New Delhi: After a fiery debut speech in Parliament comparing Manipur’s ethnic unrest with the violence of Partition, state Congress MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam has formed a committee to rehabilitate citizens internally displaced in the year-long strife that has killed over 200 and displaced more than 60,000 people.
As his first act as a Parliamentarian, Akoijam established the “Committee on Resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons of Manipur” on 13 July. This committee will prepare a report on the resettlement of those displaced due to the unprecedented violence in Manipur since 3 May last year.
“The MP has very limited power but the objective is to get an in-depth study by experts and its findings made available to the government and other agencies to provide rehabilitation and resettlement facilities,” committee chairman and retired IAS officer R.K. Nimai told ThePrint.
Other members include retired IPS officer Thangjam Brojen Singh, Professor Elangbam Bijoykumar Singh from the Department of Economics, Manipur University; Dr Chungneijai Mathew M.K., Associate Professor of History at Manipur University; R.K. Lenin Singh, Professor and Head of Department of Psychiatry, RIMS, Imphal; Pradip Phanjoubam, Editor of Imphal Review of Arts and Politics; activists Nonibala Narengbam and Islam Makakmayum, journalist Babie Sharin, and advocate Hijam Chandrakumar.
According to the official notification, the committee will prepare a report detailing the social, economic, and educational status of the internally-displaced persons (IDPs) and their current conditions in relief camps. The report will also include recommendations for measures to improve their situation and facilitate resettlement in their original homes.
The committee will be looking into the socio-economic profiles of the IDPs, particularly those living in relief camps located in the districts of Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur, Thoubal and Kakching — largely areas inhabited by the majority Meitei community in the clashes between the dominant Meitei community and the tribal Kuki community. The committee has been given three months’ time to submit the final report.
“We will need to provide some training to those who will be collecting data. We plan to engage scholars, primarily doctorates (PhDs), post-doctorates, or PhD candidates who have the requisite skills. They will receive training for two to three days to ensure uniformity of data collection. Once the data is collected, we will input it to analyse outcomes, which will help us make informed suggestions on how to proceed,” Nimai told ThePrint.
The chairman also mentioned there was no current plan to collect similar data from hill areas where the Kuki community lives. He, however, stated if they were willing, the committee would be open to figuring out a way to include them as well.
“We want to have a comprehensive report of everybody, but that will depend on our ability to collect the data. We’ll place an invitation in the newspaper and provide an email address for data submissions. We will also prepare a set of questionnaires. We’ll look into it,” he added.
ThePrint reached out to Akoijam but did not receive a response. Akoijam, a JNU professor, won the Lok Sabha seat from Inner Manipur with a majority of 109,801 votes, breaking electoral records in the state.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)