CSO bats for State Population Commission

Last Updated on September 24, 2023 by SPN Editor

The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) and the United Naga Council (UNC) have urged the Manipur Legislative Assembly to unanimously pass a House resolution with regard to setting
up of Manipur State Population Commission.

The two civil voluntary organisations also demanded the government to pass a House resolution on implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) by fixing a cut-off base year and take necessary action to identify illegal migrants and send the resolution to the Government of India for further necessary action.

A joint press release issued by COCOMI Coordinator L Ratankumar and UNC Secretary S Milan appealed to the 60 MLAs to discuss for enacting a stringent Act to curb random mushrooming of several unrecognized villages in the State.

It conveyed that COCOMI and UNC submitted a joint memorandum to Chief Minister N Biren on June 4 last urging the State Government to take up necessary measures to safeguard the indigenous people of the State from the perilous impact of demographic imbalance created by the unrestrained influx of migrants flooding the State. A copy of the memorandum was submitted each to the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister on June 10 urging them to take up immediate steps to prevent the demographic imbalance.

In the memorandum, the two CSOs demanded the government to update NRC in the State to ensure that illegal migrants are properly identified and subsequently deported to their original countries or make an alternative arrangement for the illegal migrants in a way that the arrangement does not infringe upon the rights and privilege of the indigenous people.

Demand for setting up of Manipur State Population Commission that will play a key role in making preparation for NRC update and to submit efficient recommendations, prepared with scientifically collected data on demographic related issues to the State Government is another key point mentioned in the memorandum.

Pointing out that many unrecognized villages have cropped up in the State, it demanded the government to prevent such popping up of illegal villages and not to give recognition to such villages.

With the Chief Minister, Prime Minister and Union Home Minister having failed to take up any concrete action in response to the memorandum, the two CSOs appealed to the 60 MLAs of the State to pass a House resolution to establish Manipur State Population Commission and implement NRC with a proper cut off base year to identify illegal migrants during the Monsoon session of the Manipur Legislative Assembly commencing from July 25.