JCILPS sets condition for publishing final poll roll
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, December 30 2023:
Expressing concern over reports of addition and inclusion of illegal immigrants and outsiders in the electoral roll by political parties and politicians with an eye on further vote bank politics, Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) has urged authority concerned to identify and delete outsiders and illegal immigrants before the final publication of Special Summary Revision of Electoral Roll 2024 by the office of Chief Electoral Officer.
Addressing media persons at its Sega Road office, here, on Saturday, JCILPS convenor Thiyam Saratchandra said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) will be publishing the Special Summary Revision of Electoral Roll 2024 on January 5, 2024 .
Before the final publication, authority concerned needs to identify how many outsiders and illegal immigrants have been added and how many of them have been deleted from the electoral roll.
He further informed that JCILPS has been urging and reminding the government to identify outsiders enrolled in the electoral roll and to abstain from including outsiders in the same.
However, successive governments had been ignoring the proposals till date while politicians and political parties are facilitating inclusion of outsiders and illegal immigrants in the electoral roll, Saratchandra alleged.
He called upon all concerned to refrain from such acts as failure to identify and delete the illegal entries will ultimately lead to Manipur governed by outsiders.
While reiterating that outsiders and illegal immigrants should be deleted from the electoral roll of Manipur, the JCILPS convenor said that there is no point in implementing ILPS in the state if voting rights are guaranteed to outsiders and illegal immigrants as it would be akin to surrendering political and administrative powers to outsiders.
He also noted that the state government has been instructed by the ministry of home affairs to record the biometric details and relevant information of illegal immigrants considering the increase in the number of illegal immigrants entering the state from across the border.
Saratchandra also pointed out the need to strengthen the Manipur Population Commission by recruiting subject experts and to bring out a white paper on the number of illegal immigrants in the state.