Imphal: A 10-member delegation representing different communities and organisations in Manipur left for New Delhi on Thursday to press the Centre for implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) before the Census exercise in the state.
The delegation comprises representatives of various communities, including Meitei, Naga, Kom and Meitei Pangal, who are expected to meet political leaders in Delhi and seek their intervention on the demands for implementation of the NRC and conduct of the delimitation exercise in Manipur.
The representatives said they would apprise central leaders of their concerns and seek clarity and appropriate action on the issues.
The demand for implementation of the NRC before the Census has intensified following a series of protests and rallies across the state. A 48-hour general strike called by the Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation (JFD) on Wednesday and Thursday brought normal activities to a standstill.
As part of the JFD’s “No NRC, No Census” general strike, protesters also set fire to effigies of Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh and Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam in Imphal East district.
Amid the prevailing law and order situation, Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Thursday evening announced the closure of educational institutions from August 20 to 22.
The training programme for enumerators and supervisors for Phase I of Census 2027, which was scheduled to begin on August 20, has also been deferred in Imphal West, Jiribam and Kakching districts.
Students meet CM over NRC
Meanwhile, a delegation of students representing 10 schools and colleges met Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat in Imphal on Thursday and demanded that the NRC be implemented before the Census.
The students urged the Chief Minister to press the Centre to order the implementation of the NRC in Manipur before the Census and to detect illegal immigrants through the exercise.
They also urged the government to reopen educational institutions and demanded that the NRC issue be discussed during the forthcoming session of the state Assembly.
Khemchand assured the students that the state government would move a proposal for discussion on implementation of the NRC in Manipur during the Assembly session beginning September 2.
He said the government supported implementation of the NRC in the state, while noting that both the conduct of the exercise and its error-free implementation needed to be addressed.
The meeting was attended by Commissioner of Education Ningthoujam Geoffrey and Director of Education (S) Ng Bhogendra Meitei.
The student delegation comprised representatives from DM College of Science, Manipur College, CC Higher Secondary School, Johnstone Higher Secondary School, Nambol Higher Secondary School, T.G. Higher Secondary School, Ibotonsana Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Ram Lal Paul School, Model Higher Secondary School and Ananda Singh Higher Secondary School.
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