An Administration in Exile: The Abandonment of Tengnoupal

In the cloud-veiled hills of Manipur, a district headquarters stands empty, a ghost of governance in a state scarred by conflict. The neglect of Tengnoupal District is not an administrative oversight; it is a stark lesson in how inequality is bureaucratized and a vulnerable population is rendered invisible.

For over two years, since ethnic violence erupted between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities in May 2023, the Tengnoupal District Headquarters has functioned as a symbol of profound abandonment. While the conflict’s embers smolder into 2025, the Kuki-Zo majority in this hill district faces a second, silent violence: the complete withdrawal of the state’s administrative and medical apparatus. This is a case study in marginalization, where physical absence translates into systemic denial of rights.

The Ghosts in the Headquarters

Governance requires presence. Yet, as highlighted by local legislators like MLA Letpao Haokip in mid-2025, the Deputy Commissioner (DC)—the chief executive of the district—has been conspicuously absent from his post. While the current DC, Shri Saurabh Yadav, IAS, was appointed in May 2025, he reportedly follows a disheartening pattern: operating from the comfort of Kakching district or elsewhere, rather than from his mandated seat in Tengnoupal. This absenteeism is a direct insult to the community. It means no local arbiter for law and order, no accessible authority for welfare, and no champion for development. It creates a vacuum where grievance fester and despair grows, effectively severing the vital link between the citizen and the state.

A Prescription of Neglect

The dereliction is most lethal in the realm of healthcare. The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Tengnoupal is accused of managing the district’s medical crises remotely from Imphal. The result is a near-total collapse. The district headquarters lacks even basic diagnostic services. For childbirth, injuries, or illness, residents must undertake a perilous six-hour journey over treacherous hills and across rivers to reach Churachandpur. While the reopening of a sub-divisional hospital in Moreh in early 2025 offers a glimmer, it does not absolve the state of its catastrophic failure to provide a functional district hospital. This is not a logistical challenge; it is a conscious denial of the constitutional right to health and life, exacerbating the trauma of a community already living in the shadow of conflict.

Also Read: The Silent Siege: India’s Forgotten War on the Kuki-Zo

The Forgotten Displaced

This administrative abandonment turns tragic for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Tengnoupal camps. These are families—often Kuki-Zo—whose villages were burned, allegedly by radical Meitei outfits like the Arambai Tenggol. Having lost everything, they now find themselves forgotten by the very administration meant to protect them. Reports of IDPs foraging in jungles for survival, with scant organized relief, are a damning indictment. State-wide plans to shift over 57,000 IDPs into prefabricated shelters by December 2025 ring hollow in Tengnoupal, where the administration’s absence makes even basic aid an uncertainty. They are not just displaced; they are erased.

A Test for India’s Federal Conscience

This is more than bureaucratic failure. It is systemic discrimination that perpetuates cycles of poverty and alienation. It fuels the very demands for separate administration now echoing across Kuki-Zo regions, born from the bitter experience of inaccessible and indifferent governance from Imphal.

The Hon’ble Governor of Manipur, operating under President’s Rule since early 2025, faces a critical test of its purpose. Central rule must mean equitable rule. It must immediately:

1. Mandate Presence: Issue unambiguous orders requiring the DC, CMO, and all senior staff to be physically stationed and operational in Tengnoupal.

2. Launch a Health Emergency: Fast-track the construction of a fully-equipped district hospital and ensure immediate diagnostic capabilities.

3. Prioritize the Displaced: Channel robust, transparent humanitarian aid directly to Tengnoupal’s IDP camps, ensuring food, medicine, and a credible path to rehabilitation.

The world watches as India speaks of its global aspirations. Yet, in its troubled northeastern periphery, a district headquarters gathers dust while its people are forced to risk their lives for a pill or a document. Tengnoupal is a microcosm of a fraying social contract. Restoring governance there is not merely an administrative task; it is a necessary act of constitutional redemption and a crucial step toward lasting peace. To continue the neglect is to sanction a slow-motion revolt.