Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) living in Imphal on Monday launched a month-long sit-in protest in Imphal West district to ensure the state government adheres to its assurance of rehabilitating the displaced population by December.
The protest, held at multiple sites, prompted the state government to constitute state and district-level committees “to strengthen ongoing efforts” for the rehabilitation and resettlement of IDPs.
Alongside the relay sit-in, IDPs also submitted a representation to the state governor and chief secretary, reminding the government of its “assurance that the IDPs would be resettled within the month of December”. The protest has been backed by the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (Cocomi), whose convenor Khuraijam Athouba co-signed the representation. He said the protest would continue daily till December-end and warned that if the government failed to deliver on its commitment, agitation would intensify. A Cocomi team joined the protestors on Monday.
IDPs have been seeking to return home since the government announced the 10-day Sangai Festival for November 21. They protested each day of the event, questioning how the government could host a tourism festival to “project everything is hunky-dory” while preventing displaced persons from returning to their homes.
Many attempted to march back to their villages twice last week but were stopped by security forces due to safety concerns.
Most IDPs have been living in relief camps since the conflict between the Meiteis and Kuki-Zos began on May 3, 2023. The then chief secretary, P. K. Singh, had said on July 4 that the government was working toward a December deadline for resettling the displaced. He revealed a “three-phase plan” to return IDPs either to their original locations or to temporary pre-fabricated housing arranged by the government, prepared in consultation with the Centre. Singh had said the number of IDPs had come down from 62,000 to around 57,000. “The first round will go back by July, the second by October, and the third by December… But the camps are planned to be shut by December,” he had said.
Initially, around 360 relief camps were set up. IDPs have continued to demand resettlement citing anxiety over children’s education, economic hardship and prolonged mental distress.
Under the new mechanism, the state level committee—chaired by the chief secretary and comprising commissioners of finance, home, and rural development and panchayati raj, with the special or additional secretary (home) as convenor—will provide strategic oversight and coordinated policy direction.
District level committees, chaired by respective deputy commissioners, will act as the primary implementation bodies, driving field-level coordination, monitoring progress and ensuring timely feedback to the state level committee, an official statement said.