People's Democracy

 TRIPURA CM AT ISC MEET

Time To Reassess Sarkaria Recommendations

Below we reproduce the text of the speech delivered by Manik Sarkar, chief minister of the Left Front government of Tripura at the Inter-State Council meeting, held at Srinagar on August 27-28.

IT gives me great pleasure to be present here today to attend this eighth meeting of the Inter-State Council. I would like to compliment the government of India, ministry of home affairs and the J&K government for organising this meeting at Srinagar and for making excellent arrangements for the meeting. This would send a clear message to those who are trying to destabilise the country. I would also take this opportunity to pay my tribute to the security forces and the brave people of J&K, for the sacrifices being made by them, for preserving the security and integrity of the country.

Now, I would like to briefly mention the views of the government of Tripura in respect of the agenda items for today’s meeting.

Administrative

Relations

We broadly agree with the recommendation of the Sarkaria commission that issue of direction under article 256 & 257 and the application of sanction under article 365 in the event of its non-compliance, is a measure of last resort and that, before resorting to such action, utmost caution should be exercised and all possibilities should be explored for settling points of conflict by all other available means. However, in order to make sure that this recommendation is properly implemented in letter and spirit, we would like to suggest that prior consultation in the Inter-State Council should be made mandatory, before application of any sanction under article 365.

Emergency

Provisions

The state government broadly agrees with the recommendations of the standing committee, subject to the following observations:

a) The show-cause notice to be issued to a state government before taking action under article 356 should contain the relevant facts and grounds for such action, along with their sources of information, to ensure transparency, and reasonable time should be allowed to the state government to reply to the notice.

b) The proclamation under article 356 should be issued only after prior approval of the parliament, if the parliament is in session. However, if the parliament is not in session, the proclamation may be issued and a special session convened for seeking approval, at the earliest. The approval should be with two-third majority of the members present and voting.

c) President’s rule in a state should be proclaimed on the basis of governor’s report under article 356(1). Any information available with the government of India should be made available to the governor, so that the responsibility for recommending president’s rule in the state is on the governor. This would ensure transparency.

Deployment of

Armed Forces

The state government broadly agrees with the recommendation of the standing committee, subject to the observation that prior concurrence of the state government should be taken before deployment of armed forces. Here I would like to mention about the difficulties being faced by the state government due to prevailing militancy in the state and related factors.

Tripura has been facing terrorist onslaught for the last many years. The main terrorist groups operating in the state are NLFT (National Liberation Front of Tripura) and ATTF (All Tripura Tiger Force), which were declared unlawful in the year 1997. In the last five years (1998-2002), these terrorist groups have killed 1151 persons (including security personnel) and kidnapped 1759 persons, out of whom 1182 have been released from captivity. In the current year (up to August 15, 2003), they have killed 200 persons (including security personnel) and kidnapped 151 persons.

These militant outfits have been taking full advantage of the 856 km long border with Bangladesh which is completely open and poorly guarded due to shortage of BSF and absence of fencing along the border. It is now an established fact that these militant groups have set up more than 50 camps across the border in Bangladesh. The state government has shared the details of location of these camps with the government of India. The militant groups have nexus with other militant groups like ULFA and NSCN operating in the north east and are getting support from ISI and fundamentalist organisations.

In the last assembly elections held during February 2003, one militant group actively took part in the election process favouring its political mask, which was in alliance with a national level political party, and intimidated voters to cast their votes in favour of that political party. Another militant group gave a call for boycott of the elections. However, the people of the state defied the threats of the militant groups and came out in large numbers to exercise their franchise, thereby thwarting the attempts of militants to sabotage the election process. Out of sheer desperation and frustration, the militant groups stepped up their activities shortly after the elections. The militants are now using rocket launchers and explosive devices for attacks on security forces and indulging in mass killings of innocent people. This has drastically changed the security situation in the state.

