PM assures to review Manipur delimitation process

Imphal, Dec 22 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured an all party delegation from Manipur to look into the demands to exempt the state from the delimitation process.

State Information Centre officials here today said the assurance was given to a delegation of all parties, led by Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh at the national capital yesterday.

The delegation had submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister, which stated that the state government had been objecting to the delimitation process on the basis of 2001 census since 2003.

To another memorandum dated September 18, 2005 submitted to the Chairman of Delimitation Commission of India (DC), the Prime Minister and the Home Minister had raised the same issue and appealed to direct the Registrar, General of Census for maintain status quo.

The State Cabinet, on July 30 this year, again took a decision rejecting the census of 2001 in respect of Manipur.

The Assembly on August 1 had also adopted a resolution objecting to the process of delimitation.

The memorandum also mentioned that all political parties once again approached the DC, Prime Minister and Home Minister in August last requesting them not to proceed for the delimitation based on the 2001 census and that the issue was also pending in the Supreme Court.

The hearing of the case would begin from January 25, 2008.

It further stated that the Draft Delimitation Process worked out by the Commission had seriously affected the demographic balance of the majority population.

The arrangement of seats as worked out by the North Eastern Areas (Re-Organisation) Act, 1971 had now been violated.

The delegation also urged Dr Singh to exempt the case of Manipur from the purview of the DC as done in the case of Jammu&Kashmir.

UNI