Centre works on aid packages for Manipur’s displaced in camps, farmers

Officials said with more than 56,000 people taking shelter in over 360 relief camps, a one-time financial assistance worth Rs 5.65 crore is likely to be granted to people in relief camps for clothing and other essentials since most could not gather their personal belongings before being rushed to the camps.

Similarly, with agricultural activities severely impacted due to the violence, there is a proposal to assist farmers whose livelihood has been affected with a package worth Rs 38.6 crore as compensation.

Officials said financial assistance worth Rs 150 crore will help build nearly 3,000 temporary houses for the affected people. Over 4,500 houses have been destroyed in the violence and people are staying in relief camps operating in schools, churches, community halls and empty government buildings, officials said.

An official said there was a state government proposal to relocate people to semi-permanent shelter homes ahead of the monsoon. There is a need to construct prefabricated houses, each of 300 square feet area – with two rooms and a bathroom – at a cost of Rs 5 lakh, for families living in the camps, the official said.

“The families will be identified by Deputy Commissioners in the districts and they will be responsible for their resettlement as well,” the official said.

Another proposed scheme is to provide TV sets to relief camps, and install them in local panchayat offices, particularly for the benefit of those below age 18. Displaced due to the violence, they lost access to schools and online studies too due to suspension of Internet. There are plans to provide around 450 sets to the camps for offline classes. The total cost of the package will be Rs 4.5 crore.

Officials said the TV sets would be used to relay educational content from NCERT and others until normalcy is restored in the state, following which they would be used in existing schools as additional aids.

The Central government is also planning to provide over a thousand computers in violence-affected districts where dedicated centres could be set up to provide unhindered Internet access. This project will cost Rs 11 crore.

In a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in June, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh had said that violence had affected economic activities in the state. He had sought from the Centre an increase in the monthly devolution of the share in central taxes for June, July and August to the tune of Rs 150 crore each month for emergency expenditure.

He said that the state’s tax collection was severely impacted due to the violence and had reduced to Rs 110 crore in May from Rs 211 crore in April.