Manipur violence: Govt to introduce ‘no work, no pay’ rule for staff

The Manipur government will introduce a ‘no work, no pay’ rule for  government employees who are not attending office without authorised leave due to various reasons arising out of the ethnic violence.

A government official said that the General Administration Department (GAD) has asked all the administrative secretaries to furnish details of employees who are not able to attend to their official work due to the prevailing situation.

There are around one lakh employees in the Manipur government.

Over 65,000 people have been displaced across Manipur, which include a large number of government employees, who have taken shelter in the relief camps.

Since the outbreak of ethnic violence, over 120 people have lost their lives while over 400 people have been injured with large scale destruction of houses and properties.

The ethnic violence broke out between Meitei and Kuki communities on May 3 in Manipur.

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) has released a statement condemning the rule.

"The tribal communities, who constitute a portion of the state government’s workforce, have been subjected to inhumane treatment in the Imphal Valley and elsewhere and hunted like animals since May 3, 2023. Their homes, properties, personal documents, and belongings have been looted and burned, leaving them without any means to return to work or their residence," the ITLF press release reads.

It illustrates that "Letminthang Haokip was dragged out from his official quarter and burned alive along with his belongings."

"Two tribal girls were mercilessly killed by a Meitei mob, and suspected to have been raped as well, while a nursing student was forcefully evicted from her hostel amidst horrifying threats of 'rape her' and 'kill her'," it adds.

Shiv Sena UBT leader Priyanka Chaturvedi has said, "Without semblance of peace expecting staff to feel safe and return is mockery of their plight. And these are government employees from hill working in the valley and vice versa- they are the ones having faced the brunt of these clashes. Reminds one of Kashmiri Pandit government employees, who were forced to return to work in Kashmir with similar no pay threats despite their targeted killing."