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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Hindustan Times
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Libraries thrive in violence-hit Manipur offering job-seekers quiet places to read, surf internet {{^userSubscribed}} {{^usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{#usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{^usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{#usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{/userSubscribed}} Amid the ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo communities, which killed over 260 people and rendered thousands homeless in the state, these libraries have been flourishing in the last two to three years, serving the needs of job-seekers, readers and owners of these facilities said. {{^usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} Unlike traditional libraries stocked with extensive academic collections, these private spaces offer magazines, study materials for competitive examinations and wi-fi internet connections and provide a calm, comfortable environment where visitors can focus on reading books they bring themselves. Th Abemma, a government job aspirant in Imphal, was found reading books and surfing the internet at a private library to prepare herself for state civil service exams, while Laishram Victor, a graduate, was busy studying for CDS tests at such a facility here. {{^userSubscribed}} {{^usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{#usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{^usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{#usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^usCountry}} Like Abemma and Victor, there are many job aspirants who are preparing for competitive exams at 40 such private libraries in Imphal area and Kakching district, as they have a "poor environment for reading" at their homes, with many suffering from frequent internet shutdowns amid ethnic violence in the state, the stakeholders said. {{/usCountry}} {{#usCountry}} Like Abemma and Victor, there are many job aspirants who are preparing for competitive exams at 40 such private libraries in Imphal area and Kakching district, as they have a "poor environment for reading" at their homes, with many suffering from frequent internet shutdowns amid ethnic violence in the state, the stakeholders said. {{/usCountry}} Read More {{^usCountry}} The new culture of reading books and accessing the internet at a common space has taken shape in the past two years with the emergence of private libraries, catering to the needs of those who do not have separate rooms for study at their residence, said Victor who completed his graduation from West Bengal's Darjeeling in 2023 and visits a library on a daily basis from 7 am to 5 pm to prepare for SSC and CDS exams. {{/usCountry}} {{#usCountry}} The new culture of reading books and accessing the internet at a common space has taken shape in the past two years with the emergence of private libraries, catering to the needs of those who do not have separate rooms for study at their residence, said Victor who completed his graduation from West Bengal's Darjeeling in 2023 and visits a library on a daily basis from 7 am to 5 pm to prepare for SSC and CDS exams. {{/usCountry}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{^usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{#usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{^usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{#usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{/userSubscribed}} "Three years ago, there were just fewer than five private libraries or reading spaces in Imphal. Many of my friends and I could not book a seat at these facilities as seats were limited. That's how a friend of mine and I came up with the idea of setting up a library to cater to the needs of readers, especially those who have completed their studies and are preparing for different national-level exams," Books and Brain Co-founder A Mayanglambam told PTI. A majority of the visitors in their library in Imphal's Keisampat area, with a seating capacity of 92, are those preparing for NEET exams and other national-level competitive tests, he said. "Many of them do not have the leisure time to read novels. And hence, I concentrated mostly on providing a comfortable reading space and didn't think of stocking too many books," Mayanglambam, who himself is preparing for banking exams, added. {{^userSubscribed}} {{^usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{#usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{^usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{#usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{/userSubscribed}} Charging monthly fees ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹1,300, more than 40 private libraries have sprouted in the last two or three years in the Imphal area and Kakching district, all catering to the needs of readers, said Johnson Yumnam, who runs My Reading Room at Ghari. "The private library boom in Imphal stems from a poor reading environment at home. The libraries are mostly frequented by job aspirants who find it difficult to concentrate on their studies at home. Since most of them have completed their education, they find a level of competitiveness when they visit the libraries," Yumnam told PTI. A library culture has existed in Manipur for decades but seats are very limited. After the COVID pandemic and the ethnic conflict, there has been a sudden surge of interest in private libraries, the owners said. {{^userSubscribed}} {{^usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{#usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{^usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{#usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} {{/userSubscribed}} The interest in these libraries is also linked to an increasing number of Manipuri youths taking a keen interest in national exams, including SSC, banking and UPSC, they said. "Many of the families in Imphal live in congested areas and youths often have to share rooms with their siblings and elders. The private libraries provide an atmosphere to connect with other aspirants and discuss on the strategies to prepare for national-level exams. 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