UPSC Key: Mercury shrinking, Informal sector and Backwater Effect

Xi will attend BRICS summit, hold bilateral talks with Modi

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story: Giving new impetus to efforts for restoration of ties between the two countries after a long, tense military standoff along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced Thursday that President Xi Jinping will be travelling to India to attend the BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 12-13.

Key Points to Ponder:

• India-China bilateral relations-know in detail

• What are the major sources of the trust deficit between India and China?

• Should India normalise economic relations with China?

• What is India’s biggest economic vulnerability vis-à-vis China?

• How does the China-Pakistan strategic partnership influence India’s China policy?

• What measures can help rebuild strategic trust between India and China?

• Do you think that economic engagement can act as both a stabilising force and a source of strategic vulnerability in India-China relations?

• Can BRICS serve as a platform for India-China cooperation despite their bilateral strategic competition?

• BRICS-Know in detail

• Map Work-BRICS Countries

• Evolution of BRICS-Know in Detail

• Evolution of BRICS from Russia-China (RC) to Russia-India-China (RIC) to Brazil- Russia-India-China (BRIC) to Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) to BRICS 2.0

• What is the Fortaleza Declaration?

• Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) Economy-Key Features

• RIC (Russia-India-China) out of BRICS-Significance and Stature in World Politics?

Key Takeaways:

• Xi is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the weekend for a structured bilateral meeting – it will be their first meeting in India in seven years. Xi last visited India in October 2019 when he travelled to Mamallapuram near Chennai for the second informal bilateral summit of leaders.

• Sources told The Indian Express that the two sides are working on launching a strategic economic dialogue, signalling a thaw in the relationship that has been plagued by high trade deficit, issues of market access to Chinese market, lack of investments in India, restrictions on visas to Indian and Chinese businesses and the activities of Chinese companies in India.

• The two leaders are also expected to discuss and review the recent boundary talks in Beijing between their Special Representatives, NSA Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and endorse the decision to advance discussions on “an early and substantial harvest” of boundary delimitation and border management.

• Among the eight outcomes and consensus reached at the Beijing talks were agreements on two new border military hotlines in the eastern and middle sectors, two new meeting points for military commander-level meetings, and the trans-border river meeting.

• Xi’s participation in the BRICS summit is an important signal to India – he had skipped the G20 summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi three years ago amid strained ties between the two countries.

• In October 2024, Xi and Modi met in Russia’s Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. Following their discussions, the two sides completed the process of disengagement of troops along the LAC in eastern Ladakh in November that year. Ever since, incremental steps have been taken to stabilise the ties. This has led to resumption of direct flights, easing of visa restrictions, revival of the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage and easing of curbs on Chinese investments.

• But pressing issues remain, including visa denials and restrictions on Indian businesses, challenges in the sharing of trans-boundary river data, and the active collusion of China and Pakistan during the India-Pakistan hostilities that followed Operation Sindoor in May 2025.

• The Indian side is expected to raise these concerns with the Chinese leadership. The issue of de-escalation on the LAC is also going to be part of the conversation. It is estimated that 50,000 troops are still deployed on either side of the LAC.

• The Chinese, on the other hand, have concerns regarding the limiting of Chinese businesses, despite the lifting of restrictions, actions and investigations against Chinese firms operating out of India.

Do You Know:

• India is hosting the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi (on September 12 and 13) as the grouping marks 20 years since its formalisation in 2006.

• BRICS began as BRIC, Brazil, Russia, India and China, in 2006, following a Goldman Sachs projection identifying these economies as future engines of global growth. It evolved from a foreign ministers’ dialogue into a leaders’ forum, with its first summit held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009.

• South Africa joined in 2010, and the grouping expanded dramatically in 2024 with the addition of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Indonesia became the 11th full member in January 2025. What started as an economic grouping has become a geopolitical entity of considerable weight, increasingly presenting itself as a voice of the Global South. Yet its central grievance has changed remarkably little: global institutions have not kept pace with the redistribution of economic and political power. The first summit called for reform of international financial institutions and the United Nations, greater energy security, and a more democratic multipolar world order. Two decades later, these demands remain strikingly relevant.

