Imphal: Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh Thursday asked officials to be honest and follow the law while dealing with land related issues.
The CM while interacting with officials of Revenue and Forest Department at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat said due to manipulations of map, and documents by officials the government has lost large numbers of land .
Officials manipulated documents to give away lands at Moreh and other places, he said. He discussed issues regarding implementation of the provisions of the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act, 1960.
He said the government officials don’t belong to any particular community. Rather, they are obliged to serve the public irrespective of community and religion.
He urged all the officials to work with sincerity and transparency to save the forest and paddy lands of the State.
Biren stressed the need of the concerned officials to make the public aware of certain Acts implemented to conserve the forest and agricultural lands. Manipur, being a small landlocked State with certain uncertainties like landslides and floods, it is imperative to save our paddy land and increase our produce to become self reliant.
He said that there are instances of overlapping jurisdiction of land between Revenue and Forest Department and issues of Dag Chithas on Reserved Forest Areas.
He expressed concern that such activities would hinder the development of the State creating tension among people. The chief minister urged the officials to rectify any wrong deeds done earlier so that our precious forest and agricultural land could be saved timely.
Some officials also presented their views and suggestions to effectively implement the relevant Acts to conserve forest and agricultural land. They also expressed the problems they faced while carrying out their duties.
