AGARTALA, February 13 (TIWN): Chief Minister Manik Sarkar today during the Day-6 assembly session denied direct funding to Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), with the controversy erupted on the statement of former Tripura Chief Minister Dasharat Deb. “There was no such statement made during the regime of Dasharath Deb over direct funding to TTAADC”, mentioned CM Manik Sarkar today, while the Opposition MLA Ratan Lal Nath today argued it demanding for the same for sake of the indigenous people here in Tripura. Strongly opposing the proposal of direct funding to the TTAADC Chief Minister Manik Sarkar today during the assembly session said, “the former Chief Minister Dasharath Deb’s regime does not consists of any statement that accepted the proposal of direct funding to ADC”. Sarkar made it clear that the Left Front government is totally against providing direct funding to the TTAADC.

 The issue was today raised by the opposition MLA Ratan Lal Nath.Sarkar added that regular reporting of accounting and finance in a time bound manner rather would affect the functioning and developmental activities in ADC areas.

While on the other slamming the statement of CM Manik Sarkar today said that the opposition have been demanding direct funding and administrative control of ADC by the center but leftists are opposing it because of their narrow political interest and they never want development of tribal, Mr Nath alleged.

However it is mentionable here that earlier the state govt. poked at the opposition on the issue of empowering the TTAADC saying that they had jeopardised the existence of the state’s tribal autonomous body. Besides, the ST cell of the Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) earlier had recently met with Union Home Minister of State Kiren Rijiju and submitted a memorandum demanding more teeth to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) by direct funding to the autonomous body and converting it into a state council.

However talking to TIWN today INPT General Secretary Jagadish Debbarma said that during the year 1989 the proposal was made from the center for the direct funding to the TTAADC and that too for the sake of the indigenous people of the state Tripura and other North Eastern states, but because of the callous and unwillingness of the Left Front government, it has been a total failure.