• One of the most significant tensions within BRICS is the fundamental disagreement over its purpose. China and Russia increasingly position BRICS as a counterweight to Western dominance, a platform to challenge US-led institutions and the dollar’s hegemony. Beijing has driven the bloc’s expansion, viewing a larger BRICS as a vehicle to project leadership of the Global South and limit Western influence. Moscow, excluded from SWIFT and facing sweeping sanctions, sees BRICS as a critical economic lifeline.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Elephant in the room in meetings with Xi, Putin: India’s manufacturing challenges

📍The challenges for BRICS in a changing world order

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
1) Consider the following statements with regard to BRICS: (UPSC CSE, 2025)
I. The 16th BRICS Summit was held under the Chairship of Russia in Kazan.
II. Indonesia has become a full member of BRICS.
III. The theme of the 16th BRICS Summit was Strengthening Multiculturalism for Just Global Development and Security.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) I and II
(b) II and III
(c) I and III
(d) I only

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍Compare the significance of IBSA and BRICS in the context of India’s multilateral diplomacy. (UPSC, GS2, 2012)
📍“BRICS acts as a powerful counterweight in global governance, actively amplifying the voice and influence of the Global South.” Explain the role of BRICS in projecting itself as an alternative to other groupings (UPSC, GS2, 2026)

Politics

PM: We invite France and the world to be co-travellers in India’s next space frontier

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story: PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi Thursday extended ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ to the domain of space, inviting France and the world to be co-travellers in India’s next space frontier.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Why France is strategically important for India’s space programme?

• India and France have collaborated on landmark joint satellite missions-what are those?

• India and France and Space diplomacy-Connect the dots

• What you about the TRISHNA Mission?

• “India-France cooperation in space reflects the transformation of their strategic partnership from traditional
defence cooperation towards advanced technology and space security”—Discuss

• How has space technology transformed India’s approach to agriculture, disaster management and environmental governance?

• How can India-France space cooperation contribute to India’s strategic autonomy while strengthening international cooperation in outer space?

• ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ Sanskrit phrase found in which Hindu texts?

Key Takeaways:

• The PM said France has always been a trusted partner since the inception of the Indian space programme at Thumba in the 1960s. “Today, our cooperation spans Earth observation and advanced technologies, uniting scientific excellence with human purpose. We invite France and the world to be co-travellers in India’s next space frontier,” he said in his video address at the International Space Summit held in Paris.

• The PM thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for inviting him to the summit. “Let the Space Summit in Paris send a clear message: we will explore together, innovate together and protect space together, for all humanity, and for generations to come,” he said.

• Speaking about India’s space programme, Modi said India has an international footprint when it comes to launch services, having placed in orbit 430 payloads from 34 countries. “ISRO, which stands at the heart of this journey, has earned global admiration for its excellence and cost-effective missions,” he said. The PM went on to mention the ambitious future targets of the space agency — establishing an indigenous space station by 2035 and sending an astronaut to the Moon by 2040. “In all these efforts, our guiding principle has been clear: their benefits must reach all humanity,” he said.

• In his address, he stressed the need for global partnerships prioritising long-term sustainability over short-term gains in light of orbits becoming more crowded, technologies more powerful and actors more numerous. He also said there was a need for transparent research, noting that the ethical sharing of information was paramount for global progress. “Scientific data must serve the common good, with openness and integrity.”
Modi invoked the spirit of Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam (Whole world is one family) as the guiding philosophy for space activities and said ISRO was guided by the same spirit. “Scientific data must serve the common goal, with openness and integrity,” he said.

• The two-day summit, which began on Wednesday, has been organised by France to initiate a regular international talks on the future of space exploration, and evolving structure of the space economy. It has seen participation from over 120 countries.

Do You Know:

• The space partnership between India and France is one of their most enduring strategic alliances, dating back to the 1960s at the Thumba equatorial launch station. Managed primarily by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), this relationship has evolved from basic technology transfers to joint satellite missions, space security, human spaceflight support, and a rapidly expanding private-sector ecosystem.

