Silchar RDI Hall inaugurated

.
Silchar Drama Institute hall inaugurated

SILCHAR, Feb 9 – The famous Reading and Dramatic Institute (RDI) hall situated in the heart of the town was formally inaugurated by Bithika Dev, MLA and chairperson of Silchar Municipal Board. State Minister for Urban Development and Housing DP Goala was also present. The function was presided over by Sudip Dutta, vice-chairman of Silchar Municipal Board.

The inauguration was done by lighting the lamp in front of other dignitaries.

Earlier, no one can perform in this auditorium due to its dilapidated condition. This RDI is considered as heritage building in the town. This RDI hall has completed 99 years of its existence.

Bithika Dev, as a chairperson took initiative in the 2004 to renovate this. But some years have taken to complete this due to unavoidable concomitances. She further said this auditorium will be name after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. She hopes that this auditorium will be landmark for the people of cultural interest. Many cultural programmes can be organised in this premises.

In his speech, Dinesh Prasad Goala, said that BJP has done pity politics with this RDI hall.

Earlier the Silchar Municipal Board was led by BJP. But when congress came into power many development works has taken place in the town. The common people know who are active and who are not. Others who spoke in the function were Kutukb Ahmed, MLA, Sonai, Karrnendu Bhahttachejee, ex-MP, Gauatm Ganguli, DC, Violet Baruah, SP, Cachar among others. source: assam tribune

News on Silchar Barak Valley Assam

Water supply scheme for isolated Alney area

: Special Correspondent

SILCHAR, Jan 16: Believe it or not, Alney, the outgarden of Dilkhush tea estate in Lakhipur subdivision of Cachar , bordering Manipur, is still isolated and cocooned due to lack of road connectivity. The only way to reach the place inhabited by a population of 200 people of tea tribes, tribals and plains men is by boat or launch from Fulertal which takes around two hours. The geographical and geophysical features make it prone to insurgency strikes.

It was for this reason that Minister of Urban Development Dinesh Prasad Goala visited Alney after a gap of 16 years to inaugurate Alney Grant Piped Water Supply Scheme on Thursday.

The scheme to be implemented at a cost of Rs 31.81 lakh would benefit 1,875 people. 10 street hydrants have been installed. Subdivisional magistrate of Lakhipur Ranjit Kumar Laskar presided over the function and said that this piped water scheme would mitigate the problem of potable water of the people of the area.

Dinesh Prasad Goala took the trouble to inaugurate the scheme in order to give solace to the people of his constituency and he did admit that Alney stood in need of road-link, health structure, educational facility and electricity. Under heavy security cover, the minister reached Alney by three mechanized boats.

Unfortunately, the area has only one primary school even after more than 60 years of independence. In fact, Alney is a glaring example of neglect and negligence by the District Administration. Many people in the area believe since LS elections are round the corner, the minister might have been prompted to visit the place to help his party by keeping the electorates of Alney in good humour with the piped water project. source: sentinel assam

Jute Fair attracts crowd
: Special Correspondent

Silchar, Jan 16: The six day long jute fair and sale exhibition which began here on Thursday at Cachar Club premises has been drawing huge crowds for its display of jute products of various kinds ranging from designed ornaments to bags, paintings, canvas, wall portraits and hangings, carpets and other items.

Jute products being popular among cross sections of people and further to promote its popularity, the Ministry of Handloom and Textile of the Government of India has extended financial help to jute manufacturers’ development council of Kolkata to hold the exhibition.

Inaugurating the fair, vice-chancellor of Assam University Dr Tapodhir Bhattacharya lauded the efforts of the council to preserve the century old tradition of jute art and technology as well as its beautiful creations. He wished the council all success to restore the almost vanishing tradition. He was however confident that the fair and exhibition would be a lively affair with the participation of people of this town.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Banhishikha Dutta lamented on the declining interest of people in jute. The Centre and the State, she said, should work together to revive the use of jute in domestic and general items of use. She suggested a permanent sale counter could be opened here which she hoped would evince keen interest of people.

District Sports Association president Badal Dey, who also spoke on the occasion, touched upon the utility of jute products which he said were eco-friendly. In this fair, 28 self–help groups and commercial units of West Bengal and those of Barak Valley have come together to give the fair a composite picture. source: sentinel assam

Osmani distributes MP fund
From a Correspondent
MOINBARI, Jan 16: Barrister of law and Member of Parliament of Lok Sabha Golam Osmani expressed his happiness on his son’s contribution as a social worker in a press meet and even submitted a written copy to the president of Moinbari Press Club mentioning his fund distribution data.

