Thadou Inpi demands third IDP category for displaced families outside Manipur
The Thadou apex body has submitted a memorandum seeking relief, rehabilitation & resettlement support for community IDPs
File image of M. James Thadou, President, Thadou Inpi Manipur (Right) (Photo: @ThadouInpi_MN/X)
Imphal, Jan 3: The Thadou Inpi Manipur – the apex body representing the Thadou community – has submitted a memorandum to Manipur Governor AK Bhalla, Justice Gita Mittal (retd), chairperson of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee on Manipur Violence, the Union Home Secretary, and the State Chief Secretary, seeking recognition of internally displaced persons (IDPs) of the community residing outside Manipur as a distinct third category eligible for relief, rehabilitation, and resettlement support amid the ongoing violence in the State.
This submission comes in response to the press release issued by the Chief Secretary on December 30, 2025, regarding the Government’s initiatives for IDPs.
While appreciating the Central and State governments’ sustained efforts, including the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Package announced in the Manipur Budget 2025-26, phased resettlement planning, security-led confidence-building measures, and robust monitoring mechanisms, Thadou Inpi Manipur expressed discontentment over the consistent oversight of Thadou IDPs “who have been forced to seek shelter beyond Manipur’s borders”.
The memorandum highlighted that nearly two years and eight months of violence have forced many Thadou families to flee Manipur.
“These IDPs, now living outside the State, are wrongly assumed to be self-sufficient simply because they are not in government-designated relief camps.
This misconception ignores the severe social, psychological, educational, and economic hardships they face, including loss of homes and land, disrupted education for their children, and exclusion from official relief mechanisms,” the Thadou Inpi Manipur stated.
The memorandum stressed the need to recognise Thadou IDPs residing outside Manipur as a distinct category, in addition to the existing classifications of IDPs living in relief camps within the State and those residing outside camps or already resettled, or in the process of resettlement, within Manipur.
It highlighted that the self-reliance demonstrated by these displaced families, often through borrowing, informal labour, or community support, should not be misconstrued as economic stability.