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Downsizing Govt : 15 Assam ministers resign

	June 28, 2004

Fifteen Assam Ministers have tendered their resignations to the Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, to give him a free hand to carry out the mandatory downsizing of his Ministry. Prominent among those who resigned included the Health Minister, Bhumidhar Barman, the Public Works Department Minister, Sarat Barkatoki, the Transport Minister, Anjan Dutta and the Minister of State for Forest, Pradyut Bordoloi.

The present size of the Gogoi Ministry is 36. It has to be pruned to 19 in accordance with the new constitutional amendment. Gogoi is scheduled to leave for Delhi to discuss the issue of downsizing with the party High Command. He is scheduled to return on July 1 after finalising the list of new Ministers. Gogoi told reporters that the Chief Ministers of the north-eastern States would move the Centre for an amendment to the new law as the multi-ethnic composition in the States requires proportionate representation of each community which, he said, was not possible if the size of the Ministry is to be limited to only 15 per cent of the total strength of the House.

But it would be a long process and, hence, the State Government had no option but to go ahead with the mandatory downsizing by the July 6 deadline, he added.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters at Shillong, the Meghalaya Chief Minister, D.D. Lapang, also reiterated the proposed move of the North-east Chief Ministers for an amendment to the new law.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), a major partner in the ruling Left Front in Tripura, has also decided to drop five ministers to downsize the 18-member Ministry. The party also requested the Communist Party of India, an ally, to drop Manindra Reang, Tribal Welfare Minister, from the Ministry. However, the CPI State secretary, Prashanta Kapal, said the party was opposed to the proposal as Manindra Reang was the lone Minister from the CPI.



India-Myanmar may launch joint crackdown on rebels

India and Myanmar may soon launch a joint military crackdown on Indian separatists on the lines of last year’s offensive on rebel bases in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, Indian officials have said.

“Sooner or later there will have to be some action on militant camps inside Myanmar,” said an Indian Army commander.

A 14-member high-level team of Myanmar’s military junta held talks with senior Indian Army commanders in Dimapur, the commercial hub of the northeastern State of Nagaland.

The two-day meeting ended last Sunday although officials of the two nations described it as a “routine” interaction for “better coordination” concerning mutual interests.

The meeting between the armies of the two countries assumes significance with reports of a joint military operation likely to be launched along the mountainous border separating India’s northeast from Myanmar’s northern Sagaing region.

Dozens of separatist groups fighting against New Delhi or Yangon have been active for nearly 40 years in the Sagaing region. India and Myanmar share a 1,640-km long unfenced border.

“We estimate that about 2,000 rebels from various insurgent groups in India’s northeastern states of Assam, Manipur, and Nagaland have well-entrenched bases inside Myanmar,” an Indian intelligence official said.

An Indian Army official said a mountain brigade (roughly three battalions comprising about 3,000 personnel) had been recently relocated from Nagaland to the adjoining State of Manipur, bordering Myanmar.

“The shifting of the 44 Mountain Brigade from Nagaland to Manipur was done primarily for effective counter-insurgency operations,” the official said.

Myanmar had recently assured New Delhi that it would not allow Indian militants to use its soil.

“We will flush out Indian insurgent camps, if any in our country,” Myanmar Foreign Minister U. Win Aung was quoted as saying recently.

“We have a policy of not allowing any insurgents to get into Myanmar. We will take whatever action is necessary and cooperate with the Indian Government in this regard.”

In 2000, Myanmar had launched a military crackdown on Indian rebel camps, but was largely unsuccessful due to the hostile terrain and the strong presence of the militants who possessed heavy weapons.