Elections to Meghalaya will be held on March 3 followed by that of Nagaland on March 5. In Tripura it's on February 23.

Announcing this, the Chief Elections Commissioner (CEC) N Gopalaswamy told newsmen the model code of conduct had come into force in the three states with immediate effect.

Results would be announced on March 7 in case of Meghalaya and Tripura, and a day later in case of Nagaland after nearly a month-long poll process, the CEC informed.

In Meghalaya, nomination starts on February 8 and ends on February 15. Withdrawal is slated by February 18.

The polls would be held based on the electoral rolls of January 1, 2008, and for the first time Elector Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) would be used in Tripura and Meghalaya where its coverage is more than 99 per cent, Mr Gopalaswamy said.

The filing of nominations in Tripura begins on January 30 and closes on February 6 and last date of withdrawal is February 9.

The nomination papers will be filed in Nagaland from February 9 and the last date for it is February 16 followed by withdrawal by February 20.

The formal notification for the elections in Meghalaya will be issued on February 8.

While the term of the present Assemblies in Meghalaya and Tripura ends on March 10 and 19 respectively, the term of the House in Nagaland, which was brought under President's rule early this month, ends on March 13.

Of the 60-member Assemblies in Meghalaya and Nagaland, 55 and 50 seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes respectively while out 60 seats in Tripura House, 20 seats are reserved for STs and seven for SCs.

Political parties have already started announcing their candidates in Meghalaya and Tripura.

When questioned about the delimitations process, Mr Gopalswamy said that elections would he held on the existing electoral roles.

The Commission has already made arrangements to ensure availability of adequate number of EVMs for the smooth conduct of elections.

Based on the assessment of the ground situation, Central Police Forces (CPFs) and State Armed Police (SAP) drawn from other States will be deployed during the polls.

The Commission has already given instructions that no election related official or Police officer of the rank of Sub Inspector and above shall be allowed to continue in his home district. Besides, instructions have also been issued that all the election related officials including the police officials who have completed three years in a district during last four years should be transferred out of that district. "The respective State government have also been asked to transfer all those officers against whom the Commission has recommended disciplinary action or who have been charged for any lapse during previous elections or for any election related work, from the positions entailing any election work," the Commission said.

The silent procession, which will start from Shillong Club at 10 am, will culminate at Main Secretariat.

Talking to reporters here on Monday, UDP's Youth Wing president AS Dkhar said "we want the State government to scrap the deal as soon as possible."

The FKJGP will also stage a hunger strike on Tuesday at Main Secretariat from 10 am to 4.30. It is expected that leaders from both the central body and district headquarters to take part in the programme.

Further, the two-day proposed office picketing of the Federation for Achik Freedom (FAF) in Garo Hills will also start from Tuesday.

Meanwhile, East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner on Monday promulgated an order under Section 144 CrPC prohibiting holding of hunger strike within a radius of 200 metres from the Main Secretariat.

UDP vice-president Standlington D Khongwir on Monday said that he had verified the matter with the party president Dr Donkupar Roy who denied having had any meeting with NCP leader Purno A Sangma in this regard.

"Dr Roy has asked me to clarify that no such meeting was held at any stage between him and Mr Sangma. The party president has also made it clear that since issues like tie-up are policy matters, the decision has to be taken by only party's central leadership," Mr Khongwir said.

Meanwhile, NCP general secretary (organisations) Ivan Marbaniang has termed as "baseless" reports that NCP leader Purno Sangma would not contest from Tura seat to make way for his rival Billy Kid Sangma.

"The report is baseless. Mr Purno Sangma will contest from Tura seat and the NCP has also projected him as its chief ministerial candidate" Mr Marbaniang told reporters on Monday.

In a statement issued here, Mr Sangma said that the Congress legislator distributed between Rs 20,000 to Rs 10,000 to each village.

SHILLONG: The Congress party in Meghalaya is trying out new things to woo voters. For the present the Congress party has decided to start off "a series of interfaces with people," to swell its vote bank and possibly come back to power in Meghalaya.

