Manipur Post-COVID Recovery: The State Needs to Emerge Stronger Than Ever

Delphina Shinglai *

3rd Flower Festival at Kayinu Village, Mao Gate, Senapati in November 2017 :: Pix - Kriti RK

As the country battles to control and manage COVID-19 spread, economic recovery is a critical agenda in the midst of COVID recovery. To address this interest optimistically, the post COVID world may give the opportunity for unprecedented courses and circumvent it with refurbished versions of our society and the government’s vision.

The COVID pandemic has transformed how we think about our economies and our societies. And with hopes that the worst will be behind us in the next year, economic prospects brightens and it is now, that the policy choices governments make today will determine the state’s success in building a resilient and improved society with long term economic progress.

When mass COVID cases broke out last year, the government’s ease attitude of response was criticized. It exposed the state’s poor medical infrastructure, food insecurity, and dependency from outside the State.

Drawing the experiences of COVID-19 crisis, in its aftermath the state government must initiate to build an ‘environment and structure’ that supports economic recovery and fosters economic competiveness, that will create inclusive mechanisms of productivity, skilled workforces and sustain value.

Productive growth plans should not be a one-time plan but should succor to effectively bring long run productivity. To create such value, the state government needs to ensure right conditions for it. The state should focus on projects that will likely help socio-economic benefits.

Build vision, identify, improve and adopt new policies that will deliver results

Few options, the state can stimulate economic recovery post COVID and gradual economic growth by active involvement in the already existing economy generating sectors and identify hampering issues. Agriculture takes up 52.81% of the State’s Domestic Products according to the Economic Survey of Manipur, 2021.

It remains the largest depending sector, but each year agri. developmental activities are hardly taken up. The state also has substantial scope in horticulture with majorly grown fruits such as Pineapples, Guavas, Peaches, Papayas and Apricots however, this sector remains comparatively unfostered by the state, with small, slow emerging interest in the area in the recent years.

The prospect of floriculture is another potential for the state to consider. The state hosts a variety of floral treasure, with suitable soil and climate favorable for floral business.

In the last few years, floral business has entered the market with promising scope in this area. With a haven of unexplored potentials, its natural scenic beauty, unique culture is a destination with high tourism potentials that could help the state’s economy enormously.

A visible setback in the state’s growth is ‘Industrialization’ although at the central point of development agendas and continual engagement by the government, the industrialization has been excruciatingly slow in Manipur.

One of the major problems contributing to this stagnation is financial problems. Thus, the handloom and the handicrafts industry are the only notable ones in this sector of the state. In this regard, the state needs to take a choice that will drive both public and private to generate their skills.

The state government should consider revitalizing local industries, not leaving such private small entities behind, but identify, support, invest locally and safeguard local industries.

In post COVID recovery, the state should consider to monitor all these aspects effectively to create a flow that generates inward state growth.

And promote learning and adoption of skills for employment in such local industries, which will create better and long term income generation for the people as well as sustain value to the state’s economy and contribute towards the state to become self-reliant.