Manipur govt to deny benefits of government schemes to 'unregistered' villages in state

Guwahati: The BJP government in Manipur has decided not to provide benefits of government schemes including water and electricity to "unregistered" villages in the state, Chief Minister N Biren Singh announced on Tuesday.

Singh said benefits of central government schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme would also be denied to the villages not registered with the government.

Singh made the announcement while talking about the steps taken by his government to protect the forests and environment in Manipur.

Although Singh did not specify about the unregistered villages, sources in the government on Wednesday said he was referring to villages which cropped up in the Kuki-dominated hill districts since 2006. The source said the new villages consisted of "illegal migrants" from neighbouring Myanmar, who were allegedly provided shelters by the Kuki-Zo communities without government's information.

"Many such villages were set up in the forests and this resulted in destruction of forest cover and the environment. This must stop. The government has decided to stop benefits of government schemes in order to prevent them from further destroying the forests," said the source.

New villages

In April this year, Singh said more than 900 new villages had come up since 2006, most of which are in the Kuki dominated areas. He said "unabated infiltration" from Myanmar posed a threat to the identity and culture of the indigenous communities, particularly the Meiteis. He said his government’s crackdown on cultivation of opium by the Kukis and collection of biometrics of the "illegal migrants" were the main reasons leading to the conflict between the Meiteis and the Kukis since May last year.

More than 230 people have died and over 60,000 others were displaced due to the conflict.

Kukis, on the other hand, said Singh was continuously trying to project the Kukis as illegal migrants in order target them and support the "ethnic cleansing" being carried out by the Meiteis.

The Kuki-dominated districts like Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and Tengnoupal have remained divided from the Meitei-dominated valley districts since the conflict flared up. The Kukis have been demanding that a "separate administration" such as Union Territory can only end the conflict. The demand, however, has been rejected by the Singh-led government. Ten MLAs, belonging to the Kuki-Zo communities, however, supported the demand.