IMPHAL — Former
Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla took oath as Manipur Governor at a brief
ceremony at the Raj Bhavan here on Friday.
Manipur High Court Chief Justice D. Krishnakumar
administered the oath of office and secrecy to Governor Bhalla in a simple
ceremony at Raj Bhavan.
Chief Minister N. Biren Singh and his Cabinet colleagues,
top security and civil officials were present in the ceremony, conducted by
Chief Secretary Vineet Joshi.
On Thursday, Bhalla was welcomed by the Chief Minister,
Assembly Speaker Satyabrata Singh and other dignitaries after he arrived in
Imphal.
President Droupadi Murmu on December 24 appointed Bhalla as
the next Governor of Manipur.
After the resignation of former Governor Anusuiya Uikey,
Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya has been holding additional charge of
the state since July 31.
Bhalla, a 1984 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, as the top official of the Ministry of
Home Affairs for a long time, has vast experience in dealing with the various
crisis situations in the northeastern region.
He was the Union Home Secretary when the ethnic violence between
the majority Meitei and minority Koki-Zo community began in Manipur on May 3,
2023.
During the 20-month-long ethnic violence, over 250 men and
women of both communities were killed, over 1,000 were injured and more than
60,000 people were displaced from their homes and villages.
Despite the unprecedented deployment of Central security
forces and partial reimposition of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act
(AFSPA) in certain areas, violent incidents are taking place in a few
districts.
However, many organisations including the influential
Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an umbrella body of the
Meitei community, have been demanding the repeal of AFSPA.
Chief Minister Singh recently said that bringing a solution
to the ongoing ethnic strife in the state would take time as the situation has
become complex, chronic and fragile.
He had said that gradually, the situation in Manipur is
improving with most of the districts remaining incident-free for the past
several months.
"The state and Central security forces along with the
civil administration are doing their best to maintain the violence-free
situation and to deliver services to the people," CM Singh had told the
media.
