Imphal: Manipur government has set up a Population Commission and asked the Centre to conduct an NRC exercise to detect and deport illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar, Chief Minister N Biren Singh has said.
“We have already identified illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar. But we have to follow certain official and legal procedures. Therefore, we have asked the Centre to conduct NRC and formed a population commission,” Singh told NDTV in an interview.
CM Singh said that the population commission has been set up to find out the indigenous population of Manipur and detect illegal immigrants.
The members of the population commission will conduct house to house population survey based on the inner line permit and 1961 as the base year.
“There will be two categories of the population–indigenous and permanent settlers. Those who came to Manipur before 1961, will be treated as permanent settlers. Those who came after 19 61, they will not be treated as permanent settlers,” Singh said.
Different student organisations and other outfits have been demanding the implementation of NRC in Manipur.
The protesters alleged that the rising influx of outsiders from across state borders and neighbouring countries like Myanmar, Nepal and Bangladesh were a threat to the indigenous Manipur population, affecting their identity, culture and economy.
They demanded the state government detect and deport such illegal immigrants.