The Congress on Wednesday urged the Manipur government to prioritise the resettlement of internally displaced people and restoration of normalcy in the violence-hit state before conducting the census.
Addressing a press conference, Manipur Congress president and former chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh questioned how house listing could be carried out when thousands of displaced people remain in relief camps.
More than 260 people have been killed and thousands displaced in ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities since May 2023.
“Not less than 60,000 internally displaced people are staying in different relief camps in both hill and valley areas. The majority of their homes have been demolished. So how will house listing of such people be conducted?” Singh said.
He said people from one community were unable to enter areas dominated by another community in several districts, making a comprehensive census difficult under the current circumstances.
“Let displaced people first return to their native places, and till then, the census should be deferred by the Centre,” the three-time chief minister said.
Singh stressed that Manipur’s situation was different from that of other states and called for the government to ensure the safe return and free movement of people across communities before beginning the census exercise.
On the issue of illegal immigration, he said such people may be present in Manipur, but noted that neighbouring states such as Nagaland and Mizoram also share international borders.
The self-enumeration phase of Census 2027 began on August 17, while the main house-listing exercise is scheduled to take place from September 1 to September 30.
Meanwhile, students demanding implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Manipur before the census staged a protest outside the Directorate of Census Operations in Imphal on Sunday. Police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.
Hundreds of protesters in Imphal East and Imphal West also held a torch rally on August 16, demanding that the NRC be implemented before any census-related activity in the state to identify alleged illegal immigrants.
(With inputs from PTI)
