IMPHAL, Jul 30: Kangleipak Students’ Association (KSA) has urged the Government to think over whether it is right to fix January 21, 1972 as the base year while drafting a new Bill for the protection of indigenous people of the State.
In a statement, KSA said that while all necessary efforts must be put in to avoid misunderstandings among all the stakeholders, no conclusion must be made on fixing the base year in a hurry.
Saying that a huge number of non-locals would be eligible to be categorised as indigenous people if the base year is January 21, 1972, KSA observed that the definition of indigenous people given by International Labour Organisation would be interpreted wrongly if the base year is fixed as January 21, 1972.
The students’ body said that people of Khoibu and Chongthu who were not included in early Census datas have also been a part of the indigenous people of the State.
On the otherhand, there is a controversy over inclusion of Dhopi, Dhobi, Muchi, Ravidas, Namasudra, Patni and Sutradhar communities in the SC list of the State, KSA said.
The students’ body observed that the new Bill which would be passed in the upcoming Assembly session must protect only the indigenous people of Manipur.
