During an assembly session on Monday, Manipur’s Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam announced that the year 1951 will serve as the reference point for updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state. This decision marks a significant step in the ongoing efforts to revise the NRC, which aims to identify and document citizens in Manipur.
Govindas further informed the House that the state government will pursue the matter with the Centre in line with the resolution adopted by the assembly last week. The NRC has been implemented in Assam, but it could not still be kept in the public domain. The matter has been pending in the court. The state government has already pursued the central government to introduce the NRC in the State. Chourasia, with IGP K. Kabib, DCs, SPs, SDOs and SDPOs as members, to carry out verification of illegal immigrants and to assist the Cabinet sub-committee.
We need to cautiously move the centre so that it would not failed like that of Assam. He said that the verification drive, which had already started, could not be continued due to the unprecedented crisis that broke out on May 3, 2023 communal clash between Meitei and Kuki. He further informed the House that the records of the 1951 NRC are being traced. As per the resolution adopted by the House on August 5, 2022, the Manipur State Population Commission has already been constituted. The State Government again pursued the Central Government as per the assembly resolution on March 1, 2024 reaffirming its earlier resolution. Again on 2nd September, 2026, the House unanimously passed a resolution reaffirming its earlier decisions. He added that on 16th February, 2023, a Cabinet sub-committee was constituted under the chairmanship of former tribal affairs minister Letpao Haokip, with former ministers Awangbow Newmai and Th Basanta Kumar Singh as members. The home minister also said that the State Home Department also constituted an official Executive Committee on March 24, 2023, headed by commissioner S.
He said that the state government alone cannot implement the NRC without the approval of the Government of India. He said, “The issue of NRC should not be taken lightly. The minister further said that the government also issued an order on the Action Taken Report of the committee.
Responding to another question raised by Opposition MLA Th Lokeshwar Singh on account of the issue of illegal immigrants in the State, the home minister informed the House that a total of 24,475 illegal immigrants have been detected in the state so far. Out of these, 6,545 were detected in Kamjong district, 3,560 in Tengnoupal district and 14,370 in Chandel district.
