Manipur Cabinet Moves to Limit Government Aid for Unrecognized Villages

IMPHAL: The Manipur cabinet held a meeting on Tuesday and decided to limit government schemes to only the officially recognized villages.

It follows after the district authorities sought information on how many villages were officially recognized and at how many places household numbers since 1946 were in unrecognized status. The meeting was presided over by Chief Minister N Biren Singh.

CM Biren Singh on Wednesday declared that the government won't give any benefit to unregistered villages since it wants to conserve Manipur's forests and environment.  Government spokesperson Dr. Sapam Ranjan said only recognized villages would be brought under schemes like MGNREGA and PM Surya Ghar. He added nomenclature of a village alone didn't make such villagers eligible for government benefits.

At the same time, on Wednesday, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh declared that the benefit would not be given to what he called "unregistered" villages stating that this was part and parcel of efforts by the state towards conservation of Manipur's forests and environment.

Speaking to the media, government spokesperson Dr. Sapam Ranjan said there would be restrictions on the government schemes being offered to the people. He said that schemes like MGNREGA, PM Surya Ghar, and other benefits would go only to recognized villages by the government.

He further said that a person cannot create a village overnight, declare its name, and then think of overnight growth.

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