Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Friday informed the House that he will urge the Central government to collect the updated census data of Manipur by using biometric system in addition to Aadhaar seeding, in an effort to safeguard the indigenous people of Manipur.
Biren was speaking in the House in response to a starred question raised by Opposition MLA K Ranjit Singh on the last day of the second session of 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly.
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Seeking information from the Leader of the House through the Speaker, Ranjit Singh said collecting census data has been becoming a serious issue in the state due to the increasing influx of non-Manipuris in the state.
He asked when the collection of census data, which is usually done for a period of 10 years, would start for Manipur. He further questioned what measures have been taken by the state government to filter non-locals while collecting census data and whether there will be a facility for Aadhaar seeding or electronic census while collecting census data for Manipur.
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Responding to the starred question, Biren said collecting the census data is to be done for a period of 10 years. And collection of updated census data for the entire country was to be carried out in February 2021 but it was not done in time due to the pandemic.
He said till date there is no information when the collection of census data will start and the date should be fixed by the Registrar General of India and Census Committee.
As a preventive measure taken up by the state government to filter the non-locals while collecting census data of Manipur, he has sent a demi-official letter to the Union home minister on May 5, he said.
The letter urged the Central government to take up precautionary measures during the collection of updated census data of 2022, he further said.
Till date, there is no provision for Aadhaar seeding while collecting the census data. In addition to the mode of collecting census data manually on paper, the government is planning to include collecting census data through mobile apps, said Biren.
Biren, while supplanting his response to the starred question, said he already proposed the Central government for Aadhaar seeding during a recent meeting of all the chief ministers of the country along with the union government leaders at New Delhi.
He, however, said that the Aadhaar seeding will not be reliable as in the state as some people had been arrested on account of making fake Aadhaar cards.
Biren said the best way would be collecting the census data along with the help of a biometric system.
Ranjit pointed out that the Supreme Court has given an order to start delimitation process for four states, including Manipur and the President has given the approval.
He requested the Leader of the House through the assembly floor to inform the Central leaders to perform the census data collection seriously as in some hill districts even cattle and pigs are reportedly included in census data collection.
