Manipur Govt seeks tribal development fund for non-tribal owned NGOs

The Manipur state government, in its attempt to swindle development fund meant for tribals, has written to the Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda for sanctioning of various project under the Tribal Affairs Ministry on October 23.

In a letter addressed to the Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda, Khadi and Village Industries Board forwarded the names of six NGOs for various development projects under the Tribal Affairs Ministry. The letter was received by the Ministry on October 26.

However, the names of the six NGOs recommended by the Vice-Chairman of KVIB, Wahengbam Dineshchandra, on 12th May, 2023, are all from the valley Meitei community, a non-tribal. The NGOs are EEHUL Foundation, Konthoujam Awang Leikai, Imphal West, Manipur; Empowering of Culture & Rural Development, Pishumthong Ningom Leirak, Imphal West, Manipur; Rural Community Development Centre, Pourabi, Imphal East, Manipur; Sustainable Centre for Development and Culture, Konjeng Leikai, Imphal West, Manipur; Naharol Development Foundation, Thangmeiband Maisnam Leikai, Imphal West, Manipur and Centre for Research on Culture and Rural Empowerment.

Among the six projects, four of them are for Mobile Dispensary while the rest are Livelihood Project.

The irony is that though the Vice-chairman, in his forwarding letter, stated that the recommended projects will benefits the tribal population of the state at large, none of the projects mentioned in the Detailed Project Report (DPR) belongs to the tribal community. All the six NGOs recommended for receiving the tribal developmental scheme are exclusively owned by the non-tribals in the valley areas of Imphal.

The same was corroborated by the Chief Minister N. Biren Singh in his letter to the concerned Union Minister on October 23, stating that there are tribal inhabitants in all the 16 districts of Manipur constituting a major part of the population in the state. Empowerment of tribal communities in Manipur, therefore, has a significant impact on accelerating the overall socio-economic development trajectory of Manipur, he said.

Toward this objective, the Chief Minister added that the Manipur Khadi & Village Industries Board, a statutory body established under the Manipur Khadi and Village Industries Board Act, 1966, prepared a Detailed Project Report for “Integrated Empowerment of Schedule Tribe Communities in Manipur” for submission of the same through the state Department of Tribal Affairs.

The Chief Minister in his concluding part said he will be very grateful if the Ministry could favourably consider the proposal for promotion of sustainable employment and creating self-reliance amongst tribal communities in Manipur.