Manipur assembly adopts resolution on NRC, population commission

New Delhi: The Manipur Legislative Assembly has adopted a resolution to establish a state population commission and also to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The resolution was moved by Janata Dal (United) legislator Kh Joykishan on August 5, the last day of the budget session of the assembly.

Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh while joining the discussion, said that it will be the desire of all the members to institute a population commission and to implement the NRC.

The hill areas of the state saw a population growth of 153.3% between 1971 and 2001, and it rose to 250.9% during the 2001-2011 period. The valley areas also recorded a population growth of 94.8% from 1971 to 2001, and around 125% from 2001 to 2011, Joykishan stated.

The JD(U) MLA raised his concern over the alleged infiltration of outsiders into Manipur.

He claimed that there were restrictions on people from the valley districts settling in the hills, and the whopping population growth, particularly in the hills, could be attributed to the alleged influx of people from outside, reported The Wire.

For some time now, there has been a growing clamor in Manipur for the implementation of NRC. In mid-July, seven student groups and 19 tribal bodies from the state wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to press their demand for the implementation of NRC in Manipur, according to the Wire.

According to sources, the move was necessary to check migration from Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Myanmar was of their particular concern given that the state shares a 398-kilometer unfenced international border, according to The Hindu.

Many of the Chin-Kuki tribes of Myanmar share ethnic bonds with the Kuki community in Manipur, which they aided the alleged illegal migration into the state due to the political unrest in the neighboring country, reported the Wire.

It is to be noted that the JD-U government in Bihar in 2020 unanimously passed a resolution to not implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state. “National Register of Citizens (NRC) bogey is being raised despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s categorical statement that NRC is not on the anvil,” Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar reported to have said.