Manipur CM Yumnam Khemchand meets PM Modi, invites him to visit state

Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand, along with his two deputy chief ministers, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the PM’s office in New Delhi on Tuesday and invited him to visit the state. This was Khemchand’s first meeting with the prime minister after taking over as the chief minister. A statement issued by the chief minister’s secretariat said that Khemchand briefed Modi on the steps taken by the new government to promote peace and harmony in the state. He also urged the prime minister to take special care of women’s empowerment in both the hills and the valley of Manipur. The chief minister and deputy chief ministers—Nemcha Kipgen and Losii Dikho —also met Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday evening, the statement said. During the meeting, the Union minister approved the construction of 5,000 new houses for the rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons in Manipur under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana–Gramin (PMAY–G). Earlier this month, the state government submitted a proposal for a special project under the PMAY-G for the construction of 5,000 houses for internally displaced persons affected by the ethnic violence. The Union rural development ministry also approved a special window of Awass+ 2024 household survey for capturing the details of the eligible affected households. The state government has also been allowed to continue the registration of the eligible affected beneficiaries under the special project of the PMAY-G. The Union ministry, however, directed the state government that the beneficiaries are identified for the special project as per the guidelines of the PMAY-G, and the identification and uploading of the details of eligible beneficiaries are completed through Awass+ 2024 mobile app. The state government is also allowed to sanction houses for eligible beneficiaries under the special project to whom assistance (one or more instalments) was released earlier under the PMAY-G, but their houses have been destroyed during the ethnic violence.