Displaced Manipur families get ready to return home under security cover
Several Meitei families displaced by ethnic violence are gearing up to return to their homes on the periphery of Manipur's Imphal Valley under security cover.
Officials in the State's Imphal West district said a few people had begun cleaning the houses they abandoned after the conflict between the Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities broke out on May 3, 2023, leaving more than 250 dead over two years.
In some cases, the people began repairing their houses damaged or destroyed during the peak of the conflict. Their families are expected to move in after the houses are made liveable.
The district authorities and security forces enabled the displaced people from a village of 21 households in New Keithelmanbi to clean and repair their houses. The village is on the boundary with the Kangpokpi district, dominated by the Kuki-Zo community.
Rations will continue
'The displaced people are being resettled in their original homes in coordination with the Deputy Commissioners of the adjoining districts. After returning home, they will continue to receive ration and benefits under the State livelihood mission,' Imphal West's Deputy Commissioner Mayanglambam Rajkumar told journalists after inspecting a few deserted fringe villages on Tuesday. 'Security will be provided to the people wherever there is a possibility of their returning home,' he said.
On July 4, the State's former Chief Secretary, Prashant Kumar Singh, said the first of a three-phase resettlement plan for the internally displaced people, chalked out in association with the Centre, was under way. He claimed that about 5,000 of some 62,000 people displaced in the violence had returned to their villages.
He also said the government planned to rehabilitate most of the displaced people by December and subsequently close the relief camps, many in educational institutions.
The Manipur government is expected to provide a financial assistance of ₹3.03 lakh each to the 7,000-8,000 families, whose houses were destroyed during the violence, so that they can rebuild them wherever they want.
The government, however, is aware that about 10,000 Meitei people would not be able to go back to their homes in the Kuki-majority Moreh (Tengnoupal district), Kangpokpi, and Churachandpur districts. They will be given the option of staying in some 1,000 prefabricated houses being built by Manipur Police Housing Corporation Limited.
A similar arrangement will be made for the Kuki-Zo people who may be unable to return to Imphal Valley.
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