SENAPATI, Mar 23 (NENA): Tripartite talks involving the Centre, Manipur government and United Naga Council (UNC) to end the deadlock over creation of new districts remained “inconclusive.”
On Friday, talks were held at the DRDA conference hall, Senapati district headquarters from 11:25 till 2 pm.
It was agreed in the meeting to hold the next round of talks on April 27 next. So far, seven rounds of talks over the district creation issue have been taken place without progress on the substantive issues.
In the meeting it was also agreed that the Manipur government hold a cabinet meeting on April 10 next to take a decision towards fulfilling UNC’s demands in a resolute and determined manner as urged by the council.
UNC feels the ball is in the state government’s court now. But the inconclusive state of the talks indicates that it may not be easy to work out a solution upon mutual agreement any time soon, sources said.
The Naga body is adamant that their key demand be met. The demand placed by the council before the state government to roll back the district creation has remained an important obstacle.
But the failure to reach any major deals even after several rounds of dialogues over the issue meant that negotiations on the same topic will continue.
“We’ll not pull back our demand. After the upcoming April 10 cabinet meeting decision, there’ll be next round of talks on April 27. Thereafter, our own course of action will be followed,” UNC president Gaidon Kamei who attended the meeting told journalists.
He referred to the long pending issue and said UNC will definitely take up fresh agitation if the state government does not roll back the district creation decision.
The Centre has been holding the tripartite talks since March 2017 in its efforts to solve the issue pertaining to the district creation.
Satyendra Garg, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India chaired Friday’s tripartite talks.
In the meeting, Government of Manipur was represented by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Dr J Suresh Babu, Education Minister Th Radheshyam, Agriculture Minister V Hangkhalien and Tribal & Hills Area Development Minister N Kayisii and Secretary (Revenue) T Ranjit Singh.
The UNC team, which included representatives of several social organisations, was led by Gaidon Kamei.
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