How India Today NE’s Report Advanced the Investigation into Churachandpur’s OMSS Rice Scam

When more than 130 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from five relief camps in Churachandpur district put their signatures on a joint complaint to the Deputy Commissioner on March 23, 2026, they did more than voice yet another grievance. 

It was India Today NE’s report published on March 23, 2026, that first brought this joint letter into the public domain and connected it with hard bureaucratic evidence. Until then, allegations of rice scam raised by advocate and social activist Seilenmang Haokip remained serious but somewhat general. 

Today, Seilenmang Haokip, an advocate and social activist based in Churachandpur, has accused officials of large-scale misappropriation of rice allocated under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and the Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic).

Speaking to media persons at the Tuibong Relief Camp, Haokip claimed that essential commodities meant for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and poor households are being systematically diverted. He alleged that the rice is being sold in the black market in Imphal instead of reaching the intended beneficiaries.

He further alleged that officials from the CAF&PD Department, in collusion with transport contractors, have siphoned off substantial quantities of rice. This diversion, he said, has severely worsened the already fragile humanitarian situation in Churachandpur.

The India Today NE expose has changed the nature of the discourse by supplying specific names of camps, the exact number of complainants, and  most crucial, detailed official records of procurement, advance payments, and authorised liftings of over 8,300 quintals (approximately 830 tonnes) of OMSS(D) rice between August 2025 and February 2026. 

In doing so, the report transformed a complaint into a case with a verifiable paper trail, giving investigators and the public much stronger grounds to demand accountability.

The five camps mentioned in the joint letter, Lanva TD Block, Lingsiphai, Sadbhavana Mandap Relief Camp at Khominthang, Sadbhavana Mandap at KIC Tuibong, Town Hall Tuiboung, and Community Hall Tuiboung, represent only a fraction of the 38 camps under the SDO Tuibong alone, which officially house 6,504 inmates. 

However, even in these five camps, the IDPs stated unambiguously that they had received no rice under the Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) since the switch to Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) at ₹84 per person per day began on November 1, 2025. 

This single detail, when placed alongside official procurement documents, created a glaring contradiction that could no longer be dismissed as routine administrative failure.

The bureaucratic trail uncovered and highlighted by India Today NE is particularly damning. Between August 2025 and February 2026, Manipur’s Directorate of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (CAF&PD) made repeated requests to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and deposited substantial advance payments running into crores of rupees. 

On August 5, 2025, the Directorate indented 2,000 quintals at ₹2,250 per quintal and deposited ₹45 lakh upfront. After the central government revised the rate to ₹2,320 per quintal effective November 1, 2025 (following a 3% hike linked to the increase in paddy MSP), fresh indents were placed on December 18, 2025: one for 1,939.65 quintals (₹44,99,988 deposited) and another additional 929.75 quintals (₹22,49,995 deposited), explicitly described as extra monthly supply beyond the regular 2,000 quintals.

In February 2026, two more tranches followed, 1,457.768 quintals on February 18 (₹33,82,023 deposited) and a full 2,000 quintals on February 26 (₹46,40,000 deposited). Every communication named authorised lifting officers, including government officials such as Hatzaw Suanlianpau (SDC/BO, DC Office) and Paul Soilianglal, and clearly stated the purpose: distribution to internally displaced persons of Churachandpur district. 

The total volume lifted and paid for exceeds 8,300 quintals. However, according to the IDPs who signed the joint letter, and consistent with earlier complaints by Seilenmang Haokip, virtually none of this rice reached the intended beneficiaries.

By publishing these procurement details alongside the IDPs’ complaint, India Today NE’s report did three critical things. First, it established a clear timeline showing that the state government continued to procure and pay for large quantities of OMSS(D) rice even after the much-publicised shift to DBT.

Second, it proved that the rice was not vaguely “allocated” but specifically indented, paid for in advance, and authorised for lifting with named officers for the explicit purpose of feeding Churachandpur’s displaced population. 

Third, and most importantly, it created an irrefutable mismatch between official records and ground reality that now demands serious investigation rather than routine denial.

This mismatch has deepened public outrage because the context is heartbreaking. Churachandpur continues to bear a disproportionate burden of the conflict that began in May 2023. Thousands of families have spent nearly three years in relief camps or as non-camp IDPs. They have lost homes, farmland, livestock, and livelihoods. Children have missed years of schooling. Women and the elderly face heightened risks.

