Manipur divide plays out in govt services too: ‘Told my boss transfer me’

The Kuki revenue department employee said that when he was first posted to Imphal two years ago, he was delighted. “I was so happy that after seven-eight years of service, I had finally been posted to my home state. But look how it turned out,” he said.

After the violence broke out, he shifted to the relief camp at the 1st Battalion of the Manipur Rifles in Imphal, where he stayed for four days before flying out of the state to Kolkata. He eventually made his way back to his family’s home in Churachandpur on May 14 by flying to Aizawl and travelling to the town by road.

“I spoke to my boss in Imphal and at the headquarters and told them I want to be relocated. I said that I prefer Aizawl because I will be able to have a direct connection by road to my family and won’t have to travel through Imphal,” he said, adding that he has now received a transfer order to Aizawl where he will shift next week.

The Meitei doctor, who was posted at Churachandpur District Hospital for one-and-a-half years, also spent six days at a relief camp run by the Assam Rifles in the district.

“After the violence broke out on May 3, we were taken to the hospital in an ambulance and evacuated from there by the Assam rifles. I finally reached Imphal six days later,” he said.

With fresh incidents of violence in Bishnupur district since last week, he has been called to offer his services at the district hospital there.

“I have informed my seniors at my hospital that I can’t travel to report for duty there because of the present crisis. I have many friends there but I have seen the violent mob and it will be very difficult for security forces to protect us. If possible, I will submit a transfer application but haven’t thought it’s appropriate to do so right now when everyone is so caught up,” he said.

The Kuki SI with the Manipur police was evacuated from Imphal East, where he has been posted for the past 15 years, and taken to a relief camp in Kangpokpi district on May 7, where he has been ever since.

“I haven’t even thought about my job because I’m just focused on making life more comfortable for my family in the relief camp. I have only reported to the SP Kangpokpi that I am present in the district… I was born and brought up in Imphal and I hope that I will be able to go back, but if things continue this way, I will not be able to,” he said.

The Meitei teacher at Moreh College said she has worked there for around 20 years now but now hopes she can be posted to one of two government colleges near her family’s home in Imphal.

“I don’t think the government will send us there, I have heard they will change our posting. Around 80% of the teachers in the college are from Imphal and most will fear going back,” she said.

The question of the transfer of staff has also been taken up by government employee associations. For instance, the Manipur Government Higher Secondary Lecturer Welfare Association, an association of government school teachers, has submitted a memorandum to the state education department requesting at least a temporary transfer of teachers to schools close to where they are currently located, after the displacement caused by the violence.

“If all teachers are posted in this way, it’s true that there will be a big gap. We would like to mix and be in harmony, but for the time being, for the security of the teachers and to start the academic session, we have requested that teachers posted in different areas be transferred to where they are most comfortable. Once the situation is normal, inter-district transfers can be done again,” said Herojit, general secretary of the association.

State government spokesperson Sapam Ranjan Singh acknowledged the situation and said they will make arrangements for employees to work where they are comfortable until “total normalcy” returns and “mistrust is waived off”.

“Some people have said to their departments that they want to be posted elsewhere. Maybe there will be temporary arrangements, this will be worked out at a high level because this is a huge task. We will have to do this in a proper, holistic way so that governance is not hampered,” he said.

In the absence of formal orders, government departments are trying to work out “temporary arrangements” for their staff at their own level. A senior official at the headquarters of a state government department in Imphal said that while their nodal officer for Kakching district in the valley is Kuki, their nodal officer for Kangpokpi district in the hills is Meitei.

“The nodal officer for Kakching is currently taking refuge in Delhi while the officer for Kangpokpi district is in Imphal and is too afraid to go back. We are trying to work out a temporary arrangement so that they can take up work in each other’s postings. One of our Kuki employees in Imphal sent an SMS requesting that he be transferred and has gone to Kangpokpi where he has rented a room. Since he is there, we have been giving him work to do there,” said the official.

Amid the current divide, there is a sense of finality among some. “In my service life, I will never go to Imphal again. For us, it’s impossible,” said the revenue department employee.