The Manipur government informed the Delhi High Court on Tuesday that given the prevailing security situation, it is not possible to hold the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2024 (UPSC CSE 2024) in the State.
A letter written by Manipur Chief Secretary was handed over to the High Court today when the Court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition demanding that alternative and adequate arrangements should be made for tribal candidates from the hill districts of Manipur to enable them to take the exams.
The letter stated that given the situation in the State and to maintain the UPSC exam’s sanctity, it will not be appropriate to provide centres in state of Manipur.
It added that students from Manipur who are taking the examination may be considered for allotment at nearest centres outside the State, as was done last year.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora examined the letter.
Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma appeared for the Central government and said that the Chief Secretary’s letter is a tell-tale and even the functionaries of the State government and police officials in Manipur are not safe.
Considering the situation, the High Court asked the counsel appearing for the UPSC to obtain instructions in the matter.
The case will be heard next on March 22.
The plea was filed by Zomi Students Federation stating that no exam centres are located in the hill districts of Manipur the only centre is in Imphal.
The plea contended that given the ethnic conflict in the State, the Kuki tribal candidates from the hill districts cannot travel to Imphal and appear for the CSE exam.
“Owing to such situation, the candidates are forced to opt for other nearest centers in other states such as Aizawl which is more than 300-450 kilometers away through inhospitable roads from the hill districts and requires the candidates to incur huge expenditure for travel, boarding and lodging. Moreover, the difficult terrain and the severe lack of public transport facilities are dissuading factors for candidates. As most candidates in these regions are from a poor economic background, they do not have the means to stay in hotels/private accommodations,” the petition said.
It added that because of these difficulties, many students from tribal regions would not be able to take the UPSC examinations.
“The failure to provide for adequate alternate arrangements for the candidates belonging to the Kuki-Zomi community will cause grave prejudice to a large number of students who have spent considerable time in preparing for the CSE – Preliminary examinations and will cause them irreparable damage for no fault of theirs.”
The petition was filed through advocate Nizamuddin Pasha.
It is to be noted that the KSO-GHQ also wrote to the UPSC for setting up of exam centres in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi in the interest of “inclusivity and fairness”, as it was no longer possible for the Kuki students to go to Imphal, and that it was not fair for the students of these districts to travel to other states for appearing in the said exams.
