Internally Displaced People(IDP) living in the Biramangol College relief camp in Sawombung are struggling to make ends meet with minimal support. Despite the perception that relief camps provide solace, residents receive just 10 rupees per day as allowance and 200 grams of rice per person for daily consumption. The camp houses 114 individuals from villages like Sanasabi, Thamnapokpi, and Itham Moirangpurel, areas frequently attacked by Kuki militants.
Khundolei, a resident from Thamnapokpi, described the challenges of daily life, saying, “We have no way to earn money, yet we face many expenses—children’s school needs, winter clothing, and other necessities.” Attempts at introducing livelihood programs, such as candle-making and mushroom cultivation, have failed, leaving residents with little hope for self-sufficiency.
Winter has intensified their struggles, with government-issued clothing inadequate to meet families’ needs. While authorities have suggested that residents return to their villages, ongoing militant attacks make that prospect untenable.
Thokchom Lemba Meitei, Vice President of the Sawombung Student Club, which supports the camp, criticized the government for providing insufficient resources. Supplies, including rice, lentils, soap, and sanitary products, fall far short of what is needed. “An individual receives 200 grams of rice and 10 rupees a day, while a family must stretch a single bar of soap for 15 days,” Meitei said. Additional essentials, like fermented fish, must be purchased independently. Mattresses have also been denied to residents on the grounds that their homes were not destroyed.
Due to the ongoing conflict, the people have remained silent, enduring numerous hardships. Cooking gas is often unavailable, the prices of rice and other essentials have skyrocketed, and the roads connecting villages and districts are in deplorable condition. However, treating those displaced by the violence as though they are “chickens in a poultry farm” is deeply unfortunate, said Thokchom Lemba Meitei. He urged the government to pay greater attention to the dire conditions in the relief camp and provide more substantial support to those in need.
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