Talks on new district row
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: February 01, 2025 -

WITH the 13th round of the tripartite talks on the district creation issue held on Thursday at the Senapati deputy commissioner's conference hall ending without any tangible solution with exception of the government of Manipur's representatives assuring to table a concrete proposal in the next round of negotiation slated for April, one could conveniently assume that finding amicable solution to the vexed problem would be a herculean task for the central and state governments.

Representatives of the government of India, the state government and the United Naga Council along with other Naga civil organisations have been holding discussions periodically to iron out differences but consensus continues to elude all such negotiations till date, thereby underscoring complexity of the problem.

While it remains to be seen how feasible/practicable would be the 'concrete' proposal of the state government and whether the same would be acceptable to denizens of the newly created districts, one can't rule out the possibility of the parleys dragging on for a protracted period of time for the government must entertain views and sentiment of all the concerned stakeholders.

For instance, P Somarendra, who is advisor of the Kakching-based Joint Non-governmental Voluntary Organisation, has forewarned against rolling back the decision to create the seven new districts, thereby implying that denizens and civil organisations of the other new districts might also be averse to the idea of annulling the December 2016 notification issued by the then Congress government which formalised creation of seven districts by carving parts of the nine existing districts.

That the district creation and rollback of the decision would remain a point of contention could also be comprehended from the tripartite talks centring on the demand raised by the UNC for the rollback of the newly created districts.

It may be noted here that with exception of Kakching district, the six remaining new districts are either dominated or have substantial population of the Kuki community and its kindred tribes.

Taking into account that the Kuki civil society organisations resorted to intense agitations, including imposition of economic blockade along the two national highways to exert pressure on the government of Manipur to cede to their demand for creation of full-fledged districts, any decision at this juncture to revoke the 2016 notification might trigger fresh bout of agitation amid the state reeling under the impact of the Kuki-Meetei conflict since May 2023.

As the denizens have been able to access government institutions for various purposes and infrastructure development projects either completed or on-going in the new districts under successive governments, there is strong possibility of widespread public movement in case the present government decides to nullify objective of its predecessor for creation of the seven new districts for administrative convenience.

Therefore, it is suggested that the state government take into confidence and prior consent of civil societies of the seven new districts, so as to ensure that the assurance given by officials during the Senapati tripartite meeting to present a proposal on the demand for cancellation of the 2016 decision in the next round of talks do not spark outrage and create fresh problem.