Manipur Defers 2027 Census Amid Demand for Citizenship Register

Manipur will not begin the first phase of India’s 2027 census as scheduled after the central government agreed to defer the exercise, the state government said Monday.

The decision followed a meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh attended, along with others. House listing had been scheduled for Sept. 1 to Sept. 30, but protests had already disrupted the training of census workers. A planned self-enumeration facility, due to open on Aug. 17, had also been deferred.

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The meeting agreed to defer the proposed Census exercise in the State considering the feelings and aspirations of the people of Manipur.

A large section of Manipur’s non-Kuki-Zo population has demanded that authorities first update the National Register of Citizens using 1951 as the base year. Fourteen civil society organisations representing Meitei, Naga and Meitei Pangal communities have lobbied political leaders and said migrants from Myanmar could otherwise be counted as residents, producing an inaccurate picture of the state’s population. The organisations do not represent Kuki-Zo communities.

The Manipur chief minister’s office credited the decision to sustained engagement by the organisations and BJP legislators with central leaders and officials. The government also urged groups to avoid shutdowns and general strikes, saying they would create hardship for ordinary people, and called for continued dialogue with the administration. The Union Home Ministry had not issued its own statement at the time of publication.

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Calling bandhs and general strikes will not help in pressing demands before the Government and would cause more hardship to the common people.