Leimakhong IDPs raise concerns over census 2027 enumeration
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, August 26 2026: The Committee on Leimakhong Area Affected Meitei Victims has raised concerns over the proposed enumeration of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Leimakhong in the census 2027, stating that the present methodology could adversely affect their demographic representation.

In a letter dated August 21 addressed to the Governor, Chief Minister, Commissioner (Home), Director of Census Operations and Deputy Commissioner, Imphal West, the committee sought clarification on how displaced families currently residing in relief camps would be enumerated.

The committee said Leimakhong residents were forced to leave their ancestral homes following the violence that broke out in May 2023 and are currently taking shelter at Mandop Yumpham Relief Camp at Khurkhul, after their homes were either damaged or destroyed.

The committee expressed concern that the census methodology may erase the physical presence of displaced families from their ancestral lands and distort demographic data.

The committee raised three key questions regarding house-listing.

It sought clarification on whether IDP families would be enumerated at their original native villages or at the relief camps where they currently reside.

It also questioned how houses that have been completely destroyed or reduced to ashes would be recorded, and whether ancestral plots would be marked as vacant or omitted from the house-listing report.

The committee further asked whether relief camps would be treated as institutional households, temporary shelters or regular residential units, and how household-level amenities, assets and ownership status would be recorded for displaced families living in the camps.

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