• At the International Space Summit in Paris (September 9–10, 2026), Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared France a “trusted partner” and invited French and global space entities to be co-travellers in India’s next space frontier, including the upcoming Indian Space Station.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍India, France agree to intensify defence, space, n-cooperation

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍Discuss India’s achievements in the field of Space Science and Technology. How the application of this technology has helped India in its socio-economic development? (UPSC, GS3, 2016)

The World

Mercury may be shrinking much faster than scientists expected

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Main Examination: General Studies III: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, biotechnology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

What’s the ongoing story: A new study shows that little, wrinkly Mercury may be shrinking faster than expected, the cosmos’ version of a grape shriveling into a raisin under the sun.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Why is Mercury shrinking?

• Does shrinking Mercury mean its mass is decreasing?

• Which spacecraft has extensively studied Mercury?

• What is Lobate scarps on Mercury?

• What is Planetary contraction of Mercury?

• How planetary contraction is providing important insights into the thermal and geological evolution of Mercury?

• How study of Mercury is challenging the assumption that significant tectonic activity necessarily requires Earth-like plate tectonics?

• How can the study of Mercury’s interior and surface contribute to the understanding of the geological evolution of terrestrial planets?

Key Takeaways:

• Scientists from the German Aerospace Center’s Institute of Space Research reported Thursday that Mercury’s shrinkage may be 30% greater than previously believed — a loss in diameter of as much as 14 miles. That’s significant for a planet barely 3,000 miles across.

• Mercury’s rough surface, continually reshaped by debris hurled from impact craters, may have hidden the true extent of the loss, according to the researchers whose findings appear in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

• The news comes one week after a pair of European and Japanese spacecraft shed its cruising platform and advanced toward Mercury. Known as BepiColombo, the linked craft are expected to enter orbit around Mercury in November before splitting up for a fuller survey.

• The shrinkage could be even more than his team is estimating based on measurements from NASA’s Messenger spacecraft in the 2010s. Only one other spacecraft has ever visited Mercury, NASA’s Mariner 10 in the 1970s.

Do You Know:

• Mercury, the smallest and innermost planet in our solar system, is physically shrinking, and a new study published in Geophysical Research Letters reveals it is happening 10% to 30% faster than scientists previously estimated.

• Historically, researchers believed the tiny planet had lost about 2.5 to 10 miles (4 to 16 kilometres) of its diameter since its formation 4.5 billion years ago. However, the new analysis confirms that Mercury has actually shrivelled by up to 14.5 miles (23 kilometres) in total diameter.

• Unlike Earth, Mercury is dominated by its interior. Its massive iron core accounts for roughly 85% of the planet’s total radius.

• Mercury does not have shifting tectonic plates like Earth. It has a single, continuous rocky crust wrapped around its giant core.

• Despite being closest to the Sun, it has no thick atmosphere to trap heat. This causes temperatures to swing violently from 430°C (800°F) during the day to -180°C (-290°F) at night.

• The core engine of this cosmic shrivelling is thermal cooling. Ever since it formed from high-energy space collisions billions of years ago, Mercury has been steadily radiating its heat into the cold vacuum of space.

• The true extent of Mercury’s contraction went unnoticed because the planet’s surface is constantly being pounded by space rocks. Over billions of years, the debris scattered from these relentless meteorite impacts filled in and buried the tell-tale wrinkles and geological faults, creating an uneven surface roughness that obscured them from satellite views.

• This discovery provides critical clues about the history of our solar system. A faster shrink rate means Mercury likely started its life with a significantly higher initial temperature or that its giant iron core contains fewer light elements (like silicon) than assumed. Furthermore, it suggests other rocky worlds—like Mars or our Moon—might also be actively contracting.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍‘Great valley’ found on Mercury indicates shrinking of planet

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
2) Which of the following pair(s) is/are correctly matched? (UPSC CSE, 2014)

	Spacecraft	Purpose
1)	Cassini-Huygens	Orbiting the Venus and transmitting data to the Earth
2)	Messenger	Mapping and investigating the Mercury
3)	Voyager 1 & 2	Exploring the outer solar system

Select the correct answer using the codes given below.
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Economy

At 78%, Telangana district Nirmal on top in women’s share in informal workers

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social development.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.

What’s the ongoing story: Nirmal district, in northern Telangana, tops a new ranking: 78% of all its informal workers are women, the highest of any district in the country. Nanded, immediately across the state border in Maharashtra, is ranked 288th in the country, with women making up only 31% of its informal workers.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is the informal sector?

• What is the difference between the formal and informal sectors?

