Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Aug 28: The National People’s Party (NPP) has said it would extend its full support to the passing of the bills relating to the introduction of the Staff Selection Board (SSB) and the Indian Stamp Act (ISA) of 1899 in the state, and reorganisation of three districts of Arunachal Pradesh.
Addressing reporters at the press club here on Tuesday, NPP MLA Mutchu Mithi said the introduction of the SSB would help the government in eradicating corruption and nepotism.
“It may not seem very important to the people right now, but this is going to save the future of Arunachal Pradesh,” Mithi said.
On the discontent of the Peoples’ Part of Arunachal (PPA) over the introduction of the SSB, Mithi said the bill should be discussed in the assembly, and the PPA should give their views on the bill to the government.
“They have their right to add their views. If some changes have to be made, that can be discussed in the assembly.
But this is the best bill placed by the government and we are going to support it. I hope the PPA also gives its consent to the bill,” he said.
“We hope that with the passing of this bill, the system will totally change. The NPP will be supporting the bill thoroughly,” Mithi said.
Congratulating the people of Mechukha, Lepa Rada and Pakke Kessang on getting new districts, Mithi said, “This bill has been brought forward based on discussions with various stakeholders. As the state faces geographical constraints, the reorganisation of districts would alleviate some of it.”
The NPP said it is upto the wisdom of the government to decide whether a particular area requires a separate district or not.
On the application of the ISA of 1899 in Arunachal Pradesh, Mithi said, “People who avail loans through banks have to pay a huge three percent of the availed loan through the Stamp Duty Act. The government wants to bring that down from three percent to one percent. This will alleviate many entrepreneurs from the pressure of returning the large amounts of loan in terms of stamp duty.
“The bills should have come earlier, especially the SSB bill; but it’s better late than never. The NPP totally supports the steps of the Pema-led government and will ensure that the three bills are fully supported and totally passed by the government without going into a select committee or such,” Mithi added.
Meanwhile, the NPP, which has an alliance with the BJP-led NDA government, expressed hope that a large number of NPP candidates would get elected as MLAs in the forthcoming elections.
NPP state president Gicho Kabak said the party “is growing stronger by the day and preparing for the 2019 elections.”
Hopeful of fielding 60 candidates in the elections next year, the NPP said it would field its candidates in the constituencies where the BJP fields its candidates, even though there is an alliance between the two.
Kabak said there would be no pre-poll alliance with the BJP, but reiterated that there was “possibility” of a post-poll alliance.
Mithi informed that there are numerous aspirants who wish to contest through the NPP ticket.
“We hope we get a huge number of seats in the upcoming elections. We are ramping up our organisation and getting ready to participate in the electoral democracy of Arunachal Pradesh,” he said.
Earlier, the state NPP congratulated Meghalaya Chief Minister and NPP national president Conrad K Sangma for his huge electoral victory in the South Tura by-election.
