Imphal, July 10 (IANS) Opposition Congress in Manipur on Thursday urged Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla to take steps to rehabilitate the violence-hit displaced people, who have been staying in the relief camps in different districts for more than two years after the ethnic violence broke out in May 2023.
A four-member Congress delegation, led by state Congress chief Keisham Meghachandra Singh, visited the Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum to the Governor’s Secretariat seeking rehabilitation of displaced people in their original districts.
“Governor Bhalla was not in Imphal when the Congress delegation went to the Raj Bhavan. Both the Central and state governments have no clear-cut policies to deal with the ethnic crisis in the state,” the Congress said in its memorandum.
Referring to his visit to the Bishnupur district on Wednesday, Singh said that he visited two sites in the district where prefabricated houses were constructed to accommodate displaced people.
“I have found that the construction of prefabricated houses was executed without floating any tender, and it strongly indicates a possibility of looting of public money of hundreds of crores of rupees,” the Congress leader claimed in their memorandum.
Singh, also an MLA, earlier said that the Congress rejects the so-called three-phase resettlement plan for displaced people, as it fails to offer a clear and concrete roadmap for restoring displaced people to their rightful homes.
“Instead of promoting unity and lasting rehabilitation, the plan risks deepening existing divisions and prolonging displacement,” he said.
The state government has established over 300 relief camps in Imphal Valley and hilly regions to provide shelter to over 57,000 men, women and children, who were displaced after the ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3, 2023.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Prashant Kumar Singh last week said that with the improvement in the situation, the Manipur government has started resettling the displaced people.
The Chief Secretary had said that the resettlement of displaced people would be done in three phases — July, October and December and the process is targeted to be completed by December this year.
“Most displaced people would be resettled in their original villages. Even after December 2025, 9,000–10,000 displaced people may not be able to return to their original villages, especially those displaced from some areas, including Tengnoupal, Churachandpur, and Kangpokpi districts. These 9,000–10,000 people would be provided with accommodation in prefabricated houses. A large number of prefabricated houses were already constructed in different districts, and an additional 1,000 such houses are being constructed for this purpose,” Chief Secretary Singh had told the media.
He said that the resettlement process has been initiated after a series of meetings with the various Union Government ministries, including the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Of the three phases resettlement process, the first phase has already begun and it is expected to be completed by this month (July), the Chief Secretary said, adding that the second phase of resettlement is scheduled for October, followed by the third and final round by December.
According to the Chief Secretary, the number of displaced people has come down from around 62,000 to 57,000.
He said that financial assistance of Rs 3.03 lakh per family would be provided to those families whose homes have been destroyed, and a lump sum amount would be provided to those families whose homes were not damaged but have been partially damaged after two years of abandonment.
Chief Secretary Singh said that the state government has taken a series of initiatives to restore free movement in different parts of the state.
–IANS
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