IMPHAL, 25 Mar: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Friday assured a team of journalists, led by All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union (AMWJU) President K Shamjai, IJU President Geetartha Pathak and Indo-Bangla Journalists Forum (IBJF) Joint Secretary Abdul Hadi, that he will take up the matter of “granting easy Indian visas to Northeast visiting Bangladeshi citizens, including Bangladeshi Manipuri people.”
The CM also assured the team that he would “uplift the AMWJU office to a smart building
with state-of-the-art technology, modern elevation system, media centre, digital display board, sound system, etc.”
Apart from agreeing with Pathak’s suggestion to “transform the AMWJU building to a gateway and hub of Indian journalists to South East Asia,” the CM said that he is “considering increasing the pension amount from the present Rs 8,000 to higher slab.”
Hadi on his part said that he is “very much concerned about the Meitei people living in Bangladesh,” and said that he would send a team of journalists from Manipur to Bangladesh “to take stock of the condition of the Manipuri people of Bangladesh.”
The CM further said that Manipur will host a meeting of the IBJF shortly.
Besides the AMWJU and the IJU presidents, the team included AMWJU Secretary K Naoba, IJU Treasurer Asem Bhakta Singh, and Journalists Union of Assam’s executive body member Shahidul Islam.