AICC Secretary Ved Prakash said that the party would kick start its election campaign with "a lot of face to face interactions," and follow it up with "door to door visits." "We will try this experiment Constituency wise, and then expand on it," he told The Shillong Times on Monday.

The AICC secretary is in town to oversee the electoral preparations of the party. The AICC is said to be apprehensive of the fact that this time round it may not be cakewalk for the party, the anti incumbency factor staring it in the face.

"We are confident of winning peoples' confidence by meeting them personally and finding out from them their needs," Prakash was of the opinion, even though he could not elaborate the party's plan of action on covering the number of constituencies, the party intends to. The only thing that Prakash said, was, "our efforts will ensure better result in the coming Assembly polls."

The rumblings within the party that has resulted after former Chief Minister and senior most Congress MLA J D Rymbai who quit the party along with a strong party prospect from Laban Legislative Assembly Constituency, Sanbor Shullai, was put aside by the AICC secretary as, "these developments will not have any impact on the performance of the party in the coming election."

Former Chief Minister Rymbai joined the UDP; a coalition partner of the Congress led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA). He is the sitting MLA of Jirang Legislative Assembly Constituency. On the other hand Shullai who is the Congress MDC from Laban is all set to join the NCP.

"Rymbai is the past and the party is now eyeing on William Mynsong to win the Jirang constituency for the party," Mr Prakash said adding "even before 2003 Assembly polls Mr Rymbai had said that he would give way to Mr Mynsong to contest in the present election and whatever Mr Rymbai had wanted has happened."

The AICC Secretary appeared not too convinced about the talk of "NCP domination." According to him the NCP would not manage to reach the double digit. He expressed surprise that the NCP had been claiming that it would form the next government.

Prakash, who would be in Shillong till January 21 will, visit Jaintia Hills, some constituencies of East and West Khasi Khasi Hills, Ri-Bhoi district and Garo Hills.

He said that since the people have more faith in the congress, the party would carry on with the development works initiated by the congress led government after the victory in the elections.

He said the manifesto of the party would highlight the achievements of the MDA government for the last five years.

The State Forest Department took the decision on December 19 last citing lack of funds for implementation of the programme.

A letter from the Divisional Forest Officer, Garo Hills Division, to all range and beat officers of Garo Hills stated that the scheme had been discontinued from November.

The Department also added in its letter that a proposal has once again been submitted to the Government for the personnel's engagement under the Twelve Finance Commission (TFC) Award and preferential treatment would be given only when the scheme is sanctioned by the Government.

Following the discontinuation of their services, the specially recruited Home Guard personnel have been withdrawn towards the end of last month and till date almost all reserve forests remain vulnerable from timber merchants.

The scheme to recruit and arm Home Guard personnel for deployment in the forests was taken in 1994 following large scale illegal felling of trees in the Chimabangsi and Dilma reserve forests of East Garo Hills.

Though the deployment of the armed guards did not completely wipe out illegal felling, yet, it had greatly reduced the illegal timber trade.

Several truckloads of freshly sawn timber were regularly seized at various beat offices and many smugglers arrested.

The personnel, many of whom have families, are a worried lot with the latest developments as they contemplate a bleak future without a job and question the intention of the Government to recruit them in the first place.

The disappointed personnel are now threatening to launch an indefinite picketing of the Forest offices in Tura from January 22. The deployment had also forced the smugglers and militants to take their anger out on the personnel.

Many unsuspecting Home Guards were assaulted during off duty and Boro militants had on the morning of May 30, 1997, swooped down on their makeshift camp spraying bullets on the Home Guards while they were asleep after a night out on patrol.

One guard was killed and another injured in that incident and the militants snatched away the service rifles of the Home Guards.

Some of the most vulnerable reserves where timber smugglers have been continuing with their crimes include the Songsak and Williamnagar reserve forests, Dainadubi, Baghmara and Hollaidanga reserve forests.

Poaching, both by public and even some government officials, has also been taking place for the last many weeks in the Garo Hills and the easy availability of deer and other bush meat in Tura gives testimony to the ongoing killings of the precious wild animals.

