Rimi Paul takes oath as municipal board chairman

Special Correspondent

SILCHAR, April 8:  The chorus of demand for empowerment of women has created spaces for them in those areas also which have been the domain of men folk till now. With changing times and in keeping with the trends, the policy of reservation by the Centre and the State has brought about a significant change in the status and responsibility of women in public life. Formation of Lakhipur Municipal Board has brought in Rimi Paul as chairperson to be recognized as the first citizen of this sub-divisiol town, located on the border of Manipur.

 In the 10 member municipal board for which election was held, 5 seats were won by BJP and 4 by Congress while 1 went to Independent. As the Independent member supported Congress which also had the backing of MLA of Lakhipur and MP of Cachar as nomited members of the state, the board was ultimately formed by Congress and Rimi Paul was elected as chairperson and Pulakjyoti Das as vice-chairman. The formation ceremony was presided over by Pro-tem Speaker Man Ranjan Deb. The function saw the presence of all the 10 elected ward commissioners of Lakhipur town at the initial stage of proceedings.

 Pulakjyoti Das who contested the election as Independent joined Congress to bolster up its strength in the board. As a reward, he was made the vice-chairman. T T Dewlagopu, SDO (Civil), administered the oath of office to the elected chairperson, vice-chairman and all the ward commissioners. On the occasion of the formation of the board, Ajit Singh, minister of transport and excise, and Sushmita Dev, MP, as well as Rajdeep Goala, MLA, in their speeches in more or less identical manner laid stress on the development of Lakhipur sub-division.

 Rimi Paul sought the help of all the ward commissioners in smooth and proper implementation of the schemes for improving the civic facilities of the town and also the functioning of the board. She also reached out to the people of all sections of the sub-division for their help and cooperation. Significantly, protesting against alleged undue influence by Congress on Pulokjyoti Das to join the party, BJP ward commissioners walked out and boycotted the rest of the proceedings.