In such circumstances, the monthly supply of subsidised rice under OMSS(D) was never a luxury, it was the bare minimum required for basic survival. The DBT amount of ₹84 per day has proved woefully inadequate in a hilly, conflict-affected district where markets are often disrupted, prices remain high, and banking access is limited. 

Many families are surviving on minimal food, skipping meals, and cutting back on nutrition.The alleged diversion, therefore, is not merely financial corruption. It amounts to economic violence against people who have already suffered immense physical and psychological trauma. 

When rice procured and paid for with public money for IDPs ends up in the black market in Imphal, it represents a double betrayal, first by those who caused or failed to prevent the violence, and second by those responsible for caring for its victims.

Seilenmang Haokip had also accused officials of the CAF&PD Department of colluding with transport contractors to siphon off both NFSA and OMSS(D) rice. 

The India Today NE report has now lent substantial weight to those allegations by providing documentary evidence of the scale of procurement and the specific failure of delivery. 

It has also broadened the scope of scrutiny beyond a few officials to the entire chain, from indenting and payment at the Directorate level, to lifting from FCI godowns in Imphal, to transportation and last-mile distribution in the hills.

The report’s impact is already visible. What began as isolated complaints has now become a full-fledged public issue demanding urgent answers. Civil society organisations, student bodies, and local leaders in Churachandpur have intensified calls for a time-bound inquiry. 

The demand is clear and reasonable. The Manipur government must submit a detailed, factual report within five days explaining what happened to the 8,300+ quintals of rice.

All lifting registers, transportation logs, delivery challans, and distribution records must be placed in the public domain. Concerned officials should be placed under immediate suspension pending inquiry, implicated transport contractors blacklisted, and criminal proceedings initiated wherever evidence of collusion or misappropriation is found.

An independent probe, preferably involving representatives from civil society and the IDP community, has become essential. The paper trail is strong enough that any attempt at a whitewash or delay will only confirm suspicions of a deeper nexus. 

The people of Churachandpur have endured systemic neglect and policy failures for far too long. The ethnic conflict has already divided the state; the last thing needed is further erosion of trust caused by the looting of relief supplies meant for the most vulnerable.

India Today NE’s March 23 report performed a vital public service by shining a bright light on the contradiction between official claims and lived reality. It moved the investigation forward by converting anecdotal grievances into a documented case supported by government records. 

In a state where access to information in the hills is often restricted and mainstream coverage of hill district issues remains limited, such investigative reporting becomes even more significant.

The larger question that now confronts the administration is how can a government that claims to be serious about rehabilitation and camp closure justify continued procurement of thousands of quintals of rice for IDPs while the beneficiaries themselves swear they have received nothing? 

The shift to DBT was meant to reduce leakages and empower people. Instead, it appears to have become a convenient mechanism to mask the disappearance of physical supplies.This episode also calls for a deeper policy rethink. In conflict-affected and remote hilly areas, a pure cash-transfer model has obvious limitations. 

Above all, the state must accelerate genuine efforts at rehabilitation. Safe return to villages, reconstruction of homes and infrastructure, restoration of livelihoods, and meaningful reconciliation cannot remain mere announcements. 

The Supreme Court’s guidelines on IDP protection provide a ready roadmap; what is missing is sincere political will and administrative commitment.

The rice meant for the hungry must reach the hungry. India Today NE’s report has made it impossible for the administration to ignore this basic humanitarian duty any longer. The joint letter from over 130 IDPs and the accompanying procurement documents have given the investigation fresh momentum and undeniable evidence. 

The people of Churachandpur, whether living in camps or outside, have waited long enough. They deserve transparency, accountability, and immediate remedial action.

If the government fails to respond with speed and sincerity, it should not be surprised when democratic protests intensify, including bandhs and closure of government offices, in coordination with civil society. 

The IDPs have already lost their homes. They must not be allowed to lose their rightful share of food as well.The March 23 exposé has done its job. It has advanced the investigation. 

Now it is the turn of the administration to do its job, recover the missing rice, punish the guilty, and ensure that no more meals are stolen from the mouths of those who have already suffered too much.

 

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of India Today NE or its affiliates.