NE Council withdraws ‘Vision Plan 2047’ over Manipur gaffe

Imphal: The North Eastern Council, a regional planning body for the eight Northeastern States, has withdrawn the draft ‘Vision Plan 2047’ document after it wrongly mentioned that the Kukis migrated from the ‘Chin State of Manipur’, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said in a Facebook post on Sunday.  The Chief Minister said that following the mistake in the draft NEC ‘Vision Plan 2047’, the issue was raised with Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia following which it was withdrawn.

In Chapter 3 – ‘Art, Culture, Natural Heritage’ — of the draft vision document, “Kukis (Chin) from the Chin state of Manipur” was mentioned. Chin State in neighbouring Myanmar shares an international border with Manipur and Mizoram. The same chapter, which referred to the migration of ethnic tribes in the northeastern region, said that the Northeastern region is home to more than 200 ethnic and tribal communities. The 664-page NEC ‘Vision Plan 2047’ envisaged outlined the vision for the eight northeastern states, including Sikkim, till 2047, when India would celebrate 100 years of Independence.  

The Kuki-Zomi-Chin-Hmar communities are among the tribals residing in Manipur and other states in the northeast region as well as neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh. They have ethnic, cultural, and traditional similarity with the Mizos of Mizoram. Over 35 percent of the 2.72 million population in Manipur are tribals. The state has 34 different communities comprising tribals and non-tribals. Tribals constitute 27.29 percent of the 45.48 million population in the eight Northeastern States, according to the 2011 Census.

North Eastern Council is a statutory advisory body constituted under the North Eastern Council Act, 1971, and came into being on November 7, 1972, at Shillong, Meghalaya. It is the nodal agency for the economic and social development of the northeastern region which consists of eight States — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura. The Union Home Minister is the ex-Officio Chairman while the DoNER Minister is the ex-Officio Vice-Chairman of the North Eastern Council.

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