Imphal, Nov 01, 2024, IANS

Imphal, Nov 1 (IANS) Days after the Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh announced that the state government undertook equal efforts for the development of both valley and hill areas, top government officials said on Friday that a higher amount of funds was sanctioned in the hilly areas than in the valley areas. The Manipur government's response comes after some tribal organisations, tribal leaders and MLAs have been accusing the state government of imbalanced allocation of funding of the Central Road Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Ningombam Subhash, the Chief Engineer of Manipur's Public Works Department, said that between 2020-21 and 2024-25, Rs 2,395.51 crore was sanctioned for different road and bridge projects in the hill areas of the state while Rs 1,300.21 crore was sanctioned for the valley areas. He added that Rs 1,374.81 crore and Rs 1,125.97 crore were sanctioned during the 2024-25 fiscal for the hilly and valley areas respectively, for various projects under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and North Eastern Council. According to the Chief Engineer, Rs 8,541.97 crore and Rs 351.8 crore were sanctioned for the hilly and valley areas respectively, for various projects under National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. between the 2020-21 and 2023-2024 financial years. Senior tribal leader and BJP MLA Paolienlal Haokip last week claimed that 57 road projects worth around Rs 399.36 crore were recently sanctioned for the valley areas by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Terming the allocation of funds as "neglect of hill areas of the state," he said on X: "All 57 road building projects only for valley Manipur districts. This is why Union Territory with a Legislature for the hills is a necessity." The non-tribal Meiteis account for around 53 per cent of Manipur's 3.2 million population and live mostly in the valley regions comprising six or seven districts while the tribal Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts, which cover around 90 per cent of the geographical areas of Manipur. The Valley region has a total of 40 non-tribal Meitei MLAs, while the hills have 19 MLAs divided between the Naga and the Kuki-Zo tribes and one seat reserved for the Scheduled Caste community. Jiribam district, a largely plain area adjoining southern Assam beyond the hills, is inhabited by both tribals and non-tribals. The Manipur Chief Minister last week while addressing an official function said that the state government never worked against any indigenous community in the state. "We are committed to protecting the current as well as future generations from illegal immigration (from Myanmar) and drug menaces," CM Biren Singh said, adding that none of the 34 communities, that exist in Manipur, are enemies against each other. Emphasising unity among various communities, the Chief Minister said that no one wants conflicts in Manipur while both hills and valleys are one and part of the state. The Kuki-Zo tribal community in Manipur remained firm for a separate administration like the Union Territory with a Legislative Assembly exclusively for the tribals similar to that in Puducherry. All 10 tribal MLAs, including seven BJP legislators, and several Kuki-Zo organisations, including the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum and Kuki Inpi Manipur, since the ethnic violence started in Manipur in May last year, have been demanding separate administration or a Union Territory for the Kuki-Zo tribals in the state.