies will take part in the seminar," added Sarmah. (TNN)