Manipur Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel on Friday afternoon officially confirmed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state scheduled for Saturday, the first such official confirmation of the PM’s visit since the start of ethnic violence in May 2023.
Whole preparations for the visit have been in full swing over the past few days in both Imphal and Churachandpur, an official confirmation was awaited. Late Thursday night, posters welcoming the Prime Minister were erected across the state capital.
Chief Secretary Goel told the media that the PM will land in Kuki-Zo-majority Churachandpur district around 12:30 pm from Aizawl. He said that the PM will first interact with internally displaced people, meaning people displaced by the conflict, in Churachandpur and lay the foundation stone for development projects before addressing the public.
Following this, he will travel to Imphal, where again he will interact with displaced people and inaugurate development projects. The Chief Secretary said that foundation stones would be laid for development projects valued at Rs 7,300 crore, and projects worth Rs 1,200 crore would be inaugurated.
Over the past 27 months, the state has seen prolonged periods of intense violence and displacement, collapse of law and order, the strengthening of insurgent and other armed groups, a parliamentary election, the imposition of President’s Rule and a gradual ebbing in violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities.
There are around 57,000 people in over 280 relief camps across the Meitei-majority valley and Kuki-Zo-majority hills in Manipur who have been displaced for over two years now. In July, then Chief Secretary P K Singh had announced an ambitious three-phase resettlement plan aimed at winding down all the relief camps by the end of the year.
The boundaries between valley districts where Meiteis are in a majority and hill districts where Kuki-Zos are in the majority have, meanwhile, hardened. A key priority for the Centre will be to ensure free movement can happen again in the state.
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The MHA is also engaging in talks with groups on both sides separately, and recently renewed a Suspension of Operations pact with Kuki-Zo insurgent groups under the umbrellas of Kuki National Organisation and the United People’s Front.