A public meeting held in this connection at Umkiang village in Jaintia Hills on Saturday was attended by local people of the Narpuh area, headmen of various villages and NGOs beside, the chairman of the co-ordination committee, DDG Dympep, CCALRC secretary LD Lakiang and president of Jaintia Students' Union CS Laloo.

Other demands of the committee include cleaning of the river by the JHADC within a month time and clamp Section 144 CrPC along the riverbank to prevent unwanted incidents that may affect the health of the people.

Lukha River in Jaintia Hills is one among the biggest rivers in Jaintia Hills and famous for fishing destination.

Last year, a series of agitations were held in Jaintia Hills in protest against pollution of the river, which turned blue twice during the year, killing thousands of fishes including those between 70 to 80 kgs.

The Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB), in it findings last year, stated that the reason was due to the haphazard coal mining in the area and presence of limestone.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Jaintia Hills FR Kharkongor said section 144, imposed since last year is still in force in the area and prohibits local people from using the river water for domestic purpose including angling.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Lyngdoh said any law that is affecting the community at large should not be amended according to the 'whims and fancies' of one individual adding that this would create confusion among the Khasi people.

"Any amendment to the Khasi Lineage Act should to go through public debate so that any amendment being adopted suit the public at large," Mrs Lyngdoh suggested.

On the commercialisation of education system in the State, she said education system has already become highly commercialised and it was the undue advantage taken by private institutions that has spoilt the system.

"Private institutions not only charged exorbitant fees but also harassed the parents by asking to purchase books and uniforms from the place suggested by these institutions," Mrs Lyngdoh said.

As a result, some parents are compelled to discontinue their children's education leading to high rate of school dropouts in the state," she added.

The Education Department has recently underscored the importance to "rationalise" the fee structure in private educational institutions in the State.

The female body was identified as that of one Mon Nongkynrih, aged 55, and the male body as Prem Bahadur, aged 42. The other male body could not be identified.

Hospital authorities have requested all the concerned relatives to collect the bodies immediately or within three days failing which all the bodies would be sent for disposal as per hospital procedure.

Well the KSU has done it again. It has once again challenged official wisdom. This time its against the recent Cabinet decision to hand over power generation in the state to private operators .Five such companies have been identified for taking over some hydel and thermal power projects in Meghalaya. Apparently the MOUs for a joint venture into power generation has already been signed between the Power Department and these private companies. The deal has been advocated and justified against a BOOT agreement that ensures that the projects revert back to the state after 40 years operations. So what's the hue and cry all about? Thousand such MOUs are signed everyday the world over. Dr Mukul Sangma , the cocky Power Minister of the state has defended his department’s action on the grounds that the deal is in the best interest of Meghalaya and its people. He claims it to be the most transparent deal ever and has strongly defended his action by claiming that competitive bidding only causes delay; the deal has the potential of providing free power to the people ; that MeSEB or NEEPCO are incompetent agencies for attracting investments and that Detailed Project Reports are, in his view, just a waste of time. Lets examine therefore the explanations of the good Doctor and see if they hold water if placed under closer scrutiny.

Before we do that however , a small minor detail needs to be exposed . It is the individual and collectively response to the deal by the states body polity. To me the political response so far , stinks ! If at all there has been any political reaction to the deal from the MDA coalition partners , such reaction has been more like the whimpering of discarded chorus girls. It is muted and has more to do with excuses as to why Ministers were not present during the controversial 7th Dec Cabinet meet than on fundamental issues involved that affect the state and its people. The regional parties, have yet to come up with satisfactory arguments as to why they feel the deal is bad. Homework is to be done by NGOs and as usual its political leadership from behind! Politicians in Meghalaya apparently lack the guts to call it quits. The perks of office are too great even when they are convinced the public, the public they avow to serve , has been duped. All non Congress coalition partners have washed their hands of the deal, decried it , but they continue to remain the ministers or chairmen they are. Shame! Shame! Non has the spine to walk out. The excuse is that un-stability is bad for the state. How ridiculous and stupid can you get, but then we always knew how shameless and gutless our political leaders are ! No shame - No gain.

