IMPHAL, 30 May: Union Home Minister Amit Shah, currently visiting Manipur, on Tuesday began consultations with stakeholders, which started with a breakfast meeting with a group of women leaders, as part of his initiative to bring lasting peace in the violence-hit state.
The home minister also held a meeting with delegations of civil society organisations as part of his outreach.
“Held a meeting with a group of women leaders (Meira Paibi) in Manipur. Reiterated the significance of the role of women in the society of Manipur. Together, we are committed to ensuring peace and prosperity in the state,” Shah tweeted.
According to a home ministry spokesperson, Shah also held a meeting with delegations of different civil society organisations in Imphal this morning.
After his arrival in Imphal on Monday night, the home minister met Chief Minister N Biren Singh, some cabinet ministers, officials and a few political leaders.
Shah is visiting Manipur for four days, beginning Monday, during which he will hold several rounds of security meetings to assess the situation and plan further steps to restore normalcy, sources said.
This is the first time that the home minister is visiting the state since the ethnic clashes began in Manipur on 3 May.
Manipur has been hit by ethnic conflict for nearly a month and witnessed a sudden spurt in clashes and firing between militants and security forces on Sunday, after a relative lull for over a fortnight.
The death toll from clashes has gone up to 80, officials said.
Ethnic violence first broke out in Manipur after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts on 3 May to protest the Meitei community’s demand for ST status.
Govt announces compensation
Meanwhile, Centre and the Manipur state government have decided to give a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs to those who died during the ethnic conflict in Manipur, officials said on Tuesday.
A member of the families of those who died in the rioting will also be provided with a job.
The compensation amount will be equally borne by the Centre and the state, officials added.
The decision was take at a meeting between Shah and the chief minister on Monday late night.
Officials said that it has also been decided to set up dedicated telephone lines which will be used to dispel rumour mongering which has largely affected the process to calm down the situation and bring peace in the troubled state.
Shah’s meeting also decided to ensure that essential items such as petrol, LPG cylinders, rice and other food products will be made available in large quantities to cool down prices.
The home minister, who flew in to Imphal on Monday night, is accompanied by Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Intelligence Bureau Director Tapan Kumar Deka.
The union home minister will hold a series of meetings with political and civil society leaders from both the Meitei and Kuki communities and visit Churachandpur, the site of some of the worst rioting earlier this month, on Tuesday. (PTI)
