Delhi Meitei Forum (DMF) with medicines to be sent to Manipur's Heirok and Jiribam
When the clock struck 4 am in Manipur's capital Imphal, a team of five people took one last look at the boxes they had loaded the night before in their SUV, and drove out towards a medicine collection point.
The boxes contained hundreds of packets of oral rehydration solution (ORS), cartons of multivitamin syrup, and common over-the-counter medicines that people in relief camps would need.
The members of the Delhi Meitei Forum (DMF), an independent civil society group of Manipur's Meitei community living in the national capital, donated the medicines to be sent to Heirok in Thoubal district, and Jiribam district, bordering Assam, where violence broke out in the last two weeks.
Jiribam had been peaceful for more than a year until the recent flare-up, despite ethnic tensions between the Meitei community and the Kuki tribes in other parts of the state.
After giving the medicines, the DMF members headed out to a designated distribution spot, where they took out cartons of school bags that they had bought with funds donated by DMF members, who are from all walks of life and professions, many of whom have been recognised for public service.
Many students and their parents who are living in different relief camps came to the spot and met the DMF members, who handed over the school bags and notebooks.
All the students are residents of Khumujamba Meitei Leikai in Churachandpur district, from where they fled when the violence began. They are now staying at relief camps in areas including Mekola, Moirang, and the Imphal-based non-profit TAKDO.
"Some of the students are in government schools, some in private schools in Imphal and Hiyangthang," a key DMF member told NDTV.
A member of the Delhi Meitei Forum (DMF) carries school bags for students living in relief camps in Manipur
The member said in the spirit of the 'Aatmanirbhar (self-reliant) Bharat' theme, they bought the bags from the local company Romi Bag Industries, and notebooks from Sucheta Book Store in Imphal.
The DMF members had contributed whatever they could, from Rs 100, Rs 500 to Rs 1,000, to buy the items and medicines.
Despite the hardships, 93 per cent students in Manipur passed the class 10 board exams in May - the highest in the last 10 years. The Manipur Board of Secondary Education had announced that over 37,000 students gave the test, and many living in relief camps passed. The pass percentage in 2022 was 76 per cent, and in 2023 it was 82 per cent.
On its social media pages, the DMF says it is a group of "law-abiding Meitei citizens of India living in Delhi. The group is not affiliated to any other organisation or body. It's a completely independent group working for the well-being of the Meitei community."
DMF members say they have been carrying out activities frequently to help internally displaced people in Manipur.