Manipur: Kuki students issue ultimatum over faculty crisis, threaten blockade

The Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO), Sadar Hills, has issued a 10-day ultimatum to the Government of Manipur demanding immediate deployment of adequate teaching staff at Presidency College, Motbung, the only government college serving the entire Kangpokpi District.

Failure to act, the KSO warned, will result in an indefinite economic blockade, with the government being held solely responsible for any fallout.

At a joint press conference with the Presidency College Motbung Students’ Union (PCMSU) on Thursday at the KSO Administrative Office, Jangginthang Haokip, Education Secretary of KSO Sadar Hills, lambasted the government for what he described as systemic discrimination against the hill districts. He said the chronic shortage of faculty was not an administrative lapse but “a reflection of deep-rooted inequality that has plagued Manipur for decades.”

Despite multiple appeals, the government has failed to provide the minimum number of teaching staff required to maintain academic standards. The college has twelve departments, yet several—including Zoology, Chemistry, and Botany—have no faculty at all, with the total requirement standing at 42 teachers.

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“This is a denial of a constitutional right and a betrayal of promises made by successive governments,” Haokip stated.

He further accused the state of prioritising resources in the valley districts while ignoring urgent needs in the hills. “At a time when Manipur desperately needs healing and peace, education should be the bridge—not a wall of exclusion,” he added.

The KSO also connected the faculty crisis to the wider ethnic and territorial conflict affecting the state. “This is not just misgovernance—it is political neglect that widens the socio-political divide,” said Haokip.

Echoing these concerns, Goumang Kilong, Information and Publicity Secretary of PCMSU, said: “This is not merely a college issue—it is a collective fight for educational justice in the hill areas.” He called for unity among civil society organisations and student bodies to resist the continuing neglect.

The KSO disclosed that the issue had been flagged to Manipur’s Governor and district authorities, but no action has been taken. With options exhausted, the student body now sees democratic protest as the only remaining path.

“If our voice is ignored, we will be forced to assert our rights through a peaceful but firm economic blockade,” the KSO warned.