Chief Minister N. Biren Singh echoed that his Government’s commitment, since its formation in 2017, was to bring bandh and blockade free in the State with improved law and order. His first priority as a Chief Minister was to bridge the gap between hill and valley and also among various communities. He was speaking at a Seminar organised by Assam Rifles at the City Convention Centre, Palace Compound under the theme “Future Ready Manipur – looking Beyond Ethnicity & Insurgency”.

The Chief Minister continued that the Go to Hills mission was introduced to know and understand the grievance of the people residing in hill areas. He informed that after the Go to Hills mission, the Go to Village mission was launched to take Government officials to villages and provide services to the people at their doorsteps.

He expressed thankfulness to Assam Rifles, Manipur Police, and other paramilitary forces for their contribution to connecting and maintaining healthy relations with the public. He expressed that the armed forces and the public need to change their mindsets and views towards each other as the law and order situation of the State had considerably improved. He continued that security personnel should ensure the safety of the people and a healthy relationship should be created between the security personnel and the public.

N. Biren Singh mentioned that the North-East region is blessed with abundant natural resources, a rich cultural heritage, and a young dynamic population. Manipur, with its strategic location, has huge potential in the field of Trade, Tourism, IT-enabled services, Hospitality, Entrepreneurship, Sports, Culture, Horticulture, and Handicrafts, he added.  He stressed the need for a collective vision and coordinated response from all stakeholders to translate these into reality.

He maintained that the security scenario in the State has been improving over recent years. The disturbed area under AFSPA has been reduced further. The Government has successfully rolled out numerous outreach programmes bridging developmental gaps and ensuring deeper emotional integration. He observed that Manipur had lost opportunities in the past due to problems of insurgency and polarisation on ethnic lines and added resolving identity based issues requires a comprehensive approach, based on mutual respect and collective aspiration for a shared and united future.

The Chief Minister expressed his satisfaction to learn that the Assam Rifles has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Manipur University for organising such Seminars to brainstorm ideas for a prosperous and peaceful Manipur.

He also requested Lt. Gen. P.C. Nair, Director General Assam Rifles to initiate the process of vacating the Assam Rifles camp from the Manipur University Campus.

The seminar was attended by Consumer Affairs Food and Public Distribution L. Susindro Meitei, Education Minister Th. Basanta Kumar Singh, MLA of Lamlai AC Kh. Ibomcha Singh, Director General of Assam Rifles Lt. Gen. P.C. Nair, Vice-Chancellor of Universities, senior officials of Assam Rifles and other paramilitary forces, and students among others.

The Seminar had two plenary sessions on topics ‘The trouble neighbour-turbulent Myanmar: implications & impact’ and ‘Past v/s Future- shedding the historical baggage in Manipur’.

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