Manipur State Government and Its Set-Up
As far as India's governance structure is concerned, the Governor of the state is considered to be the representative of the President, and thus has the highest constitutional power in the state.
Sharing of Legislative Powers
In the republic of India, legislative powers are shared between parliament and the state legislatures, but parliament is the ultimate authority and reserves the right to amend the constitution. So, similar to the other state governments in India, the Government of Manipur is also run by the chief minister through an elected body of MLAs. They administer the nine districts of Manipur. The government includes an executive under the Governor, a judiciary and a legislative branch.
State Assembly
Similar to the other states in India, in Manipur, the supreme constitutional powers rest with the Governor of Manipur, who is appointed by the President. However President does not do it autocratically, he has to seek the advice of the central government in this regard. Imphal, the capital of Manipur, is also home to the Manipur Vidhan Sabha (state assembly), Imphal bench of High Court and the secretariat. The Manipur assembly includes 60 elected members or MLAs.
Manipur was a union territory until 1972, when it was granted the status of a state by New Delhi. The largest city, Imphal was made the capital of the state with none other districts. At present, Gurbachan Jagat is the Governor and INCs (Indian National Congress) Okram Ibobi Singh is the state chief minister.
Municipal Corporations
For better governance, the state is divided into nine municipal corporations; viz. Imphal, Thoubal, Kakching, Mayang Imphal, Nambol, Moirang, Ningthoukhong, Bishnupur and Jiribam municