Imphal: The Manipur government has deferred a training programme for enumerators and supervisors for Census 2027 in Imphal West district, amid protests
demanding that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) be updated before the census exercise is conducted in the state. The training programme, which was scheduled to begin on August 28, has been deferred citing the prevailing law-and-order situation in the district. The programme was meant for enumerators and supervisors who would participate in the first phase of the Census 2027 exercise. "The training programme scheduled to commence from August 28, 2026, is hereby deferred in view of the prevailing law and order situation in the district," an official said, citing a letter sent to the chief principal census officer of the Directorate of Census Operations. A similar census training programme for supervisors, enumerators and field trainers was also scrapped in Thoubal district, officials said. At the heart of the protests is the demand that Manipur's NRC be updated before the Census, amid concerns over illegal migration and the impact of the ethnic violence that began in May 2023. Protesters also want the census deferred until internally displaced people can return to their homes, arguing that counting households and residents while thousands remain displaced could produce an inaccurate database.
NRC Demand Fuels Protests Across Manipur Valley
The disruption comes amid a 48-hour strike called by the Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation (JFD), which is demanding that the NRC be updated before the census is carried out in Manipur.
On the second day of the strike on Wednesday, protesters burnt effigies of politicians and took out rallies in several parts of the state's valley districts. The JFD has also announced a boycott of all government offices from Thursday as part of its ongoing agitation.
Bandh supporters have been seeking an interim stay on the census until internally displaced persons (IDPs) are able to return to their native places. Effigies of Chief Minister Y Khemchand Singh and Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam were burnt during the protests.
Several protesters also rallied at Singjamei in Imphal West and marched for around 2 km while raising their demands.
The agitation has affected movement in several districts. Roads remained blocked at various locations in Imphal West, Imphal East, Bishnupur and Thoubal, with protesters reportedly preventing private vehicles and, in some places, security forces from passing.
The Council of Teachers' Associations (COTA), Manipur, has also raised concerns over the difficulties faced by teachers who have been assigned census duties.
"Teachers assigned as enumerators and supervisors for the census are facing embarrassment, humiliation and different forms of obstacles while attending training sessions," the teachers' body said.
The government had separately announced the closure of educational institutions across Manipur for three days from August 20 to August 22, citing the prevailing law-and-order situation.
An order issued by the Education Department said, "In view of the prevailing law-and-order situation in the state, the Governor of Manipur declares the closure of all schools as may be affiliated to the Board of Secondary Education, the Council of Higher Secondary Education, the Central Board of Secondary Education or otherwise; colleges and higher education institutes, including universities; falling under government, aided or unaided sectors, from August 20 to August 22.”
Congress Seeks Census Delay Over Displacement
The Congress has also demanded that the Census exercise in Manipur be postponed, arguing that the prevailing conditions make an accurate enumeration of households and residents impossible.
Inner Manipur MP Prof A Bimol Akoijam said the exercise should not be cancelled but deferred until conditions become conducive.
Addressing a press conference at the Congress office in Imphal on Thursday, Akoijam said around 60,000 people remained homeless because of the violence that began on May 3, 2023, with many of them still living in relief camps.
He claimed that more than 10,000 houses had been destroyed and several villages completely devastated during the conflict. According to him, violence was continuing and had spread to districts that had previously been considered safe, bringing more communities into its ambit.
Akoijam questioned how house numbering and listing could be undertaken in villages affected by violence when thousands of residents had been displaced and were living in relief camps.
"Accurate house listing of thousands of homeless people living in relief camps is practically impossible," he said.
He argued that conducting the exercise in the present circumstances would amount to further injustice and humiliation for people who had already suffered for three years.
The Congress leader said he had raised the matter in Parliament through a notice under Rule 377 and had also written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking intervention.
The party has also backed concerns over illegal migration through Manipur's open border with Myanmar. Akoijam demanded that the NRC process be completed before the Census so that an authentic database of citizens could be prepared.
The NRC demand has therefore emerged as a key component of the current agitation, with protesters linking the timing of the census to concerns over migration, delimitation and the status of people displaced by the prolonged conflict.
For now, the deferral of census training in Imphal West and the cancellation of a similar programme in Thoubal have added to the uncertainty over the ground-level preparations for Census 2027 in the state, even as protests and political demands for a postponement continue.
