Send ST report as sought: MMTU
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, December 20 2024: The Meetei (Meitei) Tribe Union (MMTU) has once again urged the Manipur Government to send the socio economic and ethnographic report of the Meeteis to the Centre so as to begin the process to enlist the community in the Scheduled Tribe list.

Meanwhile, MMTU, in a statement signed by its secretary administration Mutum Churamani Meetei, thanked both Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency MP Dr Angomcha Bimol Akoijam and Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Durgadas Uikey for taking up the matter pertaining to ST status demand during the ongoing Parliament session.

Notably, the Union MoS, while responding to the MP's question, had responded that a recommendation from the Manipur Government is required to consider granting ST status to the Meetei.

MMTU said that the question which was raised by Dr Bimol reflects the aspiration of Meeteis living in Manipur and other States who have been exposed to multitude of threats and bereft of their rights due to non-inclusion in the ST list.

Saying that the Government of India seemingly is more interested in navigating its geopolitics interest in the region rather than solving the problems being faced by Meeteis, the Union added that there also is no sign of the State Government seeking Constitutional safeguard for the Meeteis.

A large number of Meetei people have been urging the successive State Governments to send the recommendation to add Meetei in the ST list since 2013 by holding different forms of protest, MMTU added.

Continuing that MMTU had also filed a writ petition before the High Court of Manipur over the issue, the Union said that the State Government, however, has been ignoring the demand till today.

It recalled that over nine lakh people had also endorsed the mass missed call campaign conducted by MMTU on the ST demand.

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