Free Movement, 3-Phase Plan To Rebuild Lives In Manipur: Chief Secretary Shares Details

Free Movement, 3-Phase Plan To Rebuild Lives In Manipur: Chief Secretary Shares Details

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• Number of displaced people reduced from 62,000 to about 57,000 with some already returning home
• Government to provide Rs 3 lakh aid to 8,000 with destroyed houses, and financial help to 7,000 others
• About 10,000 may need prefabricated houses, with 1,000 units being built for their accommodation

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The Manipur government has come up with a three-phase plan to ensure internally displaced persons can return home safely to rebuild and restart their lives in peace, Chief Secretary Prashant Kumar Singh told reporters in the state capital Imphal on Friday.

Free movement of people will be possible very soon, he added.

"A lot of things are happening, both here in Imphal as well as in Delhi. Everybody is working hard. The central government, the state government and civil organisations are working in close coordination," the chief secretary said.

Mr Singh said the situation in the state where Meitei-Kuki ethnic clashes began in May 2023 has improved a lot, except for one-two odd incidents now and then.

Farmers from both the communities are working in their fields with little gap in distance and even helping each other with sharing water, the chief secretary said.

"Things are improving as we talk, one or two incidents apart. Farming is going on peacefully as we have made adequate arrangements. I am glad to say that both sides are farming together closely and sharing water. That is a very good sign and positive signals are coming. We have appealed to all civil society organisations to maintain calm," he said.

Manipur has been under the President's rule since February after N Biren Singh resigned as chief minister.

The chief secretary, however, cautioned that one odd incident here and there can happen because some mischievous elements are always there. He asked people from both communities not to be misled by such elements.

"Some people want to prolong [the crisis]. Some want something mischievous to happen. But the press should play a responsible role. Please verify from us and please report the right things," Mr Singh told reporters.

On June 19, a farmer from the Meitei community was shot at by unknown people near the foothills in Bishnupur district's Phubala village, after which the security forces launched an operation and a gunfight broke out. An elderly woman from the Kuki tribes was killed in the crossfire, the police said.

Even in this case, civilians who were going about their day normally were either injured or killed, officials had said, pointing at the role of a few "unknown miscreants" in keeping the Manipur tension alive.

Homecoming And Rehabilitation

The three-phase plan to help people rebuild their lives will begin this month with the return of "a good number" of people to their homes with government help, the chief secretary said. The second phase will start in October, and the third and last phase will be in December, he said.

All relief camps are planned to be shut by December after every displaced person has returned home or shifted to well-built prefabricated houses, Mr Singh said.

"First, those who want to go back immediately, a good number will go this month. Many have already started going back," he said.

"The number [of displaced people] which was 62,000 in the beginning [of the conflict] is now about 57,000. And as we speak, yesterday I took stock of Churachandpur and Kangpokpi. People have started going back. The first round will go back by July, the second round by October, and the third round by December," Mr Singh said.

According to the chief secretary, the government will offer three types of assistance: 

1. Some 8,000 people whose houses were destroyed will be given Rs 3 lakh [total of Rs 1.3 lakh and Rs 1.7 lakh] to build houses.

2. Financial aid will be given to approximately 7,000 people who fled from their homes but the structures were not destroyed or damaged, only became dilapidated in the last two years. "There will be some kind of monetary help for them so they can go and set up their house and start their livelihood," the chief secretary said.

3. The government estimates that some 10,000 people may not be able to return immediately even after December. These may include those who have fled from Moreh, Churachandpur and Kangpokpi. They will be accommodated in at least 1,000 more prefabricated houses that the government is building.

"The camps are planned to be shut by December. That is the plan," Mr Singh said.

To a question about speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may visit Manipur, the chief secretary said there is no information yet.

"Not that we are aware of. I mean, an expectation is there but nothing has come as of now," he said.

The clashes between the valley-dominant Meitei community and the nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis, who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, have killed over 260 people.