No govt help for inmates, including kids, in camps

AS one enters the dingy rooms at the Moirang Multipurpose Higher Secondary School, the stench of stale air is softened by the mirth of playing children.

- PRASANTA MAZUMDAR

The school in Bishenpur district of Manipur's Imphal valley has been turned into a relief camp for people displaced by the ethnic clashes between the Meiteis and Kukis. The inmates have come from localities in the Kuki-majority Churachandpur town and villages such as Torbung, Saiton and Kangvai bordering Churachandpur district.

Not enough space

Altogether 386 inmates, all of them Meiteis, are living in 15 bare rooms with four toilets and a filthy pond outside to bathe in and wash clothes. Life is no better in the remaining other relief camps set up in the district. The inmates are surviving on foodstuffs provided by various civil society organisations and individuals. Shyamkumar Ayekpak and Shalki Devi, both volunteers at the relief camp, said the government has not provided any relief material yet. The camp was set up more than ten days ago.