Student bodies plan awareness drive against delimitation exercise
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, April 02 2025: Six student bodies of the state declared that they will carry out an awareness campaign to bring a collective understanding of the people against the proposed' delimitation exercise in Manipur.

Addressing media persons at AIMS office, Kwakeithel on Wednesday, coordinator of the six student bodies, N Dhanakumar, said process initiated for conduct of delimitation in the country as per a directive of the Supreme Court cannot be accepted in respect of Manipur.

The delimitation exercise is to be conducted based on the census report for the year 2001, which has many irregularities in the context of Manipur.

Student bodies plan awareness drive against delimitation exercise

In the delimitation exercise conducted in the year 2002, Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland states were excluded.

Additionally, the Gauhati High Court, in a ruling on a PIL filed in 2007, called for conducting delimitation exercise for Manipur after verification of 2001 census report.

In the year 2008, the then President of India cancelled delimitation process due to situation of Manipur at that time, the coordinator maintained.

According to Dhanakumar, the state cabinet formed a committee in 2003 to investigate irregularities in the census report of 2001 with the said committee detecting unaccounted census report in many areas particularly in Mao, Maram, Paomata and Chakpikarong sub-divisions.

Accordingly, people of the state did not accept the census report of 2001 .

In the year 2020 too, the then chief minister N Biren Singh reported to the media about cancellation of around 75,000 voters from electoral rolls of Manipur while many illegal immigrants are now trying to enrol into the electoral rolls.

In view of such discrepancies, it would not be appropriate and justifiable to conduct delimitation exercise for Manipur at present, he said adding that six student bodies will conduct awareness campaign widely against delimitation exercise.