Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga has sought the intervention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to shift the Assam Rifles battalion headquarters from Aizawl to Zokhawsang to undertake certain infrastructure projects in the capital city, officials said here on Tuesday.A Mizoram government official said that the Chief Minister during his meeting with the Home Minister in Delhi on Monday told Shah that due to the delay in shifting the Assam Rifles battalion headquarters, execution of the certain infrastructure projects in Aizawl is getting delayed.The Union Home Ministry following the request of the Mizoram government had earlier directed Assam Rifles to shift its battalion headquarters from Aizawl to Zokhawsang, about 15 km away from the state capital, by May 2019.The battalion headquarters of Assam Rifles, India's oldest paramilitary force, has been in Aizawl since 1917.
Seeking Central government's help and financial support, the Chief Minister informed Shah that the Mizoram government would undertake a mega bamboo development project to boost the state's economy and increase livelihoods for the people.Zoramthanga, who is also the President of the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), requested the Home Minister to provide housing assistance to former cadres of the MNF who after two decades of insurgency surrendered and returned to normal life after the signing of the Mizo Peace Accord in 1986.Previous housing assistance made in 1988 by the MHA was too meagre for constructing housing units in the rugged terrain of Mizoram, sources said.According to the official, the Mizoram Chief Minister also apprised the Home Minister about the ongoing plight of thousands of Myanmar refugees sheltered in Mizoram. He said the state on its own continues to provide food and shelter to them to the best of its capacity since it is a humanitarian matter.The Home Minister assured the Chief Minister to consider the issues raised by him, the official added.