Manipur’s AI turn : Governance, classrooms and security enter a new phase
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Dr Moirangthem Indrakumar Singh
Contd from previous issue
GP Women’s College Principal Prof L Rajen Singh called AI a powerful tool that nonetheless could not replace traditional rigour in academic study and research, urging scholars to use it judiciously.
Local media treated the lecture as a bellwether of broader changes. India Today NE ran the headline “AI revolution sweeps into Manipur’s classrooms and research halls”, presenting the program as evidence that the state’s academic ecosystem is now directly engaging with generative AI.The Frontier Manipur similarly reported that experts at the event called for a rethink of how AI reshapes academic research, warning of both its opportunities and risks.
The conversation is not confined to one-off- lectures. Faculty records from Manipur University show that Akashvani Imphal hosted a seminar titled “Artificial Intelligence for Youths : Exploring Opportunities, Mitigating Risks” at MIMS, Manipur University, on 18 January 2025, with Dr Khumukcham Robindro Singh as an invited speaker, signalling a growing focus on public outreach and youth engagement in AI.In February 2026, Manipur Technical University announced a program on “Gen AI and Preparation for Competitive Exam”, aimed at helping students, especially those in professional courses, understand and responsibly use generative AI tools in their learning and exam strategies.
On the research front, Manipur is preparing to host its own international AI conference in the near future.IIIT Manipur has announced the “International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Computing (ICAIAC-2026)” to be held from 2–5 August 2026 at its campus in Imphal. The official conference page listed themes including artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, data science, and natural language pro-cessing, with selected papers targeted for publication in Scopus-indexed- outlets.For a relatively young institute in a peripheral state, hosting such a conference suggests an ambition to embed itself into global AI research networks.
AI is also beginning to shape Manipur’s security and law-and-order strategies. In December 2025, Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla chaired a high-level conference of the Home and Police Departments at Lok Bhavan, where he directed the state police administration to strengthen survei- llance using state-of-the-art technologies, including drones and AI-based tools, with the specific objective of building a drug-free state. Reports in The Shillong Times, The Assam Tribune, PTI and PTI copy carried by The Week, and other outlets note that the Governor drew on discussions from the 2025 DGPs/IGPs Conference held in Raipur from November 28 to 30 and stressed the need for capacity building so that police personnel can effectively use these AI-enabled tools. The directive included deploying AI alongside drones to enhance surveillance and enforcement in vulnerable areas.
These state-level directions align with national trends in security technology. In July 2025, CRPF Director General Gyanendra Pratap Singh told the media that the force would soon induct the latest AI and drone technologies for operations in multiple theatres, including Jammu & Kashmir and the North-Eastern states such as Manipur. Speaking to ANI, he said the force is focused on making its human resources future-ready and adequately trained, noting that modern technologies like artificial intelligence are the need of the hour and will soon be inducted into the CRPF along with quantum computing tools, while high-end drones are already being used for maintaining law and order and for counter-terrorism operations.
AI-related technical content is also seeping into engineering disciplines. A workshop brochure hosted by Manipur Institute of Technology (MIT), a constituent college of Manipur University, outlines a programme on semiconductor technologies in which low-power design and optimisation using AI are emphasised. The document explains that AI-based optimization techniques can be used to minimise energy consumption and improve performance in semiconductor circuits, giving engi- neering students in Manipur exposure to how AI interacts with VLSI and hardware design.
At the regional level, Manipur stands to benefit from the Government of India’s North Eastern Science & Technology (NEST) Cluster project. A Press Information Bureau release from November 2025 describes NEST as a hub-and- spoke initiative anchored at IIT Guwahati, with thematic components that include a “Technology Hub for Semiconductor and AI.” This AI and semiconductor hub is intended to serve institutions across all North- Eastern states, providing shared research infrastructure, training, and innova- tion support, in which Manipur’s Indian Institute of Information Technology, Senapati, Manipur,is one of the ‘spokes.’
Taken together, these strands point to a pattern. A state-level push is building AI awareness and capacity among senior bureaucrats; universities are incorporating AI into discussions on pedagogy, evaluation and research integrity; security agencies are being nudged towards AI-enabled surveillance; regional policy is financing an AI and semiconductor hub that includes Manipur; and private providers are offering AI training on the ground. For a small, conflict-scarred state at the edge of India’s map, Manipur’s slow but deliberate embrace of AI may well determine how inclusive and resilientits future digital society becomes.
