IMPHAL, December 17: The Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System today launched a “Save Indigenous Peoples Campaign” at the Manipur Press Club.
The function was attended by JCILPS convenor-in-charge Khomdom Ratan, senior advocate Khaidem Mani, Editors’ Guild Manipur president A Mobi and JCILPS former convenor Ibotombi Khuman as presidium members.
Associate Professor S Noren of Statistics department, Imphal College speaking as a resource person said, before Manipur’s merger with the Indian Union, Manipur had its own systematic and effective way of dealing with the immigration issue.
On November 18, 1950, the then chief commissioner Himmat Singh abolished the Foreigners’ Permit System, he said.
Since then we have forgotten how to deal with the immigration issue, he added.
He continued even by just looking at the population index, we can see the sudden rise of population in Manipur which is actually due to the influx of the migrant population.
Elaborating further, he said the two parameters of ‘change in the decadal population growth rate’ and change in sex ratio are pointers of the increase in migrant population.
He said according to reports of the Registrar Census of India, the decadal growth rate in Manipur during 1901 to 1911 was calculated at around 22 percent. In 1921 it was 11 percent, 16 percent in 1931, whereas it was 15 percent in 1941 and 13 percent in 1951, he said.
However, according to the 1961 census report which was the first after Manipur’s merger with India, the population growth stood at around 35 percent and 38 percent by 1971, he said.
At the same time, the sex ratio by the turn of the last century in 1901 was recorded at 1037 female per 1000 male, in 1911, it was 1029 female per 1000 male and 1041 female per 1000 male in 1921, he said.
In 1931, there were 1065 female for every 100 male and in 1951 there were 1036 female per 1000 male, he said, adding that a society where the female population is more than the male population is considered to be a healthy and harmonious society.
He said however, by 1961, the sex ratio had decrease to 1015 female for 1000 male, and by 1971, it had decreased to just 980 female for every 1000 male.
All these are evidences of how, the influx of the migrant population is affecting the State’s demography, he added.
He further said that the people can figure out where all these outsiders have concentrated after entering the State.
He said we did a calculation on ‘Concentration of population’ and ‘district wise population figure’.