NEW DELHI, JAN 6: Manipur Chief Minister W. Nipamacha Singh, under fire from several quarters, today earned a reprieve from the Centre after he gave a written assurance that he would comply with the action plan for tackling militancy and tone up the administration in the state.The 12-point action plan, prepared on the basis of discussions with the Centre, includes giving the CBI the go-ahead to investigate the alleged iregularities in Manipur lotteries and fake appointments in the education department and another inquiry, already ordered by the state government, into the alleged nexus of ministers, MLAs, ex-MLAs and other government functionaries with the militants.The action plan was submitted this morning to Union Home Minister L.K. Advani by the Chief Minister. In a meeting held on January 2, the latter had pulled up Singh for his failure to check militancy and financial mismanagement in the state. He had also emphasised the need to control militancy by a series of proactive and co-ordinated measures.After today's meeting with the three-member delegation led by Singh, Advani expressed the hope that the state government would take steps to tackle the insurgency situation in the state. The Union Home Ministry will undertake a review of the action plan's implementation on a monthly basis.In his meeting with Advani, the Chief Minister handed out the assurance that all inquiries into the politician-bureaucrat-militant nexus would be completed by January next year. ``In the eventuality of the Union Home Ministry finding the reports unsatisfactory, the investigations will be entrusted to the CBI,'' the action plan states.The state government also agreed to set up joint interrogation centres in the districts under the overall supervision of SPs, to shift all those detained under the National Security Act who still have over three months to serve, to jails outside the state and to tone up the prison administration.The action plan also decided upon separating the intelligence and security wings of the state police, consequent, of course, to the submission of a report from the Union home Ministry. Two battalions of the Manipur Rifles, it was agreed, would be deployed exclusively for counter-insurgency operations under the direct control of the DGP without any interference from any quarter.The state government has also agreed to take necessary action to restore the screening of Hindi films and programmes in the cinema halls and cable network - something which had been stopped in many areas because of threat from the militants.
