by admin | May 25, 2021 | Employment, Government Jobs
Aizawl : The Mizoram government has decided to give salaries and allowances to its 42,457 regular employees as per the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission, official said on Thursday.
The Council of Ministers, chaired by Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, decided on Wednesday night to give salaries and allowances to its regular employees as per the proposal of the Pay Commission, an official of the Mizoram Finance Department said.
He said an additional Rs 563 crore would be required annually to make this payment.
“Currently, 36-37 per cent of the total state annual budget is utilised for paying the salaries and allowances of government employees,” the official said.
He added that a high level committee would be formed to finalise the new structure of salaries and allowances as per the higher grade of pay and allowances.
The proposed expenditure on salaries did not include the salaries of employees of Lai, Mara and Chakma tribal autonomous district councils, teachers working in some schools and contractual and casual workers.
The cabinet meeting has also decided to create 629 new posts for the proposed medical college — Mizoram Institute of Medical Education and Research — in Falkawn village near here.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance
By Sujit Chakraborty,
Aizawl : Over two decades after it was conceptualised, the first unit of a 60 MW power plant in Mizoram began generating electricity this week — making it the third power-surplus state in northeastern India after Sikkim and Tripura.
“The first unit (30 MW) of the 60 MW capacity Tuirial hydro-power plant started generation on trial basis from Tuesday (August 29),” North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) General Manager P.K. Bora told IANS.
“The second unit of the project would start generation from either October-end or the first week of November.”
With a population of just 1.1 million, Mizoram’s current demand of electricity is only 110 MW to 115 MW during peak hours and is being met by the state’s few mini power projects and availability of its share of power from regional and central sector projects.
“After the full commissioning of the Tuirial hydro-power project, Mizoram would be a power-surplus state,” an official of Mizoram’s power department said, adding that the additional power is likely to be supplied to the regional or national grid.
Farmers’ protests, agitations, topographical hindrance and administrative hurdles delayed the commissioning of the project, the biggest in Mizoram, which shares a border with Myanmar (510 km) and Bangladesh (318 km).
Government-run NEEPCO, a “Mini Ratna” company under the Union Ministry of Power, commissioned the hydro-power plant utilising the water of the Tuirial river in Kolasib district in northern Mizoram.
“After the project was conceptualised in 1994, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs cleared it on July 7, 1998,” Bora said.
However, soon after project work started, farmers and locals launched a series of agitations against the submerging of their standing crops and farmland under the reservoir.
Bora, who is the project head, said work came to a total halt on June 9, 2004, due to the agitation launched by the “abruptly-formed Tuirial Crop Compensation Claimant Association, claiming compensation for the standing crops in the riverine reserve forest”.
According to the company’s senior engineer, work resumed in 2011 after the Union Power Ministry, NEEPCO and the Mizoram government jointly negotiated with the agitators.
However, the delays and consequent price escalation pushed up the cost of the project, initially pegged at Rs 369 crore, to Rs 1,100 crore.
Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, while addressing an official meeting in Aizawl earlier this week, said that four more mini power plants are expected to be completed during 2018-19 financial year.
He said the Detailed Project Report for 24 MW Tuirini hydro-power plant, to be taken up under the state sector, has been prepared. The project cost would be Rs 465 crore and it is expected to be completed in four-and-a-half years.
“NEEPCO has also been pursuing the statutory clearance of the 210 MW Tuivai hydro power project and construction work is likely to start soon,” the Chief Minister added.
Sikkim is self-sufficient at 95.70 MW while Tripura, whose daily need is 285 MW, is self-reliant in electricity.
Since March last year, Tripura has been supplying 160 MW of power to Bangladesh and is ready to provide an additional 40 MW if the central government permits it to do so.
(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, News
Aizawl/Agartala : (IANS) State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has struck gas in northern Mizoram and is continuing prospecting for more hydrocarbons, a minister said on Thursday.
“The ONGC has for the first time found gas in Assam-Mizoram bordering areas under Kolasib district,” Mizoram’s Industries Minister H. Rohluna told the assembly in Aizawl.
“The ONGC is now conducting tests on the gas found. The company has continued its drilling and hydro-fracturing to find out whether more deposits of hydrocarbons are available in the area,” Rohluna said.
The company’s Jorhat basin has been doing exploratory drilling in Kolasib district in northern Mizoram.
