Imphal: The Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation (JFD) on Wednesday described the Manipur Legislative Assembly’s discussion on deferring the Census until the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is updated as “incomplete”, arguing that it failed to clarify the proposed base year for the exercise.
Speaking to the media at the JFD protest site at Citizens’ Club in Imphal East, JFD Co-Convenor Longjam Ratankumar welcomed the Assembly taking up the public demand during the opening session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly.
Ratankumar said the issue had reached the Assembly following sustained protests and public pressure seeking an NRC update before any Census exercise is undertaken in the state.
However, he said the discussion did not fully address what the organisation considers the central issue the benchmark year to be used for updating the NRC.
According to Ratankumar, the Assembly should have explicitly specified the base year for the NRC exercise in line with the demand being raised by the people of Manipur.
He reiterated the JFD’s position that 1951 should be adopted as the base year for updating the NRC in the state.