INDIA TO BE BLAMED FOR MANIPUR'S UNDERDEVELOPMENT

𝐈𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐮𝐫'𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐞 (𝐇𝐀𝐂) 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐮𝐫 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐮𝐫 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬' 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

Who is Alfred, the Manipur MP who 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝟑𝟕𝟏𝐂 to demand a separate Budget for Manipur Hills in the Parliament? He was an MLA in the previous Manipur Assembly but was defeated in the election for the current Manipur Assembly. His MP constituency includes 8 Meitei inhabited valley assembly constituencies. It is considered that the votes of these 8 Meitei constituencies were pivotal for his win, thanks to @INCManipur for their successful campaign exploiting the crisis.

𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝟑𝟕𝟏𝐂:

👉It mandates the Manipur Assembly to create HAC consisting of hill MLAs to oversee matters related to the hill area.

👉The HAC has the power to review and recommend policies on matters affecting the hill areas, especially regarding customary laws, land, and resources.

👉The Governor of Manipur has a special responsibility to ensure the proper administration of these hill areas and must report to the President on related issues.

So it is the responsibility of the HAC to advise on policies and audit if the Manipur government is functioning as per their recommendations, if not they can bring the matter to the president via the governor.

👉 Section (5) of 371C explicitly stated that the HAC shall endeavour to:

1. 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬, particularly by promoting the 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 of these areas.

2. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 between the people of the Hill Areas and those in other parts of the state by ensuring 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡, thereby contributing to the overall augmentation of the state's resources.

Thus Article 371C is to foster 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 within Manipur, not to divide as spuriously demanded by divisive forces like MP Alfred!