Manipur Groups Push for NRC Update Ahead of 2027 Census

Imphal: Fourteen civil society groups from Manipur are pressuring the central government to update the National Register of Citizens before the 2027 Census wraps up. They want the NRC in place to track demographic shifts and stop illegal immigration. A delegation traveled to New Delhi from July 5 to 7 to lobby officials. They met with Registrar General Mritunjay Kumar Narayan and leaders from the Union Home Ministry.

The groups want the government to link the two processes or hold the NRC update first. They fear current population data will skew future legislative maps. They asked the Centre to withhold final Census 2027 figures for Manipur until the NRC process finishes. They also demanded a pause on delimitation of parliamentary and Assembly seats. The groups stated, "The delegation argued that decades of cross-border migration from Myanmar have altered Manipur's demographic profile."

These organizations want the Home Ministry's High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes to speed up its work. They also want a seat on that committee for a representative from the proposed Manipur Population Commission. The push for an NRC update spiked after ethnic violence erupted in May 2023. Meitei groups blame illegal migration from Myanmar for the state's unrest. Kuki-Zo organizations reject this, pointing to political and constitutional friction as the root cause.