• What exactly data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) says?

• What explains the persistence of a large unincorporated sector in India?

• Why does women’s participation in informal economic activity vary considerably across the India?

• What are the structural constraints of India’s unincorporated sector and their implications for employment quality and productivity?

• How declining indebtedness in the informal sector does not necessarily indicate economic strength.

• Know the contribution of informal workers to India’s urban economy.

• What are the major challenges faced by informal workers in Indian cities?

Key Takeaways:

• According to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Thursday and analysed by The Indian Express, the 10 districts with the highest share of women in informal workers are all from south India or the north-east. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the list is Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag, where only 6.7% of informal workers are women.

• High participation of women in the workforce is a very state-specific feature, with women making up at least half the informal workforce in only 25 districts – 22 of them are in south or north-east India, with the remaining three in the east: Chandel and Pakur in Jharkhand and Deogarh in Odisha. The all-India average is 29%.

• As per the data, the top-10 districts are either in Telangana, Manipur, Meghalaya, or Mizoram, “reflecting the significant role played by women in the unincorporated sector in these states”, MoSPI said in its report. Overall, women make up at least 33% of the total informal workforce in 237 districts.

• While districts from the south and north-east see major participation from women, they pay very little. For instance, the best-paying district in the top-25 with women making up at least 50% of the informal workforce is Meghalaya’s South West Khasi Hills, where the per hired worker emolument is Rs 1.7 lakh, only 35% or so higher than the all-India average of around Rs 1.3 lakh.
• The new report provides data for 757 districts. “However, the geographical coverage of some districts and number of districts may differ from the current administrative configuration due to subsequent changes in district boundaries, names and/or the creation of new districts,” it added.

Do You Know:

• The informal sector, also known as the informal economy or grey market, refers to economic activities, enterprises, and jobs that operate outside government regulation, formal registration, taxation, or legal oversight.

• Based on the data collected from the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) of 2025, this is the first time that MoSPI has released district-level estimates from a large-scale national survey. The enterprises covered are from the unincorporated non-agricultural sector, which broadly comprises establishments operating in manufacturing, trade, and other services in the informal sector.

• Unsurprisingly, districts with greatest women participation are those with the highest percentage of female owned proprietary establishments. Nirmal tops this list again, with almost 80% of its proprietary establishments owned by women.
However, in terms of the number of workers or establishments, the distribution of the top-10 districts is more pan-India. West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas has the greatest number of informal workers with 21.3 lakh as well as establishments (16.6 lakh).

• In a sign of how concentrated even informal economic activity is in India, the top-10 districts in terms of the number of establishments are responsible for around 11% of the total Gross Value Added. The top-50 districts account for almost a third of the GVA.

• The main ASUSE 2025 report was released earlier this year in May after a ‘fact sheet’ was made public in March. As per the survey, the total number of unincorporated establishments rose by 58.5 lakh in 2025 to 7.92 crore. This was a smaller increase than the 83.5 lakh in the 12 months ended September 2024. As a result, fewer jobs were also created: 74.5 lakh in 2025 compared to 1.1 crore in October 2023-September 2024.

• The district-level data comes after MoSPI in June released a report on the informal sector in India’s 46 cities with a population of over 10 lakh as per Census 2011. Since those figures were based solely on urban areas, a district which shares the name with one of those cities – such as Howrah – may have different estimates as district-level figures in the latest report cover rural as well as urban areas.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Women participation in economy rising, but presence at top dismal

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍How globalization has led to the reduction of employment in the formal sector of the Indian economy? Is increased informalization detrimental to the development of the country? (UPSC, GS3, 2016)
📍Women empowerment in India needs gender budgeting. What are the requirements and status of gender budgeting in the Indian context? (UPSC, GS3, 2016)

Explained

Bihar flooded despite rainfall deficit; Nepal isn’t the reason

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian and World Geography

Main Examination: General Studies I: Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.

What’s the ongoing story: For much of the monsoon, Bihar was facing a problem associated with droughts rather than floods. Between June 1 and September 8, the state received 601.1 mm of rain, 27% below normal. As late as September 1, the deficit was 30%. Then the rivers rose sharply.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What are the major geographical factors responsible for the recurring floods in Bihar?

