New chief secretary appointed in violence-hit Manipur

Imphal: The Manipur government on Sunday appointed Dr Vineet Joshi as the new chief secretary of the state which has been rocked by violence for the past few days, an official order said.

Joshi, a 1992 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Manipur cadre, replaced Dr Rajesh Kumar.

Joshi who was on central deputation was serving as Additional Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the repatriation of Joshi to his parent cadre on the request of the Government of Manipur, a Personnel Ministry order dated May 6 said.

“The governor of Manipur is pleased to appoint Dr Vineet Joshi as chief secretary” with immediate effect, according to an order of the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (personnel division) of the state government.

Violent Clashes broke out in the northeastern state after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the 10 hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, leading to the deaths of at least 54 people.

So far, 23,000 people have been rescued from the violence-hit areas and were moved to military garrisons.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal valley. Tribals — Nagas and Kukis — constitute another 40 per cent of the population and live in the hill districts.