As laymen, lets see how valid is the Power Minister's argument that what he has done is in the best interest of the people of the state. Meghalaya has the potential to produce more than 3000 MW of power. At present the power consumption of the state is app 600 MW of which only 180 is generated locally. Logically therefore the current additional power requirement of Meghalaya is about 420 , lets say 500 MW . So what's the great hurry of going whole hog for the whole potential of 3000 MG ? Meghalaya by no stretch of the imagination is likely to absorb all the potential of 3000 MW in the near future. So for whose benefit are we going to produce the extra power for ? If the argument is that we are going to generate extra power for sale to consumers outside the state , then is privatisation the answer to this objective ? Does the MOU with the private companies ensure that Meghalaya's share of income through the sale of power is likely to come to the coffers of the state? If not then , Dr Mukul should explain why the devil are we in such a hurry to exploit all our power potentials at this stage? If the state does not stand to gain then there is need to pause and reconsider? How does the deal serve the best interest of the state and its people ? We need an answer.

Then the Power Minister goes on to say that the deal is likely to generate free power to the state and its people . This statement is most probably derived from the promise that 12% of the power to be generated by the private companies will be re-channeled free of cost for consumption by the state. 12 % of 3000 MWs and obviously this will go into the MeSEB grid ! Wow what a generous offer. What are we waiting for ? But hang on a minute. What transmission system will the MeSEB be using ? Why , none other than what it has today and by its own admission through its recent Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) , MeSEB suffers a massive loss of more than 14.4 % of generated power through faulty transmission. It actually means that the 12% free power the state is entitled from the private companies ( if it really does manage to get it ) will simply disappear into the transmission losses of the MeSEB as the same transmission system will be used. The state gets actually nothing from the MOUs with the private companies. Actually we lose in the bargain . So what's the Big deal ? Dear Power Minister please set your house in order before venturing into new deals which make no sense to the common man. Improve MeSEB management ( generation, transmission and distribution) before we talk of new joint ventures. The adage of a bird in hand being worth two in the bush has yet to be disproved.

Then there is the excuse of not going into Detailed Project Reports (DPRs). In this day and age a DPR is a must in any activity that entails the use and management of resources. It is especially important in deals that involve huge investments. A DPR reflects many crucial issues. For instance it highlights the issue of equity. Dr Sangma speaks of a joint venture where the private companies will plough in financial and maybe technological investments. That is their equity. What is the equity of the state of Meghalaya? How have we arrived at the conclusion that our equity is only worth 12% of electricity to be generated? In a hydel project , water is the main raw material and that water is ours. What is the value of this raw material? Do we have an appraisal report on equity of the state? I doubt if the Power department has an answer at this point of time. We also need a Cost Benefit analysis of the projects. Social costs will have to be compared against the projected economic benefits . Economic development has to be tempered with ingredients of Social Justice. How many of our poor upland cultivators are to be displaced by this deal? How many acres of valuable agricultural and forest land is to be submerged? Will the deal mitigate or enhance rural poverty ? What is the environmental damage that is likely to take place ? These are some of the questions that only a DPR can highlight. Were these issues not raised by officers of the department ? If not, then shall Dr Mukul throw the blame on his departmental advisers for not tendering appropriate advice? Lets wait and see but meanwhile lets not be too flippant and nonchalant about the redundancy of a DPR. Such statements are not only foolish but also dangerous while they simply enforce the suspicion of a mega sell-out.

Last but not least is the questionable reluctance to go in for International Competitive Bidding for Meghalaya's Power Projects. What does the Power Minister have against this universally recognised form of transparent business procedure? In a Globalised economy one would think that any right thinking public servant would have insisted on one . International Competitive Bidding ensures that Meghalaya gets the best. We have seen International interest on Arunachal's hydel power potential. Why shouldn't the same apply for Meghalaya ? But in this case it appears that this is not what is wanted and why so has not been satisfactorily explained. In business parlance one hears of "Fly by Night Operators", businessmen who prefer to keep their shady deals away from the light of day. Why do we have to do business with such people , even if they appear to have the trust and confidence of the Power Minister alone. The deal has all the virtues of perfidy of the highest order. One may not agree with all that the KSU does , but on this instance the boys have flagged a crucial issue of the state. The Cabinet must therefore not allow the deal to go through. Scrap it! The heavens will not fall . Anything other than that would tantamount to a direct betrayal of the people of Meghalaya , Dr Mukul's tall claims notwithstanding!

