Manipur bureaucrat enriches people's lives

 He is a harbinger of change and has brought joy to the people of Tousem, a Manipur sub-division considered one of the most backward, by giving them what they needed most, a motorable road that connects them to the outside world.

The opening of the 100-km “People’s Road” in February has earned him the sobriquet “The Miracle Man”.

Twenty-eight year-old Armstrong Pame, the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Tousem, which lies in Tamenglong and the first Indian Administrative Service officer from the Zeme tribe of Nagaland, is the man who was instrumental in single-handedly taking on the ambitious project of building the road without any state government aid. The road connects Tousem with the rest of Manipur, also with Assam and Nagaland.

The 2009 batch IAS officer was moved by the plight of people when he saw how they had to trudge for five hours by first crossing a river and then, a stretch that can by no stretch of imagination be called a road to reach Tamenglong, just 50 km away.

According to Pame, he asked the state government for funds to build the road but was turned down due to lack of resources.

“But, I was really moved by the plight of people. So, I decided to raise the funds on my own in August 2012 through Facebook, he said.

“I put in Rs 5 lakhs and my brother, who teaches in Delhi University, donated Rs one lakh. Even my mother paid my dad’s one month’s pension of Rs 5,000,” he added.
Many people came forward to help us and after the media reported about this effort, there was no looking back, said Pame.

In a short span of time, Rs 40 lakh was raised for the road, he added.
“Since Rs 40 lakh was not a huge amount for building a road, I convinced local contractors to give us earth movers and roadrollers for free,” he said.