ONGC has already found large reserves of natural gas in Assam and Tripura, a company spokesperson said.
Oil India Ltd, another company owned by the central government, has also found gas in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
ONGC, which has been present in Tripura since 1972, has so far drilled about 206 wells in the state half of which are gas bearing.
The ONGC spokesperson said the company has undertaken a Rs.5,050 crore ambitious plan to prospect for more gas in Tripura.
ONGC has also commissioned its first mega commercial power project in the state, run by the ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC).
The Rs.10,000 crore 726 MW capacity gas-based thermal power project (using both water and natural gas) at Palatana, 60 km from here, is ONGC’s first commercial power project in India.
ONGC, in association with Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd and the Tripura government, would also set up a Rs.5,000 crore fertiliser plant in northern Tripura.
“The process is on to set up the fertiliser plant,” said another ONGC official.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Large Enterprise
Agartala/Aizawl:(IANS) The Tripura and Mizoram governments have almost computerised their Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) to implement the National Food Security Act (NFSA), official sources in the two states said.
“We will start implementing the food security act from next month. Our necessary preparation are almost completed,” Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar told IANS.
He said: “The Tripura government has been demanding universalisation of PDS and distribution of 14 essential items to people through the PDS.”
Mizoram Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs minister John Rotluangliana said in Aizawl that the state government would start implementing the NFSA from October.
“Over 95 percent of the 960,000 ration cards in Tripura have been already digitised. The remaining computerisation works and setting up of call centres are now under process,” state Principal Secretary (food and civil supplies) S.K. Rakesh told reporters.
He said: “With the completion of the remaining work, the NFSA will be implemented in Tripura from September as per the state government’s decision.”
The official said that creating infrastructure, and necessary computerisation of entire TPDS, cost around Rs.11 crore, with the central government providing 90 percent of the expenses.
In Mizoram, so far, over 98 percent of the total 241,272 ration cards have been digitised.
Mizoram minister John Rotluangliana said: “Around 706,000 of the state’s more than 10 lakh people will be covered by the food security scheme. This included around 1.36 lakh most poor people under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) scheme.”
The minister said that for people left out from the food security scheme, the state government would make arrangement to give rice at cheaper price.
The union government had asked all states and union territories to implement the NFSA from September. But, according to a central government report, the NFSA has been implemented by only 13 states and two union territories.
Most northeastern states are yet to complete the computerisation of the entire TPDS and setting up call centres, both mandatory to implement the Act.
Under the NFSA, which came into force on July 5, 2013, each eligible person would get 5 kg food grain a month at Rs.3 per kg for rice, Rs.2 per kg for wheat and Re.1 per kg for coarse cereals through the state governments.
The NFSA entitles up to 75 percent of the rural population and up to 50 percent of the urban population to receive food grain at subsidised prices.
The NFSA was passed by parliament when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government was in power at the Centre. The deadline for implementing the same has been extended thrice.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance
Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla
Aizawl:(IANS) Trade between Mizoram, Myanmar and Bangladesh would be launched soon as border infrastructures were almost ready, Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla said here on Saturday.
“The land customs station at Zokhawthar (in eastern Mizoram) was recently inaugurated by minister of state for commerce and industry Nirmala Sitharaman. This will enhance border trade with Myanmar,” Lal Thanhawla said after unfurling the national flag at the Assam Rifles ground here.
The 69th Independence Day was celebrated across Mizoram, with numerous functions and programmes, including sports and cultural events.
Lal Thanhawla said: “Development of integrated check post at Kawrpuichhuah (in eastern Mizoram) is being constructed and this will facilitate the much awaited border trade with Bangladesh.”
The chief minister said that to stop “jhum cultivation” (slash and burn method of farming), the state government’s flagship programme, New Land Use Policy (NLUP) has made impressive progress and is well on the tract to realise the goals of achieving development in Mizoram.
“Under the NLUP, 90,139 beneficiaries have so far been assisted and assistance for another 44,861 beneficiaries will be started soon to start settled cultivation,” the chief minister said.
He said that after the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UN Resident Coordinator and various UN Agencies, several countries have shown interest in joining hands with the government of Mizoram for development of forests, protection and maintenance of eco-system, support for livelihood activities and water and land management.
“An agreement for technical co-operation has been signed between FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), union Agriculture ministry and Mizoram government and US $ 496,000 (Rs 3.15 crores) has been received from the UN body,” he added.
