Manipur Lost Rs 500 Crore Revenue Due To Violence: Chief Minister

Manipur is yet to see normalcy after clashes began in May 2023

Imphal/Guwahati:

The Manipur government in its Budget for fiscal 2025 has allocated Rs 2,900 crore to strengthen the state police. It also reported a revenue loss of Rs 500 crore in the last fiscal due to the ethnic violence.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh said 1,100 computers will be distributed across violence-hit districts to ensure people have internet access.

Overall, there has been a reduction in revenue collections, rise in spending on security and relief operations, difficulties in transporting goods and services and implementing projects, the Chief Minister said.

The demand for tribal affairs and hills has been for Rs 919 crore, he said.

Ten Kuki MLAs who the Chief Minister invited to attend the assembly session that started on Wednesday did not turn up.

The state government said 226 people have died since violence broke out on May 3, 2023. Details of the number of deaths in each district was not given.

Over 11,000 houses have been set on fire; 4,569 destroyed and the farmlands of 5,554 farmers have been damaged.

The Chief Minister said 39 people are still missing. A total of 11,892 police cases linked to the ethnic violence have been filed. There are 302 relief camps across Manipur, and the number of internally displaced people is 59,414.

Manipur is yet to see normalcy after clashes began between the valley-dominant Meitei community and nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis — a term given by the British in colonial times — who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur.

The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the nearly two dozen tribes that share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram, want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.