Imphal, Oct 2: Manipur’s hill areas has been receiving step motherly treatment by the central government as the ADCs which start functioning since June 2015 are presently left out from 14th Finance Commission award as well as financial grant provided by NITI Aayog does not cover these hill districts of the state.
Left with no choice the state government has approached the central government time and again to deliver fair treatment to the ADCs of Manipur but to no avail.
As per the 14th Finance Commission report areas under Schedule VI in Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura and Assam and the areas in the Hill Districts of Manipur, Rural area of Nagaland and Mizoram remain outside the ambit of the measures recommended for Panchayats and Municipalities.
After nearly 20 years, Manipur government had finally conducted election for Autonomous District Councils in June 2015 and made the local bodies fully functional. However, with limited financial resources, it is now not feasible to function to the fullest to carry out the mandate.
Center is now leaving the fate of the ADCs to the mercy of the state government which does not have adequate resource on its own to run the government. A source said Chief Minister Okram Ibobi had written about the matters requesting for inclusion of the ADCs in the award by the 14th Finance Commission to both the Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Union Finance Minister and also to the Prime Minister.
As of now the center is not allocating any appropriate amount either in the form of grant or package for the six ADCs.