He said that he had distributed 116 scheme MP LAD fund for the year 2008-09 in his constituency. He also expressed that his son Wazid Raza Osmani is the one who inspired him to undertake such acts of social works through an NGO named Nation Development Association and Library Chardigjani for making a social and political platform for himself and his son in the near future. source: sentinel assam

Cachar paper mill in crisis

: Special Correspondent
SILCHAR, Jan 1: After being in good shape, Cachar Paper Mill at Panchgram which is situated at a distance of 30 kms from here, is again in trouble mainly due to gross mismanagement and scarcity of raw materials. According to the Joint Trade Union Action Committee, the crisis in the mill has been caused by no other factor than the overlooking of the basic management and resultant cropping up of related problems. The Committee has squarely blamed Chief Executive Mohan Jha who led the management officials.

The crisis instead of being tackled intelligently and deftly is being allowed to aggravate, adversely affecting production and intermittent closure of the mill. The Committee headed by Lalit Raj and Manvendra Chakraborty which has been agitating since Monday against the shut down has been vociferous in demanding the removal of Jha and other management officials.

In order to hammer their demands and to highlight the present crisis of the mill, the Action Committee has drawn up phase-wise agitation programme which include hunger strike, demonstration and sit-in-protest. Lalit Raj briefed the media persons about the latest position and cautioned if remedial measures were not taken immediately, it would turn for the worse, leading to complete shut down of the mill.

The Action Committee saw behind this mismanagement, a subtle move for privatization of the mill. It is to be recalled that during the NDA regime, preparations were afoot for disinvestment of the Cachar project which however failed to materialize due to protests from employees and their Unions. Lalit Raj said behind this privatization move was the direct complicity of the Chief Executive Officer. He warned that such a step would never be allowed to succeed.
The Union leader pointed out that for the last one year the production has been badly affected, causing heavy financial loss. According to a rough calculation, there has been an accumulated loss of Rs 50 crore. Quite puzzling, as he said, is the silence of the central minister, Sontosh Mohan Dev, state ministers, Dinesh Prasad Goala and Gautom Roy.

Besides blaming the management, the Action Committee has also expressed its displeasure at fund utilization for modernization of the mill. Not long ago, Rs 250 crore was provided by the centre for this purpose. The scarcity of bamboo as has been projected by the management for the present stalemate is a lame excuse, Lalit Raj stated. He failed to appreciate the scarcity factor as abundant bamboos are available in Barak Valley, North Cachar Hills and Tripura.

He rued at the fact that the Action Committee has time and again drawn the attention of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises as well as the State Government to the problems of the mill, but no positive action has been initiated. He said there is still time to rejuvenate the only industry of Barak Valley. source: sentinel assam

BJP with a new man for silchar seat

The BJP had already announced former Union Cabinet Minister Sri. Kabindra Purkayastha as their face for Silchar MP constituency. But there is a fresh twist to the tale. Dhrubendu shekhar Bhattacharjee, a lwayer and youth leader, is the new face for the seat , despite Mr. Kabindra Purakayastha being an experienced man. Bhattacharjee has been chosen for the post based on party policy .

A faction of district BJP has shown resentment at this decision of the party. The party officials at New Delhi have taken a consensus in this issue. BJP was the first party to announce its candidate for the seat almost a fortnight ago but has suddenly made this change which comes as an unexpected move from their camp.

Santosh Mohan Dev gifted with Golden Crown

It might seem some 18th century royal coronation but that is how things unfurled on 12th evening when the union cabinet minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises was on his Karimganj tour.

Three Congress leaders of the district Rajat Chakraborty, Aminur Rashid Choudhury and Krishnendu Paul gifted the minister with a gold crown when he was visiting the Karimganj District Congress Office.

The three leaders said that on behalf of Karimganj District Congress Committee , they wanted to thank Sri Dev for his efforts in bringing many developmental project grants for their place. This they call it was their token of gratitude

Rift deepens in Cachar Congress

Minister of the state cabinet and in charge of the Cachar District Sri Dinesh Prasad Goala is distancing himself from the functions of the district congress these days.
In the recent Barak valley tour of the Health Minister he was not seen on a single occassion. He excused himself on health ground but if sources are to be bvelieved than there is an internal rift in the Cachar Congress that has led to this scenario.

Sources say that regarding decisions taken at the Centre and State Cabinet regading Cachar district and the way Sri Goala is being sidelined by some leaders has not gone down well with him and he has distanced himself from the party organisation at this level for some time now.

BJP Threatens to block Goods Train

The Silchar-Lumding Railway has been a contentious issue for quite some time now and the political parties are busy utilising the issue to cash in votes. The BJP threatens to stop the movement of Goods train in this route if passenger train fails to ply.

