Manipur awaits Delhi decision on Census as Meitei, Naga groups demand NRC first

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People take part in a torch rally (Meira Rally) at Kwakeithel demanding the implementation and updation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) before the Census, in Imphal on Monday (August 24, 2026). | Photo Credit: ANI

Manipur is awaiting a decision from New Delhi regarding the upcoming Census exercise, which remains in limbo in the State amid the demand by several Meitei and Naga civil society groups for a National Register of Citizens (NRC) to be compiled first. With the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RG&CCI) yet to spell out the future course of action, a government source said a review of the situation is likely to be held in the coming days.

On Monday (August 24, 2026), following a writ petition filed by the Kangleipak Students Association (KSA), the High Court of Manipur constituted a Special Division Bench comprising Chief Justice M. Sundar and Justice A. Guneshwar Sharma to hear the matter on August 25 at 2 p.m. In a notification issued on Monday (August 24, 2026), the court said the Special Division Bench would sit exclusively to hear the petition.

The petition said that conducting the Census exercise in the present situation in Manipur carries significant risks, including distortion of demographic data due to displacement, misallocation of resources and welfare benefits, unfair delimitation and weakened political representation, and long-term inaccuracies in national statistics.

The first phase of the Population Census 2027, House Listing and Housing Census (HLO), is scheduled to be held in Manipur from September 1 to September 30.

The training of enumerators, mostly government school teachers, has been halted in the State due to opposition and protests by several civil society groups. Enumerators are required to visit each household for door-to-door enumeration and record details in a specific app on their personal phones.

The self-enumeration portal, which allows respondents to enter their details independently, was scheduled to go live on August 17, but is yet to become operational. “A decision from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is awaited. The RGI office will assess the situation and there will be some clarity soon,” said a State government official.

In 2011, the Census exercise could not be carried out in at least 103 villages in Chhattisgarh and 260 villages in West Bengal due to violence associated with Left Wing Extremism (LWE).

Though the Census is not an exercise to determine citizenship and counts all individuals irrespective of nationality, there is anxiety among a section of people in Manipur that the next delimitation exercise, which will redraw the boundaries of electoral constituencies, may take into account the latest Census data in a manner that could disadvantage the Meiteis and small tribal communities.