Aizawl: The ministry of home affairs (MHA) will allocate Rs 5 crore to distribute free rice this year as humanitarian assistance to over 31,300 refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh, as well as more than 7,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) from Manipur taking shelter in Mizoram, state home department officials said on Saturday.“This will be the second time the central govt doling out humanitarian assistance to the refugees taking refuge in the state, as was done in 2024,” an official said.The state food, civil supplies & consumer affairs department has procured 1,291.3 metric tonnes of rice from the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution through the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the officials said.Administrations of 11 districts have been tasked to lift their respective quotsa of rice and distribute the supplies to the refugees soon. Donny Lalruatsanga, the deputy commissioner of south Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district, told TOI over phone that they will begin the process from Monday. “We will lift 2,850 quintals of rice to be distributed to refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh, as well as internally displaced people from Manipur taking shelter in the district,” Lalruatsanga said.Lawngtlai hosts 6,328 refugees from Myanmar, 1,353 from Bangladesh and a few IDPs from Manipur. The district provides shelter to the second-largest number of Myanmar refugees and the largest number of Bangladesh refugees amongst the 11 districts.Champhai district, which has the largest number of Myanmar refugees at 12,083, has been allocated 4,460 quintals of rice for distribution to the refugees, followed by Lawngtlai district. Aizawl district will receive 2,794 quintals followed by Siaha district’s 1,118 quintals.The state food, civil supplies & consumer affairs department issued a despatch order on May 25, instructing all district administrations to lift the rice latest by June 30.Additional secretary for home Andrew H Vanlaldika, who is also chairman of the stat- level task group on displaced persons, said the central govt had cleared the proposal for humanitarian assistance in the form of rice at Rs 5 crore in April last year. However, an apparent communication gap between the MHA and the the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution has delayed the implementation of providing free food for refugees and IDPs in the state.
Myanmar refugees at a community hall in Vaphai village
