Body formed to spread awareness on delimitation

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Apr 12: A committee called Just and Fair Delimitation (JFD) has been set up to spearhead a mass awareness campaign on why delimitation should not be done in Manipur based on skewed census data.
Speaking to media persons at the office of CCSK, Kongba Thangjam Leikai today, JFD convenor Jitendra Ningomba said that  all the people need to be aware of the possible impacts of delimitation.
The committee (JFD), comprising different organisations, was formed to deliberate with the people on the possible changes the State would see in case delimitation is carried out under the prevailing condition, Jitendra said.
He said that the committee would soon launch an extensive campaign on delimitation.
Public discussion programmes on the likely socio-political impacts of delimitation would start from April 16, he said. Prior to that, there will be a meeting with legal experts on April 15, he said before seeking public support to the JFD’s proposed campaign.
JFD organisation in-charge Longjam Ratan said that the situation demands threadbare consultation with intellectuals, academicians and experts in the face of the Supreme Court’s directive to complete delimitation in four States of the North East including Manipur in the coming months.
Manipur, plagued by demographic imbalance, is currently passing through a restive situation.
Asserting that the census exercises of 2001 and 2011 were manipulated and the data are erroneous, Longjam Ratan said that an delimitation based on such skewed census data is unacceptable. All the people must be conscious enough to oppose any delimitation based on skewed census data, he said. If any delimitation should be carried out in Manipur, the National Register of Citizens must be implemented first or all immigrants must be identified first, he asserted,
The executive members of JFD are Jitendra Ningomba-convenor, Sunil Karam-finance in-charge, Longjam Ratan- organisation in-charge, Kangjam Maharabi- publicity in-charge and Sougrakpam Sumati-community affairs in-charge.