Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha on Saturday described the tripartite agreement between the Government of India, the Government of Tripura, and the state’s prime opposition force TIPRA Motha as a stepping stone towards the “progress” and “inclusive development”.
Speaking to reporters here at the civil secretariat after his return from the national capital, the Chief Minister said, “I have said it again and again that this government commits to find out a solution to all problems. We have seen political parties creating trouble to stay long in power but this government stands apart.”
Calling the accord historic, Dr Saha said, “Everyone is well aware that TIPRA Motha since its inception tried to highlight some issues that required urgent redressal. Not only the state government, they have raised their concerns before the central government as well. Eventually, a solution formula was worked out through this accord. I must say, this was the need of the hour.”
The Chief Minister extended his sincere thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, senior officials of the Home department, leaders of TIPRA Motha, and other stakeholders who had toiled hard to make this accord a reality.
Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for North East, Dr Saha mentioned the peace accords signed with the Government of India which brought many underground organizations to mainstream life.
According to Dr Saha, as per the accord signed on Saturday, issues about socio-economic and linguistic development would be looked into.
“The Home Ministry has instructed us to complete the tasks as per the accord in a time-bound manner. There is no specific timeline mentioned but we are told that after the formation joint working group or committee things should move forward at a rapid pace,” said the Chief Minister.
On being asked about the High Power Modality committee that was formed followed by the agreement with IPFT, Dr Saha said, “Since a new working committee will be constituted, I think there is no need to revive the old committee.”
To a query on whether the state government was in dialogue with the remaining factions of the rebel outfit NLFT, Dr Saha said, “Our intelligence agencies have been consistently pursuing the rebel outfits to ensure that all of them can return to normal life.”
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