Political parties’ conclave urges Centre to postpone Census ’27 in Manipur

Imphal: A political parties’ conclave on the issues of census and delimitation in the present situation of Manipur has unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Centre to defer the conduct of Census 2027 in the state.

The conclave, organised by the Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation in Imphal on Saturday, cited that the prevailing crisis, large-scale internal displacement and abnormal administrative conditions in the state could compromise the credibility of the enumeration exercise.

Representatives of 12 political parties, including BJP and Congress, were present in the conclave.

It resolved that the ongoing situation in Manipur — marked by restricted accessibility, breakdown of law and order, administrative dysfunction in several districts, and prolonged disruption of normal civil life — will make a fair and accurate census unfeasible.

Expressing concern over the displacement of thousands of residents, the conclave noted that a significant portion of the population continues to live in relief camps or outside their habitual residences. Under such circumstances, accurate household-based enumeration would be impracticable and could lead to undercounting or overcounting in different regions.

The conclave also flagged the risk of demographic distortion arising from the presence of illegal migrants, temporary security personnel and other non-permanent populations. It warned that misclassification or inclusion of such groups could inflate population figures in certain areas while distorting the overall demographic profile of the state.

It was discussed that a census conducted under unstable conditions would undermine data integrity and public confidence, with long-term consequences. It cautioned that flawed census data would directly and irreversibly affect the delimitation exercise, potentially leading to inequitable political representation, distortion of constituency boundaries, erosion of the principle of ‘one person, one vote’, and long-term structural imbalances among Manipur’s communities.

The conclave urged the Centre to invoke its powers under Section 3 of the Census Act, 1948, to defer the census in Manipur until peace and public order are restored, internally displaced persons are able to return to their homes, normal administrative functioning and free access to all areas are ensured, and conditions conducive to accurate, transparent and inclusive enumeration are in place.

It also called for the detection of illegal migrants prior to the census through the NRC or any other mechanism deemed appropriate by the Centre.