IMPHAL | A delegation of students from 10 schools and colleges on Thursday urged Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh to press the Centre for conducting the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise in the state before the Census.

The students met Khemchand at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat here and sought identification of illegal immigrants through the NRC process before population enumeration under the Census.

The delegation also urged the government to reopen educational institutions and requested that the NRC issue be discussed during the forthcoming session of the Manipur Legislative Assembly. Khemchand assured the students that the state government would seek a discussion on implementation of the NRC during the Assembly session beginning September 2.

The chief minister reiterated the state government’s support for implementation of the NRC in Manipur, while noting that both conducting the exercise and ensuring that it is error-free were important issues that needed to be addressed. The meeting was attended by Commissioner of Education Ningthoujam Geoffrey and Director of Education (Schools) Ng Bhogendra Meitei.

The student delegation comprised representatives from DM College of Science, Manipur College, CC Higher Secondary School, Johnstone Higher Secondary School, Nambol Higher Secondary School, T.G. Higher Secondary School, Ibotonsana Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Ram Lal Paul School, Model Higher Secondary School and Ananda Singh Higher Secondary School.