PM apprised of 'abnormal' population growth Student bodies demand NRC, MSPC

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jul 9 : At least seven student organisations have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prepare a National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Manipur with 1951 as the base year and constitute a Manipur State Population Commission (MSPC) in line with the National Population Commi-ssion.
In a memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister, seven organisations viz; AMSU, ANSAM, AIMS, DESAM, KSA, MSF and SUK  said that Manipur had strict regulations for outsiders in visiting and settling in Manipur before it was merged into the Dominion of India in 1949.
Saying that the regulation, however, was withdrawn by the then Chief Commissioner Himmat Singh in 1950 and it opened a floodgate for outsiders  to come and settle in Manipur which comprised only 0.7 per cent of the land surface of India, the student organisations continued that the decadal population growth rate in Manipur rose sharply after the cancellation of the immigration regulation by the then Chief Commissioner.
As per the organisations, Manipur saw a population growth of 35.04 per cent in the period 1951-1961; 37.53 per cent (1961-71); 32.46  per cent (1971-81); 29.29 per cent (1981-91); 24.86 per cent (1991-2001) and 24.50 per cent (2001-11).
Claiming that the population growth seen in the past few decades was not natural, the memorandum said that most of the immigrants who entered Manipur are cognate  tribes from Myanmar, Nepali from Nepal and Muslims from Bangladesh.
The memorandum urged the Government to update the NRC in Manipur with 1951 as the base year.
Further claiming that the Inner Line Permit regime which have been extended to Manipur lacks provision to save the indigenous people of Manipur and it doesn't identify who the indigenous people are, the seven student organisations alleged that many foreign Nationals have already settled in Manipur and the least the State Government can do is regulate the inflow of outsiders properly.
The organisations urged the Prime Minister to advise the State Government to establish a State Population Commission with technical experts and prepare NRC with 1951 as the base year to protect the State and her people.
Copies of the memorandum have also been submitted to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister of State for External Affairs RK Ranjan Singh and Lok Sabha MP Dr Ng Lorho Pfoze.