Out the old Bill in a new Bill :: Needed : More than a legislation
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 16 2015 -

Withdraw a former Bill passed by the Assembly and prepare a fresh one.

This is what the State Government intends to do.

Whether this has been done out of conviction or due to the sheer pressure mounted by days of street protest launched under the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System is a different matter but what cannot be discounted is the point that the population of migrant workers or non-local people has been increasing manifold.

Statistics have been furnished to underline the point that the local people face the possibility of being swamped if there is no mechanism to check the inflow of non-local people.

On its part, the Government seems to have woken up to the cry of the people and is today bent on drafting a new legislation that will seek to protect the interest of the local people.

This sounds promising, but the last word is yet to be said.

Ultimately everything will depend on how Delhi looks at the issue for it is they who will decide on whether the new legislation is acceptable or not.

So does this mean that the fate of the land and the people will have to rely on a legislation where Delhi will have the last word ?

An important question but something which not much thought seems to have been given.

Pressure may be mounted on the State Government to come up with a Bill but ultimately it is Delhi which will decide the fate of the Bill.

An important point which must be kept in mind. This is about the Government, both at Delhi and Imphal.

Equally important too is the role of the people, the very set of people who have been raising their pitch that some sort of a legislation be put in place to check the inflow of outsiders into Manipur.

No doubt some may have put their thoughts on this question, but suffice it to say that there is nothing much to suggest that anything tangible has been taken up towards this end.

Why have outsiders or non-local come under the impression that Manipur offers them a good place to earn a living ? This question is important.

By all means the State Government must go ahead and draft a new Bill, without violating the Constitution, and see how legal mechanisms may be put in place to restrict the inflow of outsiders.

This much is true and this is what the people have been demanding all these years.

However it would do well for all to come around to the idea that laws and legal mechanisms can only help to a certain extent and it is the people who have to make sure that no rooms are created for outsiders to come here and find a place for themselves. Humans migrate to places where they can make a living.

And certainly finding a vocation is central to this idea. With the local people unwilling to take up anything that involves physical exertion, it is no wonder that most of the labourers are from outside the State.

It is the same with other professions such as hair cutting, shoe mending, manually supplying water or anything else that involve some physical exertion.

With the local people unwilling to take up these jobs, a vacuum is thus created. It is to fill up this vacuum that a huge number of workers arrive here annually.

There are numerous local people who laze away their time in almost all the neighbourhoods.

If only these people take up the aforesaid vocations then it will go a long way in discouraging the non-local people from coming here. Same is the case with the shopkeepers and those manning shops and stalls.

Why keep on creating vacuums for others to fill up ? Give it a thought.