All Naga Students’ Association Manipur says no to scrapping of Free Movement Regime

IMPHAL — The All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur (ANSAM) has demanded the government of India to revoke the decision to scrap the Free Movement Regime (FMR) along the Indo-Myanmar border and reinstate the same in Naga areas.

The ANSAM delegation led by its president M Luikang Luckson called on Governor of Manipur Anusuiya Uikey at Raj Bhavan on Thursday and submitted a memorandum related to the matter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah through her.

There introduction of FMR allowing the tribals living along the border to travel up to 16 km on either side of the countries without a visa during 2018 under Modi-led BJP regime was a welcoming step, enhancing the livelihood of the people residing along the borders, but the decision to scrap the same came as a shock to the people, said the student body.

Suggesting a mechanism to curb the menace of illegal immigrant and insurgency, it said strict implementation of Inner Line Permit and NRC, as well as constitution of Population Commission will yield good result instead of fencing the border and scrapping FMR.

The team also expressed concern about the ongoing unrest in the state, saying that it has also affected the Nags.

Maintaining that the Centre and state governments should solve the issue at the earliest, the delegation also requested the Governor to put forward their concern to the Union Home Minister.

The governor assured to forward their proposal to the Union Home Minister and discuss the matter. She also disclosed that the issues of illegal immigrant and insurgency were discussed at the recent NEC meeting held in Shillong and that the Centre is taking it seriously.

Meanwhile, Rajkumar Basumani Singh, President of Joint Administrative Council of

All Manipur Trade Union Council (AMTUC) and All Manipur Government Employees Organisation (AMGEO) representatives also called on the governor, demanding timely disbursement of salaries and pensions to the employees as well as pensioners of the state. Pension benefits to the retired employees have not been disbursed on time and DA enjoyed by the state employees is 16% lower than the central government employees, they said.

On this the governor said that she had already asked the government to address the issues, adding that there could be problems due to the present situation in the state but it should be improved.