The writer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Media Studies at CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru. His research focuses on the impact of emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, on journalism, media practices, and digital governance. He can be reached at [email protected]
Contd from previous issue
GP Women’s College Principal Prof L Rajen Singh called AI a powerful tool that nonetheless could not replace traditional rigour in academic study and research, urging scholars to use it judiciously.
Local media treated the lecture as a bellwether of broader changes. India Today NE ran the headline “AI revolution sweeps into Manipur’s classrooms and research halls”, presenting the program as evidence that the state’s academic ecosystem is now directly engaging with generative AI.The Frontier Manipur similarly reported that experts at the event called for a rethink of how AI reshapes academic research, warning of both its opportunities and risks.
The conversation is not confined to one-off- lectures. Faculty records from Manipur University show that Akashvani Imphal hosted a seminar titled “Artificial Intelligence for Youths : Exploring Opportunities, Mitigating Risks” at MIMS, Manipur University, on 18 January 2025, with Dr Khumukcham Robindro Singh as an invited speaker, signalling a growing focus on public outreach and youth engagement in AI.In February 2026, Manipur Technical University announced a program on “Gen AI and Preparation for Competitive Exam”, aimed at helping students, especially those in professional courses, understand and responsibly use generative AI tools in their learning and exam strategies.
On the research front, Manipur is preparing to host its own international AI conference in the near future.IIIT Manipur has announced the “International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Computing (ICAIAC-2026)” to be held from 2–5 August 2026 at its campus in Imphal. The official conference page listed themes including artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, data science, and natural language pro-cessing, with selected papers targeted for publication in Scopus-indexed- outlets.For a relatively young institute in a peripheral state, hosting such a conference suggests an ambition to embed itself into global AI research networks.
AI is also beginning to shape Manipur’s security and law-and-order strategies. In December 2025, Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla chaired a high-level conference of the Home and Police Departments at Lok Bhavan, where he directed the state police administration to strengthen survei- llance using state-of-the-art technologies, including drones and AI-based tools, with the specific objective of building a drug-free state. Reports in The Shillong Times, The Assam Tribune, PTI and PTI copy carried by The Week, and other outlets note that the Governor drew on discussions from the 2025 DGPs/IGPs Conference held in Raipur from November 28 to 30 and stressed the need for capacity building so that police personnel can effectively use these AI-enabled tools. The directive included deploying AI alongside drones to enhance surveillance and enforcement in vulnerable areas.
These state-level directions align with national trends in security technology. In July 2025, CRPF Director General Gyanendra Pratap Singh told the media that the force would soon induct the latest AI and drone technologies for operations in multiple theatres, including Jammu & Kashmir and the North-Eastern states such as Manipur. Speaking to ANI, he said the force is focused on making its human resources future-ready and adequately trained, noting that modern technologies like artificial intelligence are the need of the hour and will soon be inducted into the CRPF along with quantum computing tools, while high-end drones are already being used for maintaining law and order and for counter-terrorism operations.
AI-related technical content is also seeping into engineering disciplines. A workshop brochure hosted by Manipur Institute of Technology (MIT), a constituent college of Manipur University, outlines a programme on semiconductor technologies in which low-power design and optimisation using AI are emphasised. The document explains that AI-based optimization techniques can be used to minimise energy consumption and improve performance in semiconductor circuits, giving engi- neering students in Manipur exposure to how AI interacts with VLSI and hardware design.
At the regional level, Manipur stands to benefit from the Government of India’s North Eastern Science & Technology (NEST) Cluster project. A Press Information Bureau release from November 2025 describes NEST as a hub-and- spoke initiative anchored at IIT Guwahati, with thematic components that include a “Technology Hub for Semiconductor and AI.” This AI and semiconductor hub is intended to serve institutions across all North- Eastern states, providing shared research infrastructure, training, and innova- tion support, in which Manipur’s Indian Institute of Information Technology, Senapati, Manipur,is one of the ‘spokes.’
Taken together, these strands point to a pattern. A state-level push is building AI awareness and capacity among senior bureaucrats; universities are incorporating AI into discussions on pedagogy, evaluation and research integrity; security agencies are being nudged towards AI-enabled surveillance; regional policy is financing an AI and semiconductor hub that includes Manipur; and private providers are offering AI training on the ground. For a small, conflict-scarred state at the edge of India’s map, Manipur’s slow but deliberate embrace of AI may well determine how inclusive and resilientits future digital society becomes.
The writer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Media Studies at CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru. His research focuses on the impact of emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, on journalism, media practices, and digital governance. He can be reached at [email protected]