After simmering in militancy for a quarter of a century, Manipur is a wreck.

There are at least three dozen separatist militias operating in the state.  The fall-out:  an average of two psychiatric cases are reported everyday, each of them stemming from conflict-related disorders, and that's just at one government mental health centre in Imphal. The state has only 13 psychiatrists. It needs at least thrice the number to attend to the growing number of patients

Virtually every family in Manipur has at least one member who had been  -or remains - abducted by militants.  Every second family has lost a member or more to militancy.

We choose a house at random to find a state government officer who managed to return to safety. ''I had to escape, otherwise they would shoot me or beat me. It's because of my driver I could escape," he says on the condition that his name is not revealed.

It's also an open secret that every single family pays a monthly fee to militants.  Reportedly, even the police and politicians are not exempt.  Any attempt to avoid the extortion, or abandon the negotiations for how much, leads to kidnapping.

So often in Imphal,  people live in half-constructed houses; a finished house would suggest a higher income, leading to a bigger amount demanded by the militants.

So Manipur tries to live quietly, hoping to not catch the attention of either the separatist groups, or the armed forces, which locals say, are often a bigger terror.

More than anyone else, they blame New Delhi for an indifference to their problems, which are now affecting not just their physical but also their mental safety.

New Delhi's indifference... and terror tactics by at least three dozen separatist militias operating in the state.