Move To Restrict Govt Benefits For Unrecognised Villages In Manipur Irks Tribals

The decision of the BJP-led government in Manipur to limit government benefits to unrecognised villages has sparked discontent amid ongoing ethnic tensions in the region.

Guwahati:The recent decision of the BJP-led government in Manipur to restrict the benefit of the government schemes to unrecognised villages has irked different sections in the hill state, which has been on the boil for over the last 16 months due to an ethnic clash between two communities.

The Manipur Cabinet has recently decided to restrict providing government schemes to unrecognised villages. The Cabinet decision to restrict the government facilities and schemes from unrecognised villages came at a time when the state government was still seeking information from the district authorities about the number of villages, both recognised and unrecognised, along with the number of households since 1946.

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that the move to restrict the benefits of government schemes was initiated to protect the forest and environment in the state. Opposition Congress in Manipur has reacted strongly against the government's decision and said that it is not a justified move to restrict the benefits from the villages, which will negatively impact many villagers.

"The Manipur Assembly had already instituted a committee to find out the actual number of villages, which have been in existence since 1946 in the state. The committee instituted by the Assembly has asked for reports from all the districts to carry out the survey and list out all the villages. However, how can the government take such a decision when the effort is on to list out all the villages as per the advice of the Manipur Legislative Assembly," said President of the Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) Keisham Meghachandra Singh.

He said that no one knows about the exact number of villages. "We have satellite imagery showing that there are a large number of such villages. It is for this reason that the Assembly has instituted the committee and asked for reports from the Directorate of Census, the Election Department and district administrations concerned," he said adding that it is not justified to stop the benefits before the completion of the survey and before a report is submitted.

The decision has also irked the Kuki community, which had been living in the hills district of Manipur, since time immemorial. "The government's decision is an effort to target the Kuki community once again. The Cabinet decision in this regard is only increasing the divide between the people residing in hills and the valley in Manipur," said Ginza Vualzong, Spokesperson of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum, an umbrella organisation of several tribes in Manipur.

Ginza further stated, "There is no fund allotment for the development of the Hills districts since last year when the violence took place," he said, adding that the tribals in the state are already deprived of the benefits of the government schemes.

The hill state in the northeast has been a cauldron of ethnic violence between the Meiteis and Kukis since May 3 last year. The violence has killed over 220 persons so far and displaced over 65,000, who had been taking shelter in different relief camps.