Manipur Excluded from Census 2027 Amid 'No NRC, No Census' Demand
The Central Government has formally excluded Manipur from the scheduled Census 2027 exercise until further declaration, amid sustained demands from civil society organisations for updating and completing the National Register of Citizens (NRC) before conducting the population enumeration in the state.
According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on October 30 and published in the Extraordinary Gazette of India, the Census 2027 exercise will be conducted in all States and Union Territories except Manipur, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Ladakh and certain snow-bound areas of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
The notification, issued under Section 3 of the Census Act, 1948, read with Rules 6A and 6D of the Census Rules, 1990, states that the exclusion of Manipur will remain in force until a further declaration by the Central Government.
Exclusion Amid 'No NRC, No Census' Demand
The exclusion of Manipur comes against the backdrop of a growing campaign under the slogan “No NRC, No Census”, with several Meitei and Naga civil society organisations insisting that citizenship verification through an updated NRC must precede population enumeration.
Some organisations have also extended the demand to delimitation, raising the slogan “No NRC, No Delimitation.”
The organisations advocating the demand have expressed apprehension that conducting the Census without first updating the NRC could result in undocumented migrants, including alleged recent arrivals from Myanmar and Bangladesh, being included in the population count as residents.
They argue that such an exercise could distort the state’s demographic data and have long-term implications for the indigenous population, political representation and allocation of resources.
Concerns Over Delimitation and Political Representation
Another major concern raised by the organisations relates to the proposed delimitation of electoral constituencies.
They contend that population figures derived from a Census conducted without prior citizenship verification could influence the future readjustment of constituencies and political representation.
Accordingly, they have demanded that the NRC be updated first, followed by the Census and subsequently the delimitation exercise.
Opposition and Political Significance
The demand for NRC before Census, however, is not without opposition.
The Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) has opposed the proposal, describing it as premature and unjustified, and has argued that the Census should be conducted before considering the NRC.
The differing positions reflect the continuing disagreement among communities over citizenship verification, demographic records and the implications of the proposed exercise.
The issue has also acquired political significance, as the Manipur Legislative Assembly had earlier adopted resolutions seeking implementation of the NRC, including one on August 5, 2022, and another on March 1, 2024.
The demand for updating the NRC, with 1951 being advocated as the base year by several organisations, has remained a major subject of public debate in the state.
The latest Gazette notification now provides formal confirmation that Manipur will not be included in the Census schedule announced for the other states and Union Territories.
However, it does not specify when the population enumeration will be undertaken in Manipur or whether the NRC exercise will be initiated before the Census.
The next course of action will depend on a further declaration by the Central Government, while the debate over citizenship verification, demographic integrity and political representation is likely to remain central to the state’s discourse on the Census 2027.
