Manipur awaits Delhi decision on Census as Meitei, Naga groups demand NRC first

People take part in a torch rally (Meira Rally) at Kwakeithel demanding the implementation and updation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) before the Census, in Imphal on Monday (August 24, 2026). | Photo Credit: ANI Manipur is awaiting a decision from New Delhi regarding the upcoming Census exercise, which remains in limbo in the State amid the demand by several Meitei and Naga civil society groups for a National Register of Citizens (NRC) to be compiled first. With the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RG&CCI) yet to spell out the future course of action, a government source said a review of the situation is likely to be held in the coming days.On Monday (August 24, 2026), following a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Kangleipak Students Association (KSA), the High Court of Manipur constituted a Special Division Bench comprising Chief Justice M. Sundar and Justice A. Guneshwar Sharma to hear the matter on August 25 at 2 p.m. In a notification issued on Monday (August 24, 2026), the court said the Special Division Bench would sit exclusively to hear the PIL.The first phase of the Population Census 2027, House Listing and Housing Census (HLO), is scheduled to be held in Manipur from September 1 to September 30.The training of enumerators, mostly government school teachers, has been halted in the State due to opposition and protests by several civil society groups. Enumerators are required to visit each household for door-to-door enumeration and record details in a specific app on their personal phones.The self-enumeration portal, which allows respondents to enter their details independently, was scheduled to go live on August 17, but is yet to become operational. “A decision from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is awaited. The RGI office will assess the situation and there will be some clarity soon,” said a State government official.In 2011, the Census exercise could not be carried out in at least 103 villages in Chhattisgarh and 260 villages in West Bengal due to violence associated with Left Wing Extremism (LWE).Delimitation anxietyThough the Census is not an exercise to determine citizenship and counts all individuals irrespective of nationality, there is anxiety among a section of people in Manipur that the next delimitation exercise, which will redraw the boundaries of electoral constituencies, may take into account the latest Census data in a manner that could disadvantage the Meiteis and small tribal communities. Manipur has three major communities: the Meiteis, the Nagas, and the Kuki-Zo people.At least 14 civil society groups representing Meiteis, Pangals (Meitei Muslims), and the Kom and Rongmei tribes, among others, are in Delhi to seek an audience with the Union government. The group also has representation from those displaced from their homes as a result of the ethnic violence between the Kuki and Meitei communities that started on May 3, 2023.The group met officials of the MHA, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju and BJP president Nitin Nabin.Former Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, who met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi last week, said people are apprehensive that the “presence of illegal immigrants in the State has affected demographic imbalance” and that while people are not against the Census, they want the NRC first.The Congress party on August 20 sought the postponement of the Census exercise in Manipur, citing continuing violence and the displacement of thousands of people.Kuki-Zo Council calls for CensusThe Kuki-Zo Council (KZC), on the other hand, said that to rebut the “falsehoods and propaganda surrounding our population and demographic status during the Manipur conflict, an impartial Census is essential to establish facts and dispel unfounded claims”.The KZC also welcomed delimitation to ensure fair representation based on verified demographic data. Regarding the NRC, the KZC said it was a national exercise and that there was no provision for any community or State government to unilaterally initiate or conduct a separate NRC in a particular State at its own discretion.During the HLO phase, enumerators will collect information relating to housing conditions, household details, available amenities and assets possessed by households through a structured questionnaire comprising 33 notified questions. This phase of the Census forms an essential foundation for evidence-based planning and formulation of welfare and development programmes. The actual headcount will be done during the Population Enumeration phase, the second phase, which will be conducted in February 2027. In the second phase, for the first time, respondents will be asked to state their nationality along with their religion and the place and date of birth of both their parents. Published - August 24, 2026 10:40 pm IST