Manipur: Census Deferred, NRC Moves On
The Census-2027 operation in Manipur has been deferred following strong objection from majority Meitei and other groups until the implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the north-eastern State of India
Finally the Census-2027 operation in Manipur has been deferred following strong objection from majority Meitei and other groups until the implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the north-eastern State of India.
The Union government in New Delhi agreed to defer the house-to-house counting of residents in Manipur, scheduled to begin from 1 September 2026, during a meeting, where Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, State chief minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh were also present. For some time, the Myanmar bordering State has been witnessing a series of protest demonstrations with the demand for updating the 1951 NRC in Manipur.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of India recently admitted a petition for reviewing the NRC (updated in Assam, but not yet endorsed by the Registrar General of India/ RGI) and the Directorate of Enforcement (widely known as ED) reportedly registered a case against the financial mismanagement that took place during the Assam NRC updating process ( May 2014 to October 2019).
Former NRC Assam coordinator Hitesh Devsarma sought a comprehensive and time-bound verification of the draft and supplementary NRC, which was prepared under the ‘supervision’ of the apex court. Devsarma in his personal capacity (as well as on behalf of a large section of indigenous people in Assam) approached the SC, following which the court issued notices to the Centre, Assam government, NRC State coordinator and the RGI.
He alleged that the process was full of errors and irregularities and it would create serious security implications in the country. A draft NRC (for Assam) was published on 30 July 2018 and later a supplementary list was released on 31 August 2019. The list left over 19 lakh applicants, who either did not apply or submitted unauthentic documents. Amazingly the then NRC Assam coordinator Prateek Hajela publicized it as the final one even though it was beyond his capacity.
Now Devsarma raises concern that many illegal migrants (read Bangladeshi Muslims) were incorporated in the NRC list through manipulated software and personal corruption by some employees including his predecessor Hajela (who is now enjoying VRS facility from Assam administration). He put personal experience on the front stating that many individuals were termed as originally inhabitant (OI, meaning they are natural citizens of India and don’t need submission of any document) in Kamrup district, whereas they all were immigrants from Bangladesh.
Devsarma also raised concern that many individuals could not pass the ‘family tree matching’ criteria, but their names were included in the last NRC list. Apprehending that foreign money (from Islamic countries) was pumped in Assam NRC updation to incorporate the names of illegal Bangladeshi nationals. So Devsarma also demanded a National Investigation Agency probe to unearth the scam that would finally threaten the national security of India. Highlighting that the credibility of the process (after many serious omissions and commissions) was affected and hence he sought an urgent judicial intervention.
Amazingly, another petition in the apex court has appealed for issuing citizenship certificates to those, whose names were included in the NRC list, probably interpreting it (by the petitioners Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and All Assam Minority Students’ Union) as a final official document. Now both the cases are expected to be heard in the court by the end of September.
Engagement of ED made the NRC updating process more messy as no less than Rs 260 crore were mismanaged (as stated by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India). The CAG report on social, economic and general sectors for the year ending on 31 March 2020 detected the irregularities that took place during the NRC updation, for which the Centre spent Rs 1600 crore. It also recommended penal actions against Hajela and the system integrator (Wipro Limited).
The people of Assam may remember a book on NRC, which was penned by an Assam-based television journalist lavishly praising Hajela for his ‘excellent work’ in the exercise. The talk show host, who was named and shamed on social media as one of the NRC scam beneficiaries, regularly parroted the Hajela version that it was the final NRC and people of Assam should (must) accept it without any reverification. It’s not known what motivated the outspoken scribe to adopt the preaching, but surely it would be harmful for the indigenous population of Assam.
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