The government of India is holding the third round of crucial talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna for the safeguards agreement. It obviously means that the Manmohan Singh government has not given up on the Indo-US nuclear deal. But the Left remains quite clear it will not allow the government to go back to the IAEA once the outcome of the ongoing talks with the international nuclear watchdog is placed before the UPA-Left committee. The Indian team is led by Ravi Grover, director of strategic planning at the Department of Atomic Energy. India wants the agreement to reflect its concerns, raised by the Left time and again—on fuel supply guarantees, the right to build strategic fuel reserves for the entire lifeterm of its safeguarded reactors and the right to reprocess spent fuel under a specially-built facility placed under safeguards.

In view of the hardening position the CPM general secretary, Prakash Karat and prime minister Manmohan Singh, both driven by conviction and for their own ideological reasons appeared to be steering the country towards yet another mid-term poll.

Each side is hugely suspicious of the other. If Mr. Karat is hobnobbing with the likes of Amar Singh was not taken to very kindly, statements emanating from senior ministers threatening elections have also not helped. The Left’s green signal for talks with the IAEA has to be seen in the context of mutual suspicion between a nuclear "love-struck" Congress and an embittered Left that is determined the country have no truck with the USA. While the Left-Congress marriage is clearly on the rocks what has added to their plight is lack of communication and mutual suspicion.

The question everyone in Delhi is asking is why the Left has "given in" on the IAEA talks. When such a suggestion was made in the first week of October, the Left rejected it outright. What has changed since then? Is this merely to give Dr. Singh face? If the government returns from the IAEA talks and the Left rejects its proposal, would that not cause greater loss of face? Or, is the Left move a googly that would finally lead to a face-off?

The facts that come tumbling out are too clear to miss. With the Left green signal, the following things have been set into motion. A quick agreement with the IAEA to get India specific safeguards before the UPA committee, further discussions with the Nuclear Supplier Group, then ratification by the US Congress. But the proponents of the deal are running against time.

If the US points man is to be believed, everything should have been done by early January 2008 for ratification by the US Congress. The Congress in Washington requires a minimum 30-day notice.

Now if the Left has its way, it would ensure that even the intra-UPA committee meeting would not take place before December. In effect, March appears to be cut off point as far as the Bush administration is concerned and already there are murmurs from Left quarters that even if everything is in order the government should not sign up with Bush, a lame duck outgoing US President. The Left strategy thus seems to be to buy time and to ensure that nothing substantially moves before February.

On its part, the Congress does not want to waste any time. The proponents of the nuclear deal are taking the Left nod for a yes to the nuclear deal. The Left "clearance" is seen as a virtual go-ahead because commitments in international fora need to be honoured. Sources in the government say if the UPA joint committee rejects the proposal after talks with IAEA then it will have no option but to press for polls. The AICC resolution supporting the nuclear deal will be seen as the entire party’s endorsement of the deal. But the Gujarat assembly poll results have dampened the Congress spirit for a fight with the Left.

However, has enough groundwork been done for mid-term polls? If now the entire exercise of rushing to swing the deal ends up in opposition from the Left once again, it would mean egg on the face unless the logical corollary is the announcement of elections.

The only reason the Left allowed the IAEA talks was the suspicion that the Congress might blow the election bugle sooner than anticipated. With both the Congress and the Left not really budging from stated positions—the Left did budge a millimetre—the question is who will blink first. In the past, it was the Congress that swallowed its pride and backtracked; within days of a strong Left reaction both Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh offered to put the nuclear deal on hold. The same allies who had supported the deal developed cold feet. Some members of the core group too who were initially prepared to face polls also began having second thoughts. The Congress was then totally unprepared to even threaten mid-term polls.

