Impact of Covid, conflict deliberated
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, August 18 2025: The COVID-19 pandemic and the ethnic conflict have had serious impact on the education sector and the youths of Manipur which needs to be assessed and addressed, said Khuraijam Athouba, convenor, Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) today.

He said this during a discourse held on the topic "From pandemic to panic: The dual trauma of COVID-19 and ethnic conflict on Manipuri youths", held at SEVA Manipur Hall, Imphal.

CEO SEVA Manipur Dr Kh Chinglen Singh, KSA president Sukham Bidyananda and MAIYOND president Y Gunchenba Meitei among others attended the event.

Speaking to the gathering, Athouba said both the pandemic and conflict threw life of the people out of gear and paralysed the education section.

The conflict which erupted on May 3, 2023 has clearly affected the education sector.

However, the incidents of violence have died down and as such, students must make up for the time they lost by putting in twice the effort, Athouba said.

Students should improve and enhance their reading habits.

If they had been reading for 3 hours a day before the conflict, they should now put in more effort and study for 6 hours, Athouba said.

Stating other related impacts of the pandemic and the conflict, Athouba said the events have hurt the economy of the people.

Due to lack of resources and other factors brought by the conflict, most of the households in Manipur have suffered economically.

The State Government must take up steps to recover and revitalise the economy of the people, he said.

Plagued by many issues such as the conflict, people of the State, mostly youths are looking for jobs outside Manipur in search of a more stable income.

This exodus of the people from the State also hurt the local economy, he added.

MAIYOND president Y Gunchenba said the discourse was organised to understand how youths, especially the students have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ethnic conflict that broke out on May 3, 2023 .

By organising the discourse, MAIYOND aims to understand the impacts and take steps to address them, he added.

The pandemic and the conflict have negatively affected the education sector.

With the events having a huge impact on the academic atmosphere, the competitive spirit of the students seems to have dipped since the last 3-4 years.

MAIYOND aims to lift the competitive spirit of the students and contribute to improving the education sector, Gunchenba said.

Khaidem Ajitkumar, vice president of the MAIYOND, said the organisation is based in Delhi and was formed by students of Manipur to help and guide students from Manipur.

Dhanamanjuri University Associate Professor Dr Arambam Noni, RIMS Clinical Psychology Assistant Professor Dr Pampak Kh, RIMS HOD Psychiatry Associate Professor Dr S Gojendra and retired Senior Psychiatry Dr H Angomcha spoke as resource persons during the discourse.

Prizes were distributed to winners of a State level quiz competition held yesterday.

Around 350 students took part in the written quiz competition.

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