Guwahati: The Centre has now put the entire census in Manipur on hold. Until now, only the house-listing had been kept suspended by Registrar General of India (RGI) since Sept following demand by Meitei and Naga civil societies for compilation of a National Register of Citizens (NRC) first before the population count.The RGI on Friday notified the schedule for the nationwide next phase of Census 2027 starting from Jan 25, but excluded Manipur “till further declaration,” along with Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand, Ladakh and the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.The five states — Manipur, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand — are headed for assembly elections early in 2027, while Ladakh is preparing for local-body and autonomous hill council polls.The population enumeration in the other states and UTs will be carried out till Feb 28, 2027, followed by a revisional round from March 1 to March 5. Self-enumeration will be open from Jan 10 to 24, before house-to-house enumeration begins. The reference date is 00:00 hours on March 1, 2027.Manipur’s exclusion carries particular weight in the state where the Meitei and Naga civil society organisations want NRC first, citing concerns over alleged illegal immigration, demographic changes and the need for a verified record of the indigenous population.The demand has legislative backing. The Manipur Legislative Assembly adopted a resolution in 2022 seeking the NRC before the census, and reaffirmed it in 2024.On Sept 5, the Manipur high court directed that house-listing be kept in abeyance. The Centre’s decision to defer it came at a meeting between Union home minister Amit Shah and CM Y Khemchand Singh in New Delhi on the same day.
