GUWAHATI: Taking a leaf out of Assam’s book, Manipur has decided not to extend the benefits of various beneficiary schemes to families with more than four children. The decision was taken at a state cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister N Biren Singh, on Thursday evening. The cabinet approved the establishment of the Manipur State Population Commission and implementation of it as an ordinance.
Minister Sapam Ranjan told reporters that under the population commission, families with more than four children would not be considered for the benefits of various beneficiary projects from now on. “Earlier, the state Assembly had adopted a private member resolution to establish the population commission,” he said.
On January 1 last year, the Assam government had implemented the Population and Women Empowerment Policy of Assam. It made persons with more than two children ineligible for government jobs and election to the panchayats and civic bodies.
The Manipur minister said the cabinet held a detailed discussion on the issues of possession of fake Aadhaar cards and violation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) norms by elements. The ILP is an official travel document that allows inward travel of Indian citizens from other states to the protected states of Manipur besides Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh for a limited period.
According to official figures, Manipur’s hill districts recorded a population growth of 153.3% from 1971 to 2001 and 250% from 2001-2011. Earlier, alarmed by the alleged influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Nepal besides Myanmar, 19 tribal organisations of the state had urged the Centre to set up “centres of operation” for the immediate detection and deportation of the illegal immigrants.
In a joint memorandum, they had urged PM Narendra Modi to safeguard the genuine citizens through the implementation of the National Register of Citizens or NRC.