The Meitei community of Manipur is predominantly Vaishnavite Hindus. They follow the caste system of the Hindu religion, and hence the lower caste among the Meiteis is included under the reserved category as Scheduled Caste. With the introduction of another form of reservation called Other Backward Classes (OBC), a large number of Meiteis are covered under this classification since 1995 and they have been successful in the All India civil services.
The Meiteis constitute more than 57% of the population of Manipur. Their share of seats in the Manipur Legislative Assembly is 40 seats out of 60 seats in the assembly. The hard-working Meiteis are also educationally and economically forward community. They have been grabbing the lion share of resources for development for the valley where they are settled in 10% of the land, leaving a paltry amount of funds for the development of 90% of land in the hill areas. Given their predominant position in the social, economic and political spheres, they are a dominant force in the state.
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Correction… Meitei also a tribe..From the beginning of era All meitei are Hill tribe they live in the hills.. Still Half of the Meitei population are sanamahism religion(indigenous) other are Hindus and christian. .. Now most of tribal are Christians..today about 5% of tribal are worshipping indigenous God… ? Meitei perform their indigenous culture and it will see in any ceremony.. Whereas christian tribal put their traditional dress only in VIP function or going to church only…this is the difference… In my opinion I want to follow our own indigenous culture with indigenous religion as ST to live together and want to protect together from the huge population of the mainland… So meitei should be in ST category is highly needed this time…
So, it’s the *personal* view of a *New Delhi based activists ? No wonder it’s false and too biased. For you to note though, not all opinions are facts. This article is only a criticism so it’s not all based on facts. Pls, from a meitei myself, this is utterly ridiculous, EastMojo you’ve let me down. Tribals are the ones having it easy, with 90% land occupation, many grow rich with even only timbers. We meitei are but only a tiny minority when it comes to India as a whole, the state is not one of the most developed, education and infrastructure are also lacking. What you wrote on the meitei community having all opportunities and education and wealth is false, do facts check for once. A lot of the families in villages and even towns are BPL, tribals are blessed with opportunities. In Imphal itself, most tribals inhibiting here are sick wealthy. We tribals and meiteis and Muslims, though educated equally, when it comes to job opportunities, ST/OBC grab half of them. The few posts left are to be competed amongst the meiteis, which isn’t a small number in Manipur tho. It’s the same when we go for central jobs or for higher education outside. Even Nagas and Kukis are well educated nowadays, also vast lands and all.
Wow! If 14lacs population of Meitei(which is not even 0.2% of India’s population) can threatened the rest of the Manipur population, and even the north-eastern population, just by getting equal opportunities from the govt., you are one incompetent and insecure community. Work hard instead of putting others down, for a change.
The article is obviously ridiculous and have very poor insights. The point of inclusion of a tribe in ST category is not to get higher opportunities for jobs or get selected in civil services exam, but to have a personal identity, a place among fast advancing human civilization where identities are becoming vague and not respected. No community, no tribe should be wiped out from their own home land. Cultural identity should be respected and any civil person would have this in mind, this is something any person who come to stay in an ethnic land should know.
It is the duty of a government to provide jobs and this responsibility to be misplaced on a group of people residing under the same government is baseless.
As for reservations, it’s better taken out and filled with other opportunities, say like giving aid according to financial situation of a family. It’s a well known fact that reservations is a mockery to one’s own hard-work. One can’t have less knowledge and be a scientist. We need deserved people doing jobs cause only then we can grow as a better nation, excel in science and technology and have greater number of human resources.
Let’s put the work as any other human would do and stop creating conflict with friends just because they need their personal space to be respected. General, SC, ST, OBC are all same when they are at the same financial group.
That’s it. Thanks for your time
What a trash article. Meiteis aren’t demanding ST status for more Civil service seats/ IAS seats nor government jobs nor to buy lands in the hills. Meiteis are also not wealthy as you claimed them to be.
Don’t write your opinion as an article, it’s a public page not your diary.
To all those Non-Manipuri netizens reading this, this article is heavily biased written by based on opinions so read it with a drum of salts.
My St friends from other state were scared that if we got St they will be jobless. But let me tell you guys , they were wealthier than me their parents never pay taxes they went to prestigious schools wear good expensive clothes and went to many places which I was not able to due to money and time problem. While there were some St friends who were more hard working then me and very good at studies they even grab the general category. So I know where this article is coming from. It’s coming from those who have not succeeded in life even though they had all the comforts and fears that they will need to work more if we compete with them too. Don’t worry there are lots of good brains in your tribe too. Have faith. After all we are all brothers one reside in valley others in hills surrounding the valley.