Manipur Government

Manipur State Government and Its Set-Up


As far as India's governance structure is concerned, the Governor of the state is considered to be the representative of the President, and thus has the highest constitutional power in the state.

But the executive powers and policy making are assigned to the chief minister, who is head of the state government and member of the legislative assembly. He runs the state government through the Council of Ministers, which in turn is responsible to the elected legislative assembly of the state.

Sharing of Legislative Powers

In the republic of India, legislative powers are shared between parliament and the state legislatures, but parliament is the ultimate authority and reserves the right to amend the constitution. So, similar to the other state governments in India, the Government of Manipur is also run by the chief minister through an elected body of MLAs. They administer the nine districts of Manipur. The government includes an executive under the Governor, a judiciary and a legislative branch.

State Assembly

Similar to the other states in India, in Manipur, the supreme constitutional powers rest with the Governor of Manipur, who is appointed by the President. However President does not do it autocratically, he has to seek the advice of the central government in this regard. Imphal, the capital of Manipur, is also home to the Manipur Vidhan Sabha (state assembly), Imphal bench of High Court and the secretariat. The Manipur assembly includes 60 elected members or MLAs.

Manipur was a union territory until 1972, when it was granted the status of a state by New Delhi. The largest city, Imphal was made the capital of the state with none other districts. At present, KK Paul is the acting Governor and INCs (Indian National Congress) Okram Ibobi Singh is the state's chief minister.

Municipal Corporations

For better governance, the state is divided into nine municipal corporations; viz. Imphal, Thoubal, Kakching, Mayang Imphal, Nambol, Moirang, Ningthoukhong, Bishnupur and Jiribam municipal councils, which are further divided into many wards. Manipur government has formed many boards such as Manipur Biodiversity Board, Board of Secondary Education Manipur, Council of Higher secondary Education, Manipur State Science & Technology Council, Manipur Urban Development Authority, Manipur Small Farmers Agri-Business Consortium, and Manipur State AIDS Control Society (MACS) to undertake different aspects of administration.

Boards and Committees

The Biodiversity Management Committees has the responsibility of ensuring conservation of biodiversity. It is also dedicated to sustainable utilization of the biodiversity of the state. It is an important administrative body of Manipur since the state is largely dependent upon natural resources and its rich biodiversity for survival and growth. They also restrict its manipulation by outside agencies and organizations.

Manipur State AIDS Control Society (MACS) came into being in 1998. Ever since the first few cases of HIV infected patients came into light in India in 1986, the Manipur State Government became active and launched immediate measures to counter the threat. When, National AIDS Committee was formed in 1986, a state level AIDS committee was also formed in Manipur and it was administered by none other than the state chief minister. When the first HIV case was reported in Manipur in 1990, the state government became alert and set up a separate State AIDS Cell in the State Health Directorate. Soon, the AIDS emerged as an epidemic in the state and MACS was set up to control it.

Politics in Manipur

The major national parties such as Indian National Congress, CPI, RJD and BJP have their presence in the state of Manipur as well and they actively participate in all the political activities and elections of the Legislative Assembly. The state level parties are also not far behind as they work very hard for the growth of the state.

At present, Indian National Congress is the ruling party in Manipur with Mr. Okram Ibobi Singh as Chief Minister.

The major state level parties in Manipur are:

  1. Democratic Revolutionary Peoples Party
  2. Federal Party of Manipur
  3. Manipur National Conference
  4. Manipur Peoples Party
  5. Naga National Party
  6. National People's Party (India)
  7. Nikhil Manipuri Mahasabha
  8. People's Liberation Army of Manipur
  9. Manipur Peoples Party (MPP)

It was another dissident group from the Indian National Congress, which split in 1968 and formed a new local party in Manipur.

The Democratic Revolutionary Peoples Party (DRPP)

It is also a local political outfit in Manipur. In the 2002 assembly elections, the party had won two seats. It merged with the INC Secular Progressive Front led by the Indian National Congress (INC) in 2004.

Nikhil Manipuri Mahasabha

Nikhil Manipuri Mahasabha, was formed way back in British era in 1934. It was a Hindu fundamentalist organization and obviously it was against baptization of non-Christians of the state. They also opposed the foreign Christians advances into the tribal regions of the valley. They claim to protect the Hindus of the state from conversion and social aggression. It is based on the pattern of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha.

The Federal Party of Manipur and Naga National Party

The Federal Party of Manipur is a popular party, which is recognized as a local party in Manipur. It is headed by Mr. Gangmumei Kamei. Similarly, Naga National Party takes care of the interests of Naga community in Manipur. They want negotiated settlements to most of the conflicting situations in the North Eastern region, especially the ones related to Naga community and their rehabilitation in many tribal and urban areas. It is headed by Mr Ng Hungyo. This is also an active political party in Manipur, which had captured three assembly seats in 2007 state elections.

People's Liberation Army (PLA)

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is another political party in Manipur, which was founded by N. Bisheswar Singh in 1978. It is more of an armed rebel group and like Maoists, they are also seeking a separate independent socialist state. So, it is considered to be responsible for spreading insurgency in the state. It is rumored to be trained by the Chinese Army in Tibet and NSCN during the 80s.

Governor of Manipur

The Governor of Manipur serves as the executive head of the state and he is vested with particular authorities to govern the state.