For cookie-zomi affected by 22 months of struggle, different administration requirement is more about the control of roads. This is about the reconstruction of their broken life. But the lack of commitment to that end of the Center is increased by its uneven financial allocation as the conflict solution.
The budget of 2025-26 is Rs 157 crore for relief and rehabilitation of more than 60,000 internal displaced persons (IDP), including both Hills and Valley.
However, a close examination reveals insufficiency of this allocation. When per capita is broken, each IDP receives only Rs 26,167 – an amount that barely scratches the surface required for meaningful recovery. Compare it with Rs 28.99 crore approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for the renovation of only 800 pre-militants under the Joint National Liberation Front (UNLF-P) peace process, which is equal to Rs 3,61,237 per terrorist.
If the government was actually invested in the long -term welfare of the struggle affected communities of Manipur, it shows its budgetary meditation. Instead, IDPs who have lost their homes, livelihoods and communities are allocated a pathetic of Rs 1,167 per person in compensation, an amount so insignificant that it limits insults. There is no structured, long -term rehabilitation plan in the place. Unlike struggle areas such as Jammu and Kashmir, where broad housing, employment and education programs have been implemented for displaced population, the IDP of Manipur is left for itself with a little more with symbolic assistance.
The current perspective shows that the government is more invested in maintaining surface-level stability than giving justice and rehabilitation. The renovation of pre-militants is undoubtedly necessary, but prioritizing the rehabilitation of citizens who have suffered the brunt of violence points for a deliberate political calculation rather than a human commitment.
Instructions to reopen the roads are thus exposed in many layers. If the BJP can succeed in restoring the free movement across the state, it will send an infallible message: New Delhi is more committed to preserving the regional integrity of Manipur than being engaged in a serious dialogue on a separate administration.
If New Delhi really intends to create permanent peace, it will have to focus in wider civil rehabilitation by rebel rebel. This means increasing compensation, providing structured housing, investing in employment generation, and ensuring access to the education and healthcare of displaced communities.
Until these basic issues are addressed, the demand for separation will not go away. This will only fuel from the government’s failure to accept the real needs of the people of Manipur and to work.
(Sangamuan Hanging, Kautilya is a public policy student in the School of Public Policy. It is a piece of opinion, and the ideas expressed above are of the author’s own. The Quint Neither endors nor responsible for them.)
