Ministry puts state's population to 23.41L, poll roll 19.68L
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, November 08 2021: The Ministry of Health has projected that the number of people above 18 years of age and eligible for vaccination should be around 23.41 lakh.

However, as per the draft electoral roll published by Chief Electoral Officer, Manipur, the total number of people in the said age group in the state is 19.68 lakh.

As such, the projected number by Ministry will likely add another issue to the population conundrum of the state.

The central government has projected the mid-year population of Manipur till October 1, 2020 to be 31.49 lakh.

In accordance to this, the Ministry of Health stated that the total number of people eligible for vaccination is 23.41 lakh.

However, the number of people not included in the electoral roll is 3.73 lakh, which begs the question from where the population number has increased.

According to the press release issued by the Covid-19 Control Room on October 2, around 64.52 per cent of the population has received the first dose, while 37.53 per cent have got the second dose.

But another press release issued on October 3 lowered the percentage of population who had received the first and second doses to 53.48 and 31.83 respectively.

When The People's Chronicle looked into the reason for the lowering of the percentage, it found that it was because of the Health Ministry's projection of the number of people above 18 years of age and eligible for vaccination, which stood at around 23.41 lakh.

Thus, the issue at hand is how it is possible for the absentee electoral population of 3.73 lakh could reach such staggering numbers with just the addition of migrant labourers to domestic tourists in such a short period of time.

The unbelievable projection of a percentage of the population not recorded in the electoral roll has refreshed the issue surrounding the 2001 census.

Mention may be made here that the delimitation exercise in Jammu & Kashmir and four north eastern states, namely Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur based on the 2001 census was postponed, after reports of errors and discrepancies in the 2001 report.

The 2001 census report was further challenged in the Guwahati High Court, following which the Delimitation Act was amended on January 14, 2008 and the President of India postponed the delimitation exercise in the aforementioned states.

On the other hand, the Manipur Health Department had put forward the number of people above 18 years of age and eligible for vaccination at 19,37,512, as per the electoral roll.

Of this, 1,74,783 are from Bishnupur district; 52,731 from Chandel; 1,64,1001 from Churachandpur; 3,08,671 from Imphal East; 3,63,016 from Imphal West; 1,54,797 from Senapati; 63,197 from Tamenglong; 1,91,889 from Thoubal; 87,647 from Ukhrul; 38,443 from Tengnoupal; 36,005 from Kamjong; 27,394 from Jiribam; 30,904 from Pherzawl; 36,368 from Noney and 1,13,542 from Kakching district.

However, based on the draft electoral roll published by the Chief Electoral Officer on November 1, the number of persons above 18 years of age in the state is 19,68,476 .

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