Manipur NRC plans gained fresh momentum on Monday after the Manipur Legislative Assembly resolved that 1951 would be the base year for updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state. Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam also informed the House that 24,475 undocumented Myanmar nationals had been detected so far, of whom 14,992 had been pushed back to Myanmar. The development comes amid growing demands to complete the NRC process before the Census in the state.
Assembly backs 1951 as Manipur NRC base year
The decision was disclosed during the ongoing Assembly session in response to questions from Opposition MLA K Meghachandra Singh regarding NRC updation and the availability of original physical records from 1951.
Konthoujam said the state government was tracing the old records and would take up the matter with the Centre. He also clarified that the state government cannot implement the Manipur NRC on its own and would require approval from the central government.
The Assembly has repeatedly pressed for an NRC exercise in the state. It adopted a resolution on August 5, 2022, reaffirmed it on March 1, 2024, and again passed a resolution on September 2, 2026, urging the Centre to update the NRC before conducting the Census.
Konthoujam also pointed to the experience of Assam, where the NRC exercise became subject to prolonged legal proceedings. He said the Manipur government wanted to proceed carefully so that the process did not face similar complications.
24,475 Myanmar nationals detected
The Assembly was also given details of undocumented migration from Myanmar. According to the Home Minister, 24,475 people identified as illegal immigrants from Myanmar have been detected in Manipur so far.
Of these, 14,992 have been pushed back to Myanmar, while 9,483 remain in the state. The figures cover three border districts — Chandel, Kamjong and Tengnoupal.
Chandel recorded the highest number, with 14,370 people detected. Of them, 9,600 have been pushed back, while 4,770 remain in the district. Biometric details have been collected from 1,308 of those still there.
In Kamjong, authorities detected 6,545 people. A total of 5,378 have been pushed back, while 1,167 remain in temporary camps.
Tengnoupal recorded 3,560 detections. Only 14 people have been pushed back, leaving 3,546 under arrangements overseen by the district administration. Their biometric details have also been recorded as part of the identification process.
The government has directed Deputy Commissioners to keep the undocumented migrants separate from local communities. The pushback process is being carried out through diplomatic channels, according to the Home Minister.
NRC debate intensifies before Census
The latest Assembly decision comes against the backdrop of a major political and administrative debate over the timing of the Census and NRC.
The Centre recently deferred house-listing operations for Census 2027 in Manipur. The decision followed demands from civil society organisations that the NRC be updated before the population exercise. A formal notification issued on September 5 excluded Manipur from the house-listing schedule until further declaration.
The issue remains politically sensitive. While several Meitei and Naga organisations have supported an NRC-first approach, Kuki-Zo representatives have opposed conducting the NRC before the Census, arguing that the exercise could disproportionately affect their community.
What happens next
The immediate challenge for the Manipur NRC process will be obtaining central approval and locating, verifying and preserving the 1951 records that the state says it is tracing. The government will also need to establish clear procedures for determining citizenship while ensuring that the exercise remains transparent and legally robust.
For now, the Assembly’s decision strengthens the state’s long-standing demand for an NRC based on 1951 records. At the same time, the latest immigration figures and the Centre’s deferment of the Census have placed citizenship documentation and demographic verification at the centre of Manipur’s political debate.
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