IMPHAL: On Friday, an organisation of Manipur riot victims urged the state government to provide monetary allowances to those who have been living in the relief camps for the past five months and to take effective steps to rehabilitate the affected families in their original villages. The Joint Committee on Affected Meitei Victims Manipur (JCAMVM) urged the government to provide a lump sum allowance, which is required for the families living in the relief camps as the inmates have no earnings now and they have to meet certain basic urgent needs.
JCAMVM co-convenor Naba Ningthoujam said: "It seems justice has become a distant dream for us. A lump sum allowance for the affected families is urgently needed." The JCAMVM was formed by representatives of 47 villages from Bishnupur, Tengnoupal, Kakching, Thoubal, Imphal West, and Imphal East districts. Over 60,000 people, who were affected by the ongoing violence that unfolded on May 3, are currently staying at 351 relief camps in both the valley and hill districts since then. Of them, members of the committee are taking refuge at 249 relief camps in the valley districts.
At least 4,786 houses were hit by the violence across the state. Despite the government having taken up different schemes for the welfare of the people currently sheltered at relief camps, owing to the continuing ethnic strife, the affected people belonging to the Meitei community have voiced out their utmost sufferings in eking out their living. Stating that money is the only driving wheel to augment their daily requirements, they categorically demanded the government provide family allowance money on a priority basis.
Ningthoujam, 49, who hails from Chin-Kuki-Zo-dominated Churachandpur district and whose house was torched by the attackers, is currently taking shelter at a relief camp opened on the premises of a college in Bishnupur district since violence erupted. Speaking to Waari Singbul, a leading online media outlet, he said most of the inmates, who are now lodged across the relief camps, are under severe mental stress, and the strength to hold on to the hope of returning to their respective homes seems to be fading away. "We came running for our lives with nothing, but with just a single piece of cloth to cover our bodies. It's a trying time, and we know we can't expect the comfort of our homes. But with no job in hand and without any money, our hearts break when our children demand snacks to eat when they are hungry or when they fall ill. We can cope with the two meals of rice and lentils, but the children can’t," he rued. Two months after the violence erupted, the education department announced the reopening of schools.
According to a government report, around 14,736 school-going children are internally displaced in Manipur. Efforts are being made by the state authorities to admit the displaced children to the nearest school. “Even though the government says that children are given education free of charge, expenses are incurred on our part. They have to be fed early, ahead of the camp’s scheduled time. Their travel too costs money,” he further lamented. (IANS)
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