Manipur Civil Group Asks Centre To Postpone Census In Crisis-Hit State

A civil society campaign in Manipur has asked the Centre to postpone the census 2027 exercise in the border state due to "prevailing circumstances that make the conduct of the exercise impracticable and unreliable at present."

In a memorandum to Governor AK Bhalla, the Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation (JFD) said security concerns, inaccessibility, and persistent law and order challenges in certain districts have resulted in restricted movement, curfews and inaccessibility of several habitations.

The memorandum signed by JFD convenor Jeetendra Ningomba said the deployment of census personnel under such circumstances poses a serious risk to their safety and will likely affect data collection.

"Population displacement and administrative paralysis due to the ongoing conflict and unrest caused by armed illegal immigrants and their associations along with related incidents have led to large-scale internal displacement," JFD said in the memorandum.

"Many people are currently residing in temporary relief camps or have migrated to other areas. Concurrently, the administrative machinery in several parts of the state is functioning at reduced capacity, making planning, coordination and supervision of the census infeasible," it said.

The JFD alleged the presence of undocumented immigrants in certain districts raises significant concerns about the accuracy of demographic verification and may distort population data leading to long-term implication for resource allocation, security and governance.

"... Since May 2023, Manipur has been divided into de facto ethnic zones. Government enumerators cannot safely access many areas, and local functionaries are reluctant or unable to cross community lines due to safety concerns. More than 60,000 people are living in relief camps. Many households have been destroyed, and displaced persons are either scattered across districts or migrated outside the state," it said.

In such a situation, the definition of "usual residence" becomes ambiguous, it said, adding enumerators who are mostly drawn from school teachers and local officials will not be able to work well due to lack of cooperation, deployment risk, or outright absence in disturbed areas.

"This will definitely jeopardise the integrity of enumeration. Without taking prior corrective measures, in such cases, the taking of census will not only be a faulty and futile exercise, but it will also aggravate the current crisis... Postponing the census until a neutral, peaceful environment is restored is not just an administrative necessity - it is a constitutional and moral imperative to ensure justice, equality, and accuracy," the JFD said.