The state government has been repeatedly drawing the attention of the ministry of home affairs, government of India to the need for augmenting the existing force level to help deal effectively with the increased level of militant activities in the state. Instead of providing more force, the ministry of home affairs issued orders for withdrawal of 2 CRPF battalions from the state. Subsequently, one battalion was allowed to be retained in the state, but the state government voiced its concern that this would not be adequate to face the increased threats from the militants and requested the ministry to allow the state government to utilise the services of one battalion that had been withdrawn. But this has also not been agreed to by the ministry. As a result, a number of security camps were closed/withdrawn, which ultimately led to two barbaric incidents of extremist attacks on August 13-14, 2003, in which 33 persons (including women and children) were killed and 11 persons were injured.

I would like to mention here that army was deployed in the state for counter-insurgency operations in the areas declared as disturbed areas. Their presence was found to be extremely helpful in containing militancy and maintaining ethnic harmony in the state. However, the army battalions were withdrawn from the state. The state government has all along been urging the central government to re-deploy army battalions in the state, to effectively deal with the problem of militancy. But this has not been done.

The state government has been requesting the home ministry to increase the strength of BSF and CRPF deployed in the state. As against assessed requirement of 22 BSF battalions, there are only 9 battalions of BSF currently deployed and 2 more battalions are expected to be deployed. However, this is extremely inadequate for proper guarding of the border with Bangladesh. Similarly, there are only 65 CRPF companies as against a requirement of 90 companies.  

One of the major recommendations of the Sarkaria commission is that a state government should work out, in consultation with the union government, short-term and long-term arrangement for strengthening its armed police with the objective of making it self-reliant. While the state government fully agrees with this recommendation, it cannot strengthen and modernise the state police without help from the union government. The assistance being given by the central government to the state under the scheme for modernisation of state police is not adequate for the purpose. As per guidelines of the scheme, the state government has to share 50 per cent of the total expenditure on modernisation, which is difficult for the state government in view of the resource constraints. The central government should bear 100 per cent expenditure on modernisation, at least for the states in the north eastern region. Further, the scheme for reimbursement of security related expenditure incurred by the states in the north east is restricted to certain specified items only. The scope of the scheme should be extended to cover all items of expenditure, whether recurring or non-recurring, on security related matters.

In view of above, I would like to make the following suggestions, on behalf of the state government, for consideration and urgent action by the government of India:

a) The central government should put pressure on Bangladesh government for closure of the camps of various terrorist groups in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government should also be asked to seal the bank accounts operated by these terrorists and extradite those wanted in connection with criminal cases pending in courts in the country.

b) The strength of Border Security Force personnel should be suitably augmented. At least 3 battalions of army should be immediately deployed in the state, to help the state government in combating the situation.

c) Construction of border fencing should be expedited to ensure sealing of the border. Extra force should be placed with the state government, to provide security for expeditious completion of border fencing.

d) The government of India should provide 100 per cent assistance for modernisation of state police. Further, the scope of the scheme for reimbursement of security related expenditure should be expanded to cover all items of expenditure, whether recurring or non-recurring, on security related matters.

e) Since peace talks are going on with the NSCN, they should also be told not to maintain links with and help the militant groups in Tripura.

Contract Labour/

Contract Appointments

And Other

Related Matters

The state government broadly agrees with the view that there is a need to rationalise the workforce. However, it is equally important that rights of workers, particularly contract labour, are duly protected. We are of the view that the proposed amendments to the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act 1970 should not be carried out in a hurried manner. The matter should first be discussed by the ministry of labour, with the apex labour organisations in the country, with a view to evolve a consensus on the issue and thereafter, it should again be placed before the standing committee.

Implementation

Report on the

Recommendations

Approved by the

Inter-State Council

The state government is of the view that follow-up action on the implementation of the recommendations of the Sarkaria commission should be taken in a time-bound manner.

We have received the agenda papers only a few days back. We require more time for detailed examination of the proposed action plan. The state government will send the response on this issue shortly.

Lastly, I would like to mention that the process of accepting/implementing the Sarkaria commission recommendations has taken long time. There is need to complete this process without further delay. Not only that, considering the fact that Sarkaria commission’s recommendations were based on situation prevailing in the country in 1980s, it is high time to take stock of the situation afresh in the light of the changed scenario in the country. I hope that the Inter-State Council will play a more active role in addressing these issues in future.