Biren Singh recalls 2019 push for NRC in Manipur

Former Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on September 3 said his stand on the need for a National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state had been clear since the beginning of his tenure, asserting that the issue required sustained political will and follow-up.

Singh said his government, after taking office on March 17, 2017, recognised the need to address what he described as unchecked illegal immigration. He said this was also in line with longstanding demands from civil society groups, including the All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU) and All Manipur Students’ Coordinating Committee (AMSCOC), which had been raising the issue since the 1980s.

“Despite these repeated demands over the years, no previous government had taken the matter forward to its logical conclusion,” Singh said in a post on X.

He said that following a state Cabinet resolution, he had formally written to then Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on February 10, 2019, requesting the Centre to undertake the NRC exercise in Manipur.

Singh said the letter and the Cabinet resolution were official records and maintained that issues of such importance require consistent follow-up, sustained efforts and the political will to see the process through.