They have performed a demonstration at various places including Silchar, Lumding, Karimganj and Badarpur on 30th June to protest for the erratic movement of passenger rail in this track, their logic though remains absurd that they will block goods train movement if passenger train fails to ply.

Their Cachar District President Sri. Udayshankar Goswami has said that is passenger train movement does not get underway as per schedule, they will not allow goods train to run in this route.

Among others present in the demonstration were former Union Cabinet Minister Sri. Kabindra Purkayastha, Vice President of District BJP Kirit Bhushan Purkayasthaand others like Kaushik Rai.

The politics of Broad-Gauge

The proposed Broad-Gauge track between Silchar and Lumding that has faced severe road blocks in the last few years, has turned out as one of the fresh hot spot for political lashing and rivalry between the parties.Everyone here is busy politicising the issue and playing the blame game. But amidst all these contentions, ACKSHA(All Cahar Karimganj Hailakandi Students Association) has intensified their agitation for the cause. This railway track can be a lifeline for millions in the valley and also solve communication problems for people of Barak Valley.In a tie up between ACKSHA and ADSU(All Dimasa Students Union)they have called for a Protest and Display on 27th June and a Strike on 8th August to intensify their campaign.This is the first time the two organisations have come together agitating for the cause. They have also submitted a memorandum to Mr. Basudeb Acharia, MP and Chairman of Standing Committee on Railways during his recent visit to Silchar last week.

Santosh Mohan accepts broad-gauge delays

Central Minister Santosh Mohan Deb accepts the delay in the Lamding-Silchar broad-gauge railway-line project. “Time delays can occur for any project. Terrorist activities are causing major problems in the project. The central government is taking steps against terrorist activities to stop further delays.” he said.

The Minister added, “So far there have been around hundred causalities and injuries due to terrorist intervention. The workers are afraid and have lost spirit. A battalion of 1000 ex-army officials is being formed for their security. Already 300 personals have been recruited. As soon as the security problems are solved, the work-pace will improve.”

However there was exchange of some sharp words between Santosh Mohan and BJP leader Kabindra Purakayastha on Friday. Kabindra told the reporters “Broadgauge is still out of sight, but Santosh Mohan Deb announced that he will ride the broad-gauge for vote campaigns in 2009”. Santosh Mohan denied all the claims saying he never made such a remark.

Kabindra Purakayastha disappointed with broadgauge progress
The broadgauge conversion between Silchar and Lumding is taking ages. Even after tons of money spent on the project, things are going extremely slow. There was exchange of some sharp words between Santosh Mohan and BJP leader Kabindra Purakayastha on Friday. Kabindra told the reporters “Broadgauge is still out of sight, but Santosh Mohan Deb announced that he will ride the broad-gauge for vote campaigns in 2009”. Santosh Mohan denied all the claims saying he never made such a remark.

Dipankar Roy arrested in FCI Food Grain Racket

Dipankar Roy brother of local BJP leader has been nabbed in the FCI Food Grain Theft Case. His firm the Debanjanli Axim trading had rented the godown of S.S. Rice Mills in the Tarapur area from where stolen bags of rice from FCI Godown had been recovered.

In this case two other influential personalities and aides of Congress Leaders have also been under the scanner. Shibu Kanungo, a close aide of Minister Dinseh Prasad Goala, and Sujan Dutta a close aide of Minister Gautam Roy are also under scrutiny. Mr. Kanungo and Mr. Dutta are also associated with the Silchar Co-operative.

Mr. Shibu Kanungo has given a statement clarifying all charges brought against him but have not been able to furnish any concrete evidence to prove the falsity of the charges against him. Mr. Dutta on the other hand has been flipping his statements every now and then.
SP of Cachar Mrs. Violet Baruah has said that the police is taking all possible measures to get into the depth of the matter and that they are under no pressure from any higher authorities to let these people off.

Minister Gautam Roy stages a resignation Drama

The Karimganj District Congress office witnessed a drama on Tuesday when influential and powerful state cabinet Minister Sri. Gautam Roy created a scene by staging a resignation Drama. District Congress president Sri. Sotu Roy also continued the plot further by requesting Minister Roy not to take any decision in a moment of fury.

A sudden shock wave ripped through the Congress Bhawan in Karimganj on Tuesday afternoon when Minister Roy said tat he is going to resign from the Legislative Assembly as well as Congress Party.

Minister Roy said that the speech given by Sri. Sotu Roy at the meeting organized by senior congress leader Mr. Verappa Moily , was one that had humiliated Gautam Roy and he wanted to resign from the party in protest.
But somehow the plans could be put to rest after much insistence. Minister Roy is also the State Government’s district in charge of Karimganj District.