The battle-lines are drawn. On the last occasion, the Congress was clearly surprised by the Left roadblock on the deal. Part of it is also a misreading of the Left, a factor that made Congress lobbyists run to Buddhadheb Bhattacharjee and Jyoti Basu. This time the Congress appears to have finally realised that the Left speaks with one voice. The Left too is ready to put the government "on autopilot" as Mr. Karat himself threatens. As Mr. Karat had threatened "either have the nuclear deal or survival of the government", it appears survival of the government is more precious for the Congress party than the principle. (INAV)

Sir,

In most parts of India, there is a patriarchal society where women are accorded a second grade status as compared to men. This has resulted in neglect of women's health in the form of malnutrition and anaemia. This is further aggravated by malpractices such as dowry, resulting in dowry deaths and abetment to suicides. Widows are often rendered destitute by society and further suffer as they have no one to look after their health and other problems. Due to these malpractices in our society, a female child is more like a burden to the family, which provokes them to indulge in crimes like female infanticide.

But faraway from all this is Shillong which can take pride in its women's power and status. Here woman is the head of the family. The youngest girl inherits the family property and the women are the main bread-earners of the family. Here the girl child is sought after and female infanticide is completely unheard of. In spite of the enviable position of women in this part of the world the health status is not upto the mark. This is due to poor socio-economic condition and they suffer from poverty, illiteracy and multi-parity, which often form a vicious circle. Due to various cultural and religious factors, a 7-8 child norm is the routine, which women happily seem to follow, without any pressure of any sorts. This leads to inability to provide good education to children and is obviously detrimental for mother and child's health. Women in this part of India have greater education than the male counterparts and often corner the better jobs. However, the repeated pregnancy now-a-days affect the career of the modern day women in both the Government as well as in the private sector. The maternal and infant mortality here is quite high. Obstetrical complications like Vesico-vaginal fistula are more common here due to poor infrastructure of the health sector and due to the high fertility also.

Thus, it appears that it is not only an elevated position in the society, which can assure good health to women. Rather it is education which will teach women the advantages of limited family with subsequent financial improvement. This will help to improve the quality of health and life of both mother and child in this part of India, where females reign supreme in the family and society.

Yours etc.,
Dr. Manika Agarwal
Shillong.

Sir,

Buddhadev Bhattarcharya is regretting for whatever happened in West Bengal. But what's the use of regretting now? Was he sleeping when innocent people were being killed in the violence. The whole media and the country was asking him to take action, he didn't pay any heed to that. And now when hundreds of families have lost their kin, he is regretting it.

This is not the regret. Actually now he has realised that his vote bank is in danger. The regret is just an excuse. His is cheating the people in the state. The public has seen his original face. He must not be excused.

Yours etc.
Shailesh Kumar

However, in a faxed statement, ULFA Army Spokesman Raju Baruah said loss to the Army camp, both in terms of lives and infrastructure, was huge. However, there is no independent confirmation of the attack. (UNI)

The Padma Vibhushan awarded dancer was honoured for her devotion to Goddess Kamakhya and her services to make the Kameswari Festival a success. Apart from honouring the artistes during the dance festival, the organisers also honoured some of the elderly priests who have rendered their services to the temple for a long period of time.

The temple board also created a fund received as donation to make the festival a permanent phenomenon.(PTI)

General Secretary of the state unit of Forward Bloc Shyamal Roy today said the CPI-M should consider its demand for three seats.

"Otherwise we will field fifteen candidates."

This was decided at a state committee meeting of Forward Bloc last night, he said, where CPI-M's 'big brother' attitude was criticised. The Forward Bloc does not have any MLA in the outgoing 60-member house.

Roy said: "the CPI(M) exploited us in many ways for the last 30 years, including seat-sharing during elections."

The Forward Bloc secretary said the CPI(M) would be responsible if the Left Front disintegrated in Tripura.

"The Left Front will break due to the autocratic nature of CPI(M) and Forward Bloc will not be responsible for it," he said. (PTI)

NEW DELHI: The North East Support Centre and other such students groups of the region will organise a rally next Sunday to protest against "discrimination" by the police and residents of Delhi towards people from North East.

