‘Can't compromise on policies for peace’ CM vows to protect rights of old settlers

PTI/DIPR
IMPHAL, Nov 6 : Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Wednesday expressed satisfaction over the recent resolution passed at the Thadou Convention, which voiced support for the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the 'War on Drugs' campaign.
Biren, however, emphasised that the Government would not compromise its policies in the name of bringing peace by accommodating outsiders.
At a convention in Guwahati last week, the Thadou tribe pledged its support for NRC and also backed the State Government’s 'War on Drugs'.
Thadou is the largest tribe within the Kuki community. However, during the recent convention, the community asserted that "it is a distinct ethnic group of people, with own distinct language, culture, traditions and great history and Thadou is not Kuki, or underneath Kuki, or part of Kuki, but a separate, independent entity from Kuki."
Speaking at the launch of the Chief Minister's Coaching Scheme for Entrance Examinations to Professional Courses, Biren said, "Peace will definitely come. Thadou is one of the oldest tribes in the State. Following the Thadou Convention's support for the NRC and the War on Drugs campaign, several civil society organisations in the State have welcomed and appreciated this stance."
He added, "We cannot compromise on our policies in the name of peace. Under the guise of inclusiveness, we cannot accommodate every outsider. We must protect the distinctiveness of our indigenous communities and the rights of old settlers. We have faced numerous challenges because of this objective. We should also not forget that we are Indians."
The Chief Minister, further said that the Government has launched various schemes and projects to help the students and safeguard the future generation by building infrastructures in the education sector, under the supervision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He also maintained that an initiative was taken up by the State Government to help the civil service aspirants in the State by providing scholarships for undergoing coaching classes for appearing in civil services examinations.
The Chief Minister added that students who had undergone coaching class would find it easy to crack other competitive exams, even if they could not crack the civil services examination.
Regarding the scheme launched today, he said that the coaching classes will be conducted in online mode, which would be two-way interactive manner.
He continued that the Department of Education (S) will sponsor the full course fee for the selected students under the scheme.
Advising the selected students to study hard, he announced that the Government would bear all the expenses for those students who have cracked JEE or NEET in their further studies.
The Chief Minister also mentioned that 120 schools have been covered under the School Fagathansi Mission till now and another 120 schools would be covered soon.
Continuing that the State Government has taken up an initiative to ensure availability of all the basic requirements for imparting quality higher education in Government colleges under the College Fagathansi Mission, he maintained that teachers have also  been provided training to transform the education system in the State under STAR Education programme.
A book on general knowledge of Manipur named “Know Manipur” will be published very soon, he added.
The Chief Minister, meanwhile, further directed the Director of Education (S) to organise a tree plantation programme for the selected students of coaching classes under “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” campaign.
Taking opportunity of the launching programme, the Chief Minister mentioned about the Prime Minister’s Internship Scheme-Pilot Project which offers internship opportunities to 1.25 lakh young people across the Nation.
Informing that 76 internship slots are available for Manipur , he asked the youth to avail the opportunity.
He went on to say that the internship duration would be 12 months out of which 6 months would be hands-on experience. Financial support of Rs 5000 as monthly allowance (Rs 4500 from the Ministry and Rs 500 from CSR) will be given, he added.   On the occasion, two Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) were signed between the Government of Manipur and the two partnering coaching institutes viz Aakash Educational Services Ltd and FIIT JEE Ltd for the said scheme. The CM also distributed tablets to 63 students so as to enable them to attend the online classes for NEET and JEE examinations  comfortably.
Ministers, MLAs, Chief Secretary, officials of Aakash Educational Services Ltd and FIIT JEE Ltd and Education (S) attended the programme.