TYCM submits memorandum to Governor against land notification in Hill areas

The Tribal Youth Council Manipur (TYCM), Council Headquarters, has submitted a memorandum to the Governor of Manipur on September 26, 2025, urging the issuance of an order to exempt hill areas from the purview of the Land Resources Department’s notification dated September 18, 2025.
The notification, issued under the subject “Procedure for Sale, Purchase, and Registration of Land in Manipur,” standardizes land transactions “within the state.” According to TYCM, the use of the phrase directly infringes upon constitutional safeguards for hill areas and violates provisions of the Presidential Order, 1972.
The Council argued that, as the custodian of tribal interests under Article 371C of the Constitution of India, the Governor is duty-bound to ensure the proper functioning of the Hill Areas Committee (HAC). TYCM maintained that the Governor must exercise special powers to protect the land and rights of hill tribal communities.
The memorandum recalled that Article 371C, along with the Presidential Order of June 20, 1972, was enacted to safeguard the life, land, and forests of the hill tribes of Manipur. It further noted that the Hill Areas Committee is vested with authority over all legislative and administrative matters concerning the hill areas, and no decision affecting them can be taken without the Committee’s consent, except in the case of a Money Bill.
TYCM also highlighted that the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (MLR & LR) Act, 1960, does not extend to the hill areas, as specified in Section 1(2) of the Act. In the hill regions, land is held under the traditional tribal landholding system, protected by constitutional safeguards.
Questioning the legal grounds for the Land Resources Department’s notification, TYCM asserted that the tribal people of Manipur will not allow its implementation in the hill areas unless it is explicitly stated that the order “shall not extend to the hill areas of Manipur.”