• How can a region experience severe flooding despite receiving below-normal seasonal rainfall?

• What is the role of the Ganga and its tributaries in determining Bihar’s flood vulnerability?

• What is the ‘backwater effect’ in river hydrology?

• How ‘backwater effect’ aggravates flooding in a river basin?

• What is the significance of sediment load in shaping the flood behaviour of Himalayan rivers?

• Do you agree that the Bihar’s flood problem is as much a geomorphological problem as it is a meteorological one?

• What are the steps/measures taken by Government of India’s for the mitigation of floods?

• ‘India’s approach to floods has traditionally been engineering-centric. A shift towards integrated floodplain management is required’—Do you agree?

Key Takeaways:

• The Ganga crossed its previous highest flood level (HFL) at Patna and Bhagalpur. At capital’s Gandhi Ghat, it reached 50.58 metres, six centimetres above the previous HFL of 50.52 metres recorded in 2016. At Sultanganj in Bhagalpur, the river touched 36.80 metres, five centimetres above its previous HFL of 36.75 metres set in 2021.

• By September 9, the Disaster Management Department reported 84 affected circles, 518 panchayats and 2,157 villages across 14 districts, with about 40.51 lakh people affected.

• Deputy Chief Minister and Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said on September 7 that this year’s flood pattern was different from previous years.

• “Normally, the rivers entering Bihar from Nepal — the Bagmati, Kamla, Kosi and Gandak — rise first, followed by the Ganga. This time, the Ganga became the main source of concern first,” he said.

• As Ganga’s catchment extends far beyond Bihar, it receives water generated by rainfall upstream, including from Uttar Pradesh. Bihar Disaster Management Department Principal Secretary Santosh Kumar Mall told The Indian Express that “rainfall around the Allahabad and Varanasi region, and the resulting downstream discharge, were important factors behind the Ganga’s rise. For other rivers too, discharge from neighbouring states was a major factor.”

• Meanwhile, Bihar recorded heavy, localised rainfall during the period when the flood situation worsened, including 214.92 mm in East Champaran and 154.55 mm in Sitamarhi in individual rain events.

• Bihar’s geography adds another layer. The Ganga, Gandak and Kosi constantly reshape their channels and create diara lands — shifting riverine islands and low-lying tracts that are cultivated and inhabited but remain highly vulnerable to rising water. Bihar’s high population density means many communities live close to rivers. Thousands also live on these dynamic lands. When river levels rise, people may have to be evacuated even if the main embankment remains intact.

Do You Know:

• Experts note that parts of the state are experiencing these severe floods despite overall poor regional monsoon rains. The crisis is heavily compounded by long-term environmental factors:
—Silt Accumulation: Decades of heavy sediment accumulation along the Farakka Barrage has made the Ganga’s riverbed drastically shallower. Consequently, even standard monsoon discharge causes rivers to spill rapidly over their banks.
—Changing Topography: Dynamic, shifting riverine islands (diara lands) constantly reshape the water channels, leaving high-density populations living along the plains highly vulnerable to structural flooding.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Bihar flood threat rises as Ganga flows above ‘highest flood level’; Orange rain alert in Delhi

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍Major cities of India are becoming vulnerable to flood conditions. Discuss. (UPSC, GS1, 2016)

Manipur’s demand for a 1951 baseline for NRC: Why the date is contentious

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance

Main Examination: General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

What’s the ongoing story: Manipur Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam on Monday (September 7) told the Assembly that 1951 would be the base year for updating the NRC in the state. He also said the state government cannot implement an NRC on its own without the Centre’s approval, and that officials are tracing the records of the 1951 NRC.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is the National Register of Citizens (NRC)?

• Compare and Contrast—Census, National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

• Why has 1951 emerged as a proposed baseline for the NRC in Manipur?

• What is the significance of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system in protecting the demographic and cultural interests of India’s north-eastern states?

• What are the major differences between the Assam NRC framework and the proposed NRC framework in Manipur?

• Why are Kuki-Zo groups opposed?

• What are the challenges for an NRC with 1951 as the base year?

Key Takeaways:

• The erstwhile princely state of Manipur had a permit system regulating the entry of people from outside the state. It was abolished by then Chief Commissioner Himmat Singh through a notification dated November 18, 1950.