A decision to this regard was taken up at a meeting titled "Respecting Differences" which discussed the necessity of accepting the plural identity of the north eastern people in the city. More cases of discrimination have surfaced with so many students from the North East coming to Delhi every year, the meeting was told.

"Earlier our people had no where to go and speak about their grievances. Now, at least they have a platform," he said.

The support centre's media secretary M Chandra said, "women are still scared of speaking out. A number of such cases go unreported as the victims did not lodge complaints, he said.

The other problem was the police, who were very discriminatory towards our problems," he said. Some students suggested there should be documentation of instances of discrimination, against both women and men.

Imphal: The CPI, a constituent of the ruling Congress-led Secular Progressive Front (SPF) Government in Manipur, on Monday blamed its major coalition partner for the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

The CPI said the situation arising out of insurgency related violence was slowly slipping out of control.

Urging the Congress to work with its partners for an improvement in the situation, CPI state secretary B Sharma told newspersons that the government had failed to maintain law and order and that there was no security for citizens, adding that bomb attacks and shootings were taking place frequently.

Sharma said merely preaching peace was not sufficient and accused the government of not initiating negotiation with insurgent groups.

Attacking the SPF leadership, he said it was time that those who could help in restoring normalcy in the state be at the helm of affairs. The CPI state secretary also stressed the need for launching a mass movement against violence among the public saying that mere intermittent protests and dharnas were not enough now. (PTI)

Guwahati: The dawn of the new year brought hope in Assam that peace talks with the banned outfit ULFA was likely to resume with the Centre considering the release of five jailed ULFA leaders but the road to peace appears to be still a long way to go.

Jnanpith award-winning litterateur Dr Indira Raisom Goswami had announced that AICC general secretary and party's in-charge for Assam Veerapa Moily had assured her that the Centre was likely to take a decision on the demand of the ULFA for release of its top five leaders which could facilitate the much-awaited talks between the ULFA and the government.

Moily had expressed interest in breaking the stalemate and to bring back the peace process with the ULFA back on rails.

"Moily being a senior leader understands the problems of the State and expressed a positive interest in taking the peace process forward", she said.

The five leaders are political advisor Bhimkanta Buragohain, vice president Pradip Gogoi, publicity secretary Mithinga Daimary, cultural secretary Pranati Deka and senior cadre Ramu Mech.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has also said that he was not averse to the demand for the release of top ULFA leaders from jail and both his government and the centre were open to the prospect of talks with the outfit.

Gogoi, however, asserted that the issue of 'sovereignty' that the ULFA was insisting be discussed was "not negotiable".

The Centre is also not keen on accepting any precondition from the ULFA to bring the banned outfit to the negotiation table but the doors of the Government were open if the militant outfit comes forward for talks.

"The ULFA must come forward for talks without any precondition and they can raise any issue, including sovereignty, during the process of talks", a senior official said.

ULFA Chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and 'Commander in Chief' Paresh Barua must take the initiative to restart the peace process and the Centre would not talk to the outfit through any third party, he said.

The ULFA, however, is also adamant in its approach and has clarified that just releasing the jailed leaders was not enough but other issues like discussion on sovereignty held the key for talks process to resume.

Barua in a statement issued to the media demanded that the release of the jailed leaders was just one of the conditions and the Centre must give a written assurance that the issue of sovereignty would be discussed during the talks.

The Jnanpith award winner, however, expressed hope that something concrete would emerge before the forthcoming Republic Day celebrations and urged the Government to create a conducive atmosphere for talks.

Goswami pointed out that the peace talks between the Centre and the ULFA need to be facilitated in a phased manner and the release of the jailed leaders would be the first step in the talks process.

The ULFA had constituted the nine-member Peoples' Consultative Group (PCG) on September 8, 2005 to initiate negotiations on its behalf by holding preliminary talks with the Centre to find a negotiated political settlement.

The first round of talks between the Centre and the PCG was held on October 25, 2005 in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while the second round of talks was held on February 7, 2006 with National Security Adviser MK Narayanan where the PCG place the ULFA's demand for the release of its five jailed leaders. (PTI)