Manipur groups seek tripartite talks on NRC demand ahead of Census

PTI, August 25, 2026, New Delhi: A group of 14 civil society organisations representing Meiteis and Naga groups, among others, on Tuesday sought tripartite talks with the Centre and the Manipur government over their demand for an NRC with 1951 as the base year before Census 2027 and any subsequent delimitation exercise in the state.

The call for talks comes just days before the first phase of the Census is scheduled to begin in Manipur on September 1, even as the demand for “NRC first, Census later” has sharpened differences among communities and recently triggered protests and a shutdown in the ethnic conflict-hit state.

At a press conference here, the organisations said they have submitted representations to the Prime Minister’s Office, Union Home Ministry and Registrar General of India. The delegation also met MHA officials, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and BJP president Nitin Nabin.

The delegation includes representatives from Meiteis, Pangals or Meitei Muslims, and the Kom and Rongmei Naga tribes, among others. It also includes representatives of people displaced from their homes during the ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities that erupted on May 3, 2023.

In a statement, the organisations claimed there was a “huge gap” between what people in Manipur wanted and how the state government had represented the issue before central bureaucrats and political leaders.

They urged the Centre and the Manipur government to facilitate tripartite talks with different stakeholders to discuss the demand for an NRC before the Census and delimitation.

The groups sought deferment of the Census exercise in Manipur and an update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) first, arguing that citizenship should be determined before fresh population figures are used for delimitation, expressing concern that fresh population figures could alter the balance of political representation when electoral constituencies are next redrawn.

Manipur’s population broadly comprises three major ethnic groupings — the Meiteis, Nagas and Kuki-Zo people.

The groups argued that 1951 should be the base year for the proposed NRC since the first post-Independence Census and NRC in Manipur were undertaken that year, shortly after the state’s earlier entry-and-exit permit system was abolished.

The organisations claimed in the statement that migration into Manipur after the abolition of the permit system had affected its demographic profile.

Their demand has, however, exposed sharp differences among communities in the state. The Kuki-Zo Council has opposed an NRC before Census 2027, describing the demand as “premature and unjustified”, and has argued that an impartial Census should first establish reliable demographic data.

A 48-hour shutdown called last week over the “NRC first, Census later” demand disrupted normal life and Census-related activities in parts of Manipur.

The house-listing and housing census, the first phase of Census 2027, is scheduled to be conducted in Manipur from September 1 to 30. The actual headcount will take place during the Population Enumeration phase in February 2027.