Kin of Manipur’s 49 people missing since 2023 ethnic conflict to get ₹10 lakh each

Manipur Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam. | Photo Credit: PTI GUWAHATIThe Manipur Cabinet has approved a one-time financial assistance of ₹10 lakh each for the kin of 49 people missing since the ethnic conflict erupted in the State on May 3, 2023.Manipur’s Home Minister Konthoujam Govindas told the 60-member House in September that the conflicts — first between the Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities and then between the Kukis and Nagas — claimed 306 lives and displaced more than 60,000 people.“The Cabinet approved a Home Department proposal for the one-time assistance of ₹10 lakh each for the survivors of the 49 missing persons as a special humanitarian measure,” Manipur Government spokesperson and MLA Sapam Ranjan Singh told journalists on Thursday (October 1, 2026) evening after the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yunman Khemchand Singh.The spokesperson said the 49 people remain untraced despite sustained search efforts.“The decision takes into account the difficulties faced by families of missing persons, particularly because existing legal and procedural requirements make it difficult for them to access compensation available to families of those officially declared dead,” he said.The law says a missing person is presumed dead only after seven years. Families of such people do not possess death certificates and autopsy reports required under the applicable Central assistance scheme.“The families of the missing people have been going through hardships similar to those faced by the kin of people killed during the conflict. This was the reason why the government considered their case for the one-time assistance,” the spokesperson said.Among other decisions, the Cabinet approved an increase in ex-gratia assistance for Army and Central Armed Police Forces personnel killed or injured while operating in Manipur in connection with extremist violence.Under the proposal, the assistance will match the rates applicable to State police personnel. The revised compensation will be ₹10 lakh for death, ₹2 lakh for permanent disability, ₹1 lakh for grievous injury, and ₹20,000 for simple injury.The existing rates of ₹2 lakh for death and ₹10,000 for injury were fixed in 2006. Published - October 02, 2026 11:39 am IST