ST certificates issued to non-locals : IPFM
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, September 06 2022:
The Indigenous People's Forum Manipur (IPFM) has expressed deep concern on the alleged issuance of Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificates who are neither tribals nor local people.
These people who have been issued ST certificates are staying around Chandel district headquarters with ILPS passes, according to the IPFM.
Speaking to media persons at Manipur Press Club here this afternoon, IPFM president Ashang Kasar said that many non-local people who are staying at Chandel district headquarters with ILPS passes have been found in possession of ST certificates.
By issuing ST certificates to non-local people who are required to obtain ILPS passes for entering Manipur, the officials concerned have committed a serious crime, he alleged.
Such highly corrupted activity of the officials concerned challenges the collective interest of all the indigenous people, Ashang Kasar said.
It is not an issue of Chandel district alone.
But it is a very serious issue for the whole State, he said.
Apart from issuing ST certificates, these non-local people have been given job cards under MGNREGS and they even lodged a complaint to the authority concerned that they have not been given MGNREGS wages, Ashang Kasar said.
CSOs based at Chandel and many individuals raised the matter to the authority concerned in 2019 but the authority has not yet addressed the matter, he decried.
He then urged the Government to investigate the matter in the interest of the indigenous people and redress all the wrongdoings at the earliest.
Ashang Kasar said that they would submit a memorandum on the issue to the Chief Minister today itself.
The IPFM would also explore legal options in order to redress the wrongdoings, he added.