Imphal, March 17: MoS for Science and Technology S Natum today informed the Assembly that the Government has no plans to close down the Remote Sensing Application Centre.

Replying to a call attention motion moved by FPM MLA I Hemochandra, the Minister said a decision to close down the Centre was taken during the PR stint.

However once the SPF Govt realized the importance of the Centre, all efforts have been taken up to breathe fresh life into the Centre, said the Minister.

Natum further said that the Government is finding it very difficult to frame the service rules for the employees as all of them are adhoc staff.

The Centre should generate its own income the meet the salary demands of the employees, the Minister continued.

However to make sure that the Centre functions effectively, the State Government sanctions an amount of Rs 5 lakhs each year as grant-in-aid, the Minister continued.

A total amount ofRs21 lakhs is needed per month to meet the salary demands of the employees, he added.

To help the Centre tide over its financial problem, a sum of Rs 25 lakh has been added in this year's Budget.