IMPHAL — Manipur
Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla on his maiden visit after assuming office, visited
Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts on Tuesday and during his interaction
with various Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) appealed to the leaders to work
collaboratively with the administration in peace-building efforts.
A Raj Bhavan official said that the Governor also visited
various relief camps in Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts and interacted
with displaced people, who have been staying in the relief camps since the
ethnic violence broke out in Manipur in May 2023.
“The Governor patiently heard the problems faced by the
displaced people and assured to extend support to them,” the official said.
Bhalla inaugurated a newly-constructed IT Centre at
Churachandpur College and interacted with the students of there.
The Governor held an important meeting at the Deputy
Commissioner’s Office, Churachandpur, where he interacted with various CSOs.
“The Governor appealed to the leaders of the CSOs to work
collaboratively with the administration in peace-building efforts,” the
official stated.
Later, he visited the Sadhbhavna Mandap Relief Camp in
Churachandpur and interacted with the displaced people and distributed relief
materials there.
On his way back to Imphal, the Governor visited the Chingnu
Thangjing Guest House Relief Camp at Moirang in Bishnupur District and
interacted with the inmates and distributed relief materials.
Bhalla, after assuming the gubernatorial charge of Manipur
on January 3, held a meeting with the top security officials the next day and
reviewed the law and order situation of the troubled state.
The Governor directed the state Director General of Police
Rajiv Singh to prioritise the safety and security of the people and urged
officers from the Army and paramilitary forces to extend their fullest
cooperation to the administration in maintaining law and order in the state.
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.
