State / UT
Manipur
Manipur is a state of the Indian Union in the north-east, formed as a full state on 21 January 1972 under the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, after passing through Part C state and Union Territory status following its 1949 merger with India. It is small in weight — about 2.86 million people at the 2011 Census, a Gross State Domestic Product estimated at Rs 49,937 crore for 2024-25, two Lok Sabha seats and one Rajya Sabha seat — but it holds a 60-member unicameral Legislative Assembly and a long international border with Myanmar. Its defining structural feature is Article 371C of the Constitution, which mandates a Hill Areas Committee of hill-constituency MLAs within the Assembly and gives the Governor a reporting duty to the President over hill administration, formalising a valley-hill split that runs through the state's institutions. Manipur draws roughly 90% of its revenue receipts from the Centre, and the state was under President's Rule from 13 February 2025 until 4 February 2026.
Updated
- Capital
- Imphal
- Formed
- 21 January 1972 (full statehood); Union Territory from 1 November 1956; Part C state from 15 October 1949
- Legislature
- Unicameral — Manipur Legislative Assembly, 60 seats (19 reserved for Scheduled Tribes, 1 for Scheduled Castes; 40 valley, 20 hills)
- Lok Sabha seats
- 2
- Rajya Sabha seats
- 1
- Population (2011 Census)
- 2,855,794
- Area
- 22,327 sq km
- Districts
- 16
- GSDP (2024-25 BE)
- Rs 49,937 crore
- Central transfers
- ~90% of revenue receipts (2024-25 BE)
- Constitutional provision
- Article 371C — Hill Areas Committee; Governor reports to the President on hill administration
Role
Manipur is a full state of the Indian Union, holding the ordinary State List powers — police and public order, land, agriculture, health, education — through a 60-member unicameral Legislative Assembly and a council of ministers responsible to it. Its weight in the Union is small: about 2.86 million people at the 2011 Census across 22,327 square kilometres, two Lok Sabha seats and one Rajya Sabha seat, and a Gross State Domestic Product estimated at Rs 49,937 crore for 2024-25. Its fiscal position is more defining than its size. Roughly 90% of Manipur’s revenue receipts come from the Centre — about 32% as the state’s share in central taxes and 58% as grants-in-aid in the 2024-25 budget estimates — against own tax revenue of Rs 2,471 crore. A state that raises so little of what it spends negotiates with the Union from a structurally weak position, whatever its formal competence under the Seventh Schedule.
What makes Manipur constitutionally distinctive is Article 371C, inserted by the Twenty-seventh Amendment in 1971 at the moment of statehood. It writes the state’s valley-hill division into the machinery of government itself: the President may constitute a Hill Areas Committee of the Legislative Assembly composed of members elected from the hill constituencies, modify the rules of business and Assembly procedure to secure its functioning, and assign the Governor a special responsibility for it. The Governor must report annually to the President on the administration of the Hill Areas, and the Union’s executive power extends to directing the state on that administration. Forty of the 60 assembly constituencies lie in the Imphal valley and 20 in the hills; 19 seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and one for Scheduled Castes. The practical result is a state whose legislature is majoritised toward the valley while a constitutional carve-out and a Union reporting line run through the hills — a design that makes the Centre a standing participant in Manipur’s internal administration rather than an outside arbiter. That participation has repeatedly become direct: Manipur has been under President’s Rule ten times since 1967, most recently from 13 February 2025 to 4 February 2026, following the ethnic violence that began on 3 May 2023 and displaced more than 60,000 people. As of 17 July 2026 an elected government drawn from the 2022 Assembly is in office, and the Chief Electoral Officer has published a Special Intensive Revision draft electoral roll with reference date 1 July 2026.
Desk maintained by IndiaStand editorial cycles. Officeholders are transient; this dossier tracks the institution.
Timeline since 1947
- reference
Merger Agreement signed; Manipur becomes a Part C state
Manipur merged with the Indian Union under an agreement signed on 21 September 1949, taking effect as a Part C state on 15 October 1949. The merger displaced the elected assembly created under the 1948 Manipur State Constitution Act, and the manner of the merger remains politically contested in the state.
- reference
Reconstituted as a Union Territory
Under the States Reorganisation settlement of 1956, Manipur ceased to be a Part C state and became a Union Territory administered from the Centre — a downgrade in self-government that fuelled a sustained statehood movement.
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Article 371C inserted by the Constitution (Twenty-seventh Amendment) Act
Article 371C empowers the President to constitute a committee of the Legislative Assembly drawn from members elected from the Hill Areas, to modify the rules of business and Assembly procedure accordingly, and to assign the Governor a special responsibility for its functioning. It also requires the Governor to report annually to the President on the administration of the Hill Areas, and extends the Union's executive power to giving directions to the state on that administration.
