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Puneet Kumar Goel named Manipur’s top bureaucrat amid efforts to restore peace
The ethnic violence triggered in the state in May 2023 has claimed at least 260 lives, displaced around 60,000, and forced Meiteis and Kukis to withdraw to their respective strongholds
Puneet Kumar Goel was on Wednesday named as the new Manipur chief secretary in place of Prashant Kumar amid efforts to restore peace in the ethnic violence-hit state and facilitate the return of some displaced people to their homes.
A personnel and training department order said the Union Cabinet’s appointments committee approved its proposal for Goel’s inter-cadre deputation on the curtailment of central tenure.
Officials in Manipur said the state has been relatively peaceful, but top government functionaries were unhappy with Kumar, which is why he was transferred as the top bureaucrat within seven months.
One mid-level officer, who asked not to be named, said a lot was happening behind the scenes in Manipur, and talks were being held to restore peace. “There are plans to shift some of the displaced people back to their homes. Different agencies are working overtime to finish the projects at a breakneck speed because the PM [Prime Minister Narendra Modi] may visit Manipur and Mizoram on the same day later this month.” The officer underlined that there was no official confirmation so far of the visit.
The ethnic violence triggered in the state in May 2023 has claimed at least 260 lives, displaced around 60,000, and forced Meiteis and Kukis to withdraw to their respective strongholds.
Manipur has been under the president’s rule since February, when N Biren Singh resigned as the chief minister days after the Supreme Court sought a forensics report on leaked audio tapes allegedly featuring him purportedly saying the ethnic violence was instigated at his behest.
The mid-level officer quoted above said that issues persisted between Naga and Kukis in some villages over the construction of a road. “Kuki-Zo people have used the road since May 2023, which is now being opposed by Naga groups. The government thought the state needed a new man to oversee all this.”
Kumar, a 1993 batch Manipur cadre Indian Administrative Service officer, served as the new and renewable energy secretary before his repatriation to his parent cadre on the Manipur government’s request in January.
Goel has served as Goa’s chief secretary and South Delhi Municipal Corporation commissioner (transport). In 2023, the government appointed Rajiv Singh as Manipur police chief in place of P Doungel with the approval from the appointments committee by changing his cadre from Tripura to Manipur.
