Manmohan Singh to visit Manipur in Sept

Imphal, Aug 31: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has agreed to visit Manipur in September or October and lay the foundations of various projects in the state.

Manipur Information Centre official said the Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh called on the Prime Minister at his office in South Block in the capital yesterday and invited him to visit Manipur in the last week of September or October.

Officials said the Prime Minister accepted the invitation and expressed his willingness to visit Manipur. The Chief Minister requested him to lay the foundation stones of the Loktak Downstream Hydro Electric Project, the National Sports Academy at Khuman Lampak and the Manipur Institute of Technology, a constituent institute of Manipur University during his visit.

The Loktak downstream electric project was announced when Deve Gowda was the Prime Minister, while the other projects were sanctioned during the tenure of the UPA government.

The Chief Minister urged the Prime Minister to upgrade the Manipur Institute of Technology to the level of National Institute of Technology (NIT) or Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) level and the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) to the status of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

During the meeting, the Chief Minister reminded him of several development initiatives for Manipur announced by the Prime Minister during his visit in November 2004. The State Government had taken up those initiatives in right earnest and some were in various stages of implementation, he said.

In a letter submitted to the Prime Minister, the Manipur Chief Minister mentioned that the work on the Capitol Project had started.

A composite complex having Assembly complex, High Court and Secretariat will be taken up at Imphal. In the first phase, the work of the Secretariat had been taken up. The construction of High Court Complex had also started.

The Chief Justice of India Sabharwal had laid the foundation stone for the High Court at Imphal recently.

Kangla, the seat of power from where Manipur Kings ruled and occupied by Assam Rifles since 1891 was handed over to the state in November 2004 and was managed by the Kangla Development Board and a plan was being prepared to develop it as a historical site as well as tourist destination, the Chief Minister said.

The Special Employment Programme announced by the Prime Minister had received an enthusiastic response from the youth and was under implementation. The survey work on the extension of railway line from Jiribam to Tupul (Imphal) had started and was expected to be completed by December this year. Ministry of Railways was paying special attention to the project. The District and Sub-Divisional headquarters were being developed and road communication systems to these headquarters were being specially improved.

During his visit to the capital the Chief Minister met other senior central leaders and discussed various issues. The Chief Minister will be returning to Imphal later today, officials said.

UNI