Imphal, Jan 21 : Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh has urged the Centre to extend a additional special assistance to Manipur to meet the additional expenditures due to implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations in the state.
After attending the pre-budget meeting of the state finance ministers with Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee at Vigyan Bhawan yesterday, Mr Ibobi Singh stated that the impact of revision of pay and pension resulted in considerable increase of non-plan revenue expenditure. Under the current scenario, the state could be facing great difficulty to provide adequate funds for capital expenditure, he added.
Referring to the price rise of essentials and its serious impact on the common man, Mr Singh said states like Manipur, where the cost of goods and services was already very high due to geographical isolation, poor connectivity and high transportation costs, had been badly affected. He mentioned that the poor quality of National Highways and regular disruptions along the highways in the state affected the free flow of goods into the state and the absence of rail connectivity aggravated the situation. The Chief Minister demanded a special grant for upgradation of NH 39 into a four-lane highway and NH 53 into a fully developed two-lane highway in the State and completion of the Jiribam- Imphal Rail line by an early date. Besides, he also urged the Union Government to consider setting up more warehousing facilities for storage of food grains, fuel and domestic LPG in the state so that adequate buffer stocks could be maintained.
Mr Singh also mentioned that on the basis of availability of security and premises, the state government in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India and the State Bank of India, prepared a list consisting of 10 proposed locations for opening new bank branches to cover all the unbanked blocks in Manipur by 2011-2012. He asked the Centre to include identified three locations at Somsai, Tuibong and Tadubi in 2010-11 and the remaining seven locations in 2011-2012.
He also stressed the need for opening of more ATMs in the state by all banks present in Manipur. Only 31 ATMs were in the entire state. ATM kiosks in Manipur were always crowded and people had to spend hours for withdrawing their money. He also demanded for consideration of funding for a Special Force that could be raised by the state government exclusively for providing bank security.