Manipur Congress, CPI demand census deferment until normalcy

Opposition Congress in Manipur has joined the growing demand for deferment of the upcoming census exercise in the state, insisting that enumeration should only be carried out once complete normalcy is restored and displaced persons resettled.
Civil society groups and student bodies across the state have already voiced concerns, stressing that census operations without detection of illegal immigrants would compromise accuracy.
Campaign for Just & Fair Delimitation (CJFD) has been spearheading the movement in valley districts, while Naga-based organisations have taken the lead in the hill districts.
The Communist Party of India (CPI), through its Manipur State Council, earlier warned against conducting census operations without identifying and deporting illegal immigrants. Congress has now joined the chorus, with Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president and former chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh urging the Centre to defer the exercise until displaced persons are rehabilitated.
Addressing a press conference attended by Inner Manipur MP Bimol Akoijam, Congress MLAs and leaders, Singh highlighted that over 50,000 people remain displaced due to the nearly three-year-old crisis, many still living in relief camps. He questioned how house-listing could be carried out in villages that have been uprooted or destroyed.
Singh emphasized that census data forms the foundation for national planning, governance, welfare schemes, and electoral delimitation. Inaccurate figures, he cautioned, would adversely affect governance, development planning, and future representation. He recalled that the 2001 census had shown abnormal growth in certain districts, leading to what he termed “abnormal delimitation,” which the Congress had opposed.
The MPCC president also raised concerns over the influx of Myanmar nationals following unrest in the neighbouring country, warning that conducting census without detection and deportation of illegal immigrants would distort demographic data. He reiterated that the Congress supports identification of illegal immigrants through mechanisms such as NRC, while accusing the BJP of sending mixed signals on the issue.
Meanwhile, the state government has notified that house-listing operations for the Census of India 2027 will be conducted between September 1 and 30, with self-enumeration available from August 17 to 31. However, rising public demands continue to press for deferment until NRC or a similar mechanism is put in place.