Imphal: Manipur Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam told the Legislative Assembly on Monday that 1951 will be the base year for updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state.
Responding to Opposition MLA K. Meghachandra Singh’s question on the NRC update and the availability of its original physical records, Konthoujam said authorities were tracing the 1951 records. He said the state government cannot implement the NRC on its own and would take up the matter with the Centre in accordance with resolutions passed by the Assembly.
“We need to move the Centre cautiously so that it does not fail as it did in Assam,” Konthoujam told the House, referring to the Assam NRC, whose final list remains out of the public domain amid pending litigation.
The Minister pointed to the Assembly’s repeated resolutions seeking an NRC in Manipur. The House first passed a resolution on August 5, 2022, which also led to the formation of the Manipur State Population Commission. It reaffirmed the demand on March 1, 2024, and again passed a unanimous resolution on September 2, 2026.
Responding to a separate question from Opposition MLA Th. Lokeshwar Singh on illegal immigration, Konthoujam outlined measures taken by the state to detect undocumented immigrants.
A 12-member committee headed by former Minister Awangbow Newmai was constituted on August 7, 2024, to detect illegal influx and the unnatural growth of new villages. The government has also issued an order on the Action Taken Report submitted by the committee.
The committee followed earlier mechanisms, including a Cabinet Sub-Committee formed on February 16, 2023, under former Tribal Affairs Minister Letpao Haokip, and an Executive Committee constituted on March 24, 2023, under Commissioner S. Chourasia.
The Executive Committee had begun verifying undocumented immigrants, but the exercise was halted after the outbreak of ethnic violence in the state in 2023.