The Manipur government has set a fresh deadline for the rehabilitation of internally-displaced persons in the strife-hit state.
An official statement, issued by the chief secretary P.K. Goel on Thursday evening about the ongoing rehabilitation process, said the government “aims to resettle more than 10,000 displaced IDP families consisting of more than 40,000 IDPs by March 31”.
There has been sustained demands and frequent protests from the IDPs settled in Meitei-majority Imphal Valley to rehabilitate them at the earliest.
Over 60,000 people have been displaced in the ongoing conflict between Meiteis and the Kuki-Zos that erupted on May 3, 2023. Manipur is currently under President’s Rule.
“The government has so far released about ₹124 crore for the resettlement of IDPs at various locations. As of today (January 29), about 3,700 families consisting of about 16,500 IDPs have been successfully resettled,” the statement said.
The earlier deadline was December 2025. According to the statement, 2,200 IDP families comprising 10,000 people were rehabilitated till December.
“The primary aim of the government is to gradually and securely rehabilitate IDPs, restore stable living conditions, and enable resumption of livelihoods, education and normal community life. The government’s vision extends beyond mere relocation of IDPs from camps to their homes,” the statement said.
The IDPs intensified their demand to return home after the state government decided to host the 10-day Sangai Festival, a flagship tourism event, that begun on November 21. They protested on each day of the festival, questioning why they were not allowed to go home when the state government could host a festival to “project that everything is hunky dory”.
This was followed by a month-long sit-in protest in Imphal by the IDPs living in Imphal Valley from December 1 to ensure the state government sticks to its assurance to rehabilitate them by December-end. The protest prompted the Manipur government to constitute a state and district-level committees “to strengthen ongoing efforts for the rehabilitation and resettlement” of the IDPs.
Manipur’s then chief secretary P.K. Singh had revealed on July 4 about the December deadline for the resettlement of the IDPs during a media interaction in Imphal.
The IDPs living in the valley followed it up with a march to Lok Bhavan along with members of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (Cocomi) on January 12, demanding a concrete roadmap for their resettlement at the earliest.