• In 1951, the first Census of independent India was conducted. Alongside it, a National Register of Citizens (NRC) was prepared across the country, including in Manipur. The register contained details including names, parentage, nationality, age, occupation and residence.

• During the agitation for the introduction of the Inner Line Permit system in Manipur, the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) argued that this history makes 1951 the logical point from which the entry and settlement of outsiders should be scrutinised. Its argument is that 1951 provides the earliest available demographic baseline after the abolition of the permit system, against which subsequent migration and population change can be assessed.

• It has also pointed to a sharp increase in Manipur’s recorded decadal population growth — from 12.80% in 1951 to 35.04% in 1961 — which it cites as evidence of a substantial increase in population after the old entry controls were removed. The increase in population, however, does not by itself establish that it was caused by illegal immigration.
There is also a longer political history behind the demand. The “Proceedings of Understanding” between the Manipur government and student organisations in July and August 1980, another agreement of November 1994 between Manipur Lt Governor and student organisations under President’s Rule, and the Manipur People’s Protection Bill, 2018, all talk of 1951 as the baseline.

Do You Know:

• The 2018 Bill is significant because it sought to regulate the entry and presence of people from outside Manipur and classified as “non-Manipuris” those who were not Meitei, Meitei-Pangal, members of the Scheduled Tribes or people who had been living in Manipur before 1951. The Assembly passed it unanimously, but it did not become law.

• Assam had a far longer and more intense history of agitation over illegal immigration, culminating in the six-year Assam Movement of 1979-85, which witnessed substantial violence. Yet the political settlement that followed established a framework based on dates beginning in 1966 and ending on March 24, 1971.

• Under the Assam Accord, January 1, 1966 was fixed as the base date. Those who entered Assam before that date were to be regularised; those who entered between January 1, 1966 and March 24, 1971 were to be detected and registered under the law; and those entering on or after March 25, 1971 were to be detected and expelled.

• The 1971 date therefore emerged from the specific political settlement represented by the Assam Accord, which followed the Assam Movement and was shaped by the history of migration from East Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh. Manipur’s proponents say their historical problem is different. They want to establish a baseline soon after the abolition of Manipur’s own permit system in November 1950 and then examine subsequent demographic change.

• The demand predates the ethnic violence that began in May 2023, but the influx of people from Myanmar after the 2021 military coup gave it a new security dimension. It has now acquired another political significance with the 2027 Census and the prospect of delimitation. Meitei and Naga organisations want the NRC completed before the Census, arguing that population figures should not influence future political representation until illegal immigration has been addressed.

• The Kuki-Zo Council has opposed an NRC before the Census, calling the demand premature. The Council has also challenged the reliability of a 1951 baseline. KZC has said most hill areas of Manipur were extremely remote in 1951, with limited accessibility and virtually no road connectivity making comprehensive population enumeration difficult. Thus, using 1951 as the benchmark for the NRC could fail to reflect Manipur’s actual demographic history and potentially exclude indigenous communities whose villages were not covered in that Census.

• Manipur’s own experience shows the difficulty of translating a historical cut-off into policy. In 2018, the Biren Singh government’s Manipur People’s Protection Bill changed its proposed base year from 1971 to 1951 before being passed by the Assembly. The change triggered protests, including in Jiribam, where people from communities with longstanding links to neighbouring Assam feared that the definition could exclude them; the agitation turned violent, with clashes and injuries reported. The Bill eventually did not become law.

• The history points to the central difficulty with a 1951 cut-off: how does the state distinguish between a recent migrant and a long-settled resident who simply cannot produce records linking the family to 1951? Records from the period are uneven, particularly in the hills, and the government is now itself trying to locate the original 1951 NRC records. The Centre would also have to prescribe the evidentiary and appeals framework and clarify what exclusion from the register would mean legally. In a state where thousands have been displaced by the conflict, documentary verification would be even more complicated.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Centre defers Census in Manipur following ‘NRC first’ demand by civil society groups

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍Is the right to vote a fundamental right? Discuss the position of the Election Commission of India while undertaking the revision of electoral rolls. Can it also examine the question of citizenship of voters? (UPSC, GS2, 2026)

 

PRELIMS ANSWER KEY

1.(a)  2.(b)

  

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