District boundaries frozen ahead of Census exercise amid vehement calls for NRC
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, January 03 2026: The administrative boundaries of all districts, tehsils, villages, etc in Manipur have been frozen to facilitate the census operation.

An order to this effect was issued by Additional Secretary (Home) Ahanthem Subhash Singh on December 31, 2025 .

The freeze will be in effect from January 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027 .

Notably, the order came amid vehement calls by several civil society organisations for updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) before any census operation is carried out in the State.

The Union Cabinet approved Census 2027 on December 12 last year with a budget allocation of Rs 11,718 crore.

District boundaries frozen ahead of Census exercise amid vehement calls for NRC

The exercise, said to be the world's largest statistical operation, will be conducted in two phases-house listing and housing census from April to September 2026, followed by population enumeration in February 2027 .

The Joint Committee Opposing Delimitation Exer- cise in Manipur (Kanglei-pak) earlier warned that carrying out census operations without first updating NRC will have serious implications for Manipur which has been grappling with the issue of influx of illegal immigrants for decades.

The population of illegal immigrants was reflected glaringly in the 2001 census report, the committee said.

It also pointed out that unusually high decadal growth rates were recorded between 1991 and 2001, particularly in Chandel district, which recorded 66.62 per cent-far above the State average of 24.86 percent and the National average of 21.98 per cent.

Sub-divisions in Chandel, Ukhrul, Senapati, and Churachandpur districts showed growth rates considered humanly impossible.

The committee alleged that large-scale illegal immigration from Myanmar contributed to these figures.

The erroneous census data of 2001 has not been rectified yet and as such, the State has long been relying on the provisional and controversial census data.

Moreover, the population figures of 2011 were also only projected estimates.

The Joint Committee Opposing Delimitation Exer- cise in Manipur (Kanglei-pak) categorically stated that any delimitation based on incorrect census data is unacceptable.

For the census to reflect the true population data, implementation of the National Register of Citizens based on 1951 as the base year is a must, the committee.

A conclave of political parties held on December 27, 2025 at Lamyanba Shanglen, Konung Lampak resolved to seek postponement of census operations in Manipur until and unless normalcy is restored, IDPs are resettled at their homes/villages, normal administration is restored, free move- ment is restored and illegal immigrants are identified by way of updating NRC or a similar mechanism.

The conclave held at the initiative of the Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation concluded that conduc- ting census operations under the prevailing situation will not be able to reflect the demographic reality of Manipur.

The conclave asserted that incomplete census operations and delimitation based on such incomplete census operations will result in irreversible demographic and social-political consequences, and this injustice will be given a legitimacy.

The Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation pointed out that indigenous communities of Manipur are facing an existential threat on account of continuous influx of migrants over the past many decades.

If census operations are carried out under the prevailing situation, unlawful elements will be legitimised, and in case delimitation is done based on such erroneous census data, indigenous people will be deprived of their political rights, said a key member of the Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation.