GUWAHATI: The Manipur Assembly has unanimously resolved to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and set up the State Population Commission.
The decision followed two private member resolutions raised in the House on Friday.
Janata Dal (United) MLA Kh Joykisan claimed the growth of population in the state's hill districts shot up from 153.30% during 1971-2001 to 250.90% during 2001-11. Similarly, he claimed, these figures in the valley areas increased from 94.80% during 1971-2001 to 125.40% during 2001-2011.
Joykisan attributed the "abnormal" growth in population to the influx of non-Indians. He warned that if this trend continues, the smaller indigenous communities might face extinction. He suggested that the government tackle the menace by putting in place the NRC and the population commission.
Recently, 19 tribal organisations had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to safeguard the state's genuine citizens through the implementation of the NRC. They were alarmed by the alleged influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar which shares a border with Manipur.
In a joint memorandum to the PM, they said the immigrants had settled down "autonomously" since the abolition of pass permit/permit system on November 18, 1950 by the then Chief Commissioner Himmat Singh.
"No discerning step was taken on the issue in the last 75 years under the Foreigners Act, 1946. This continuous influx and overflow has subsisted within us and taken possession of the socio-economic and political rights of the indigenous people," they had stated.
According to them, non-tribal immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar occupied the Jiribam Assembly constituency and also got scattered in the Imphal valley. Likewise, they claimed, some lakhs of tribal immigrants from Myanmar and Lushai (Mizoram hills) settled down in the state.
"They have now counteracted ownership against the occupant indigenous people in hill areas," the organisations alleged. They claimed the "Nepali" population also increased "tremendously".
Manipur -- largely a hill state -- and Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh are protected by the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 or Inner Line Permit (ILP). The ILP is an official travel document that allows inward travel of Indian citizens from other states into these protected states for a limited period.
The tribal organisations said the ILP had been implemented in Manipur without defining the indigenous populace.