Start talks,open schools,Manipur CM told

After dilly-dallying for months,Home Minister P Chidambaram read the riot act to Manipur Congress Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh on Saturday....

After dilly-dallying for months,Home Minister P Chidambaram read the riot act to Manipur Congress Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh on Saturday and urged him to immediately open a dialogue with civil society groups to ensure that the school and colleges in the state,which have been shut since July,are reopened.

Government sources said that Ibobi Singh was summoned to Delhi by Chidambaram on Friday after the deteriorating law and order situation and the prospect of Manipur students missing a full academic year were discussed in the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) this month. While the Home Ministry had listed out firm options in the CCS,the apex body decided that the Home Minister summon the Manipur CM and ask him to retrieve the situation.

The one hour meeting between the two politicians was followed by Home Secretary G K Pillai meeting Manipur Chief Secretary D S Poonia on Saturday evening and extending Central support to bring the militancy-hit Manipur back from the brink. The state has gone from bad to worse with all the schools and colleges,catering to no less than five lakh students,shut down at the call of Apunba Lup,a conglomeration of civil society groups,until Ibobi Singh and DGP Y Joy Kumar are removed.

While the Centre was on the verge of removing Ibobi Singh last year,the CM managed to placate the Congress high command and got a fresh lease of life. Imposition of Presidents rule was one of the options before the CCS,but the apex body decided to talk to the CM first. However, the Centre knows that time is running out for the students in Manipur who may be attracted to militancy in case they end up losing an academic year.