Manipur CM calls for statewide survey to reorganise district borders
Creation of new districts failed to serve needs of local communities, he claims, blaming the previous Congress regime for the issues
Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh during an interview with PTI, in Imphal, Saturday, April 27, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Monday (August 12, 2024) called for a Statewide survey to reorganise district boundaries. Criticising the way some of the State’s districts were created, he accused past governments of drawing boundaries that served their “political interests” and not administrative convenience.
This comes even as the ethnic conflict between the valley-based Meitei people and the hills-based Scheduled Tribe Kuki-Zo-Hmar people has continued for over a year now, killing over 220 people, injuring thousands and internally displacing tens of thousands.
The Chief Minister was speaking in the Assembly on Monday, addressing concerns raised by Naga People’s Front legislator Leishiyo Keishing, who pointed out that the formation of the Kangpokpi district in 2016 had affected the political aspirations and other opportunities of many Tangkhul and Rongmei Nagas.
Later in the day, Sagolband MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh, said that the government was “contemplating fresh demarcation” of districts for “actual and better administrative reasons”.
In his address to the Assembly, the Chief Minister acknowledged complaints of some villages being incorrectly assigned to new districts and said the Statewide survey should involve village authorities, community leaders, and legislators. Mr. Singh added that there were also calls for the rollback of some newly created districts.
Speaking on the concerns raised by Mr. Keishing, Mr. Singh said that several Naga residents of Churchandpur and Kangpokpi districts had met with him recently, claiming that they were not receiving essential services, commodities, and opportunities in their districts and that they were being “illegally taxed”.
The Chief Minister claimed that all of these issues had come up because the new districts never took care of the needs of local communities.
Mr. Singh also criticised certain communities, saying it was “most unfortunate and detrimental to peace and harmony” that these communities viewed district boundaries through an ethnic lens.
In 2016, the erstwhile Congress government led by Ibobi Singh had created seven new districts. While the districts of Kangpokpi and Tengnoupal were carved out from Senapati and Chandel districts, respectively, Pherzawl and Jiribam were carved out of Churachandpur and Imphal East districts, respectively.
(With PTI inputs)
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