- reference
Full statehood under the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971
Manipur became a full state of the Union on 21 January 1972, alongside Tripura and Meghalaya, ending Union Territory status and creating the 60-member Legislative Assembly and a responsible state government.
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President's Rule imposed amid Naga-Kuki clashes
Central rule ran from 31 December 1993 to 13 December 1994 during ethnic clashes between Naga and Kuki communities. It was one of ten spells of President's Rule in Manipur since 1967 — among the highest counts for any Indian state, and the clearest measure of the fragility of its elected government.
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Seven new districts created, taking the total to 16
The state government carved out seven new districts on 9 December 2016, redrawing administrative boundaries across the valley and hills.
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Twelfth Legislative Assembly constituted
Elections to the 60-member Assembly were held from 28 February to 5 March 2022, and the twelfth Assembly was constituted on 22 March 2022. Of the 60 constituencies, 40 lie in the Imphal valley and 20 in the hill districts — a distribution that structures the state's legislative arithmetic.
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Ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities begins
Violence erupted on 3 May 2023 following rallies over a demand for Scheduled Tribe status for the Meitei community. Official figures counted 258 deaths as of November 2024, with more than 60,000 people displaced. The Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance in August 2023 and set up monitoring committees.
- reference
President's Rule imposed; Assembly placed in suspended animation
Following the Chief Minister's resignation on 9 February 2025 after twenty months of violence, President's Rule was proclaimed on 13 February 2025 and the state was administered through the Governor. It was extended for a further six months with effect from 13 August 2025.
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President's Rule revoked; elected government restored
President's Rule ended on 4 February 2026 after close to a year, and a new Chief Minister was sworn in the same day, restoring an elected government from the twelfth Assembly elected in 2022.
- official
Special Intensive Revision draft electoral roll published
The Chief Electoral Officer published a Special Intensive Revision draft electoral roll for Manipur with reference date 1 July 2026, covering the state's 60 assembly constituencies across 16 districts.
Frequently asked
- What is Manipur?
- Manipur is a state of the Indian Union in the north-east, formed as a full state on 21 January 1972 under the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, after passing through Part C state and Union Territory status following its 1949 merger with India. It is small in weight — about 2.86 million people at the 2011 Census, a Gross State Domestic Product estimated at Rs 49,937 crore for 2024-25, two Lok Sabha seats and one Rajya Sabha seat — but it holds a 60-member unicameral Legislative Assembly and a long international border with Myanmar. Its defining structural feature is Article 371C of the Constitution, which mandates a Hill Areas Committee of hill-constituency MLAs within the Assembly and gives the Governor a reporting duty to the President over hill administration, formalising a valley-hill split that runs through the state's institutions. Manipur draws roughly 90% of its revenue receipts from the Centre, and the state was under President's Rule from 13 February 2025 until 4 February 2026.
- When was Manipur established?
- Manipur was established 1972-01-21.
- What does Manipur do?
- Its remit covers Law and order, police and prisons under the State List — the function most contested in Manipur and the one most frequently displaced by Union deployments and central paramilitary forces, Land and land revenue, including the distinct valley/hill land regimes that sit at the centre of the state's political conflict, Agriculture, irrigation and rural development in the Imphal valley and the surrounding hill districts, Health, school education and public services delivery across 16 districts, Article 371C institutions: the Hill Areas Committee of the Legislative Assembly and the autonomous district councils in the hill areas, Border-adjacent administration along the international boundary with Myanmar.
- What is the latest on Manipur?
- As of 2026-07-17: Special Intensive Revision draft electoral roll published. The Chief Electoral Officer published a Special Intensive Revision draft electoral roll for Manipur with reference date 1 July 2026, covering the state's 60 assembly constituencies across 16 districts.
Official sources
The government's own pages for this institution — go straight to the primary.
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Departments, acts and rules, budget, notifications and orders.
www.manipur.gov.in/
- Manipur Legislative Assembly legislation
The 60-member unicameral House; members, party position, business.
www.assembly.mn.gov.in/
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Electoral rolls for the 60 assembly constituencies; publishing the SIR draft roll 2026.
ceomanipur.nic.in/
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GSDP, expenditure, and the state's share of central transfers.
prsindia.org/budgets/states/manipur-budget-analysis-2024-25
- Article 371C, Constitution of India legislation
The special provision governing the Hill Areas Committee and the Governor's reporting duty.
www.constitutionofindia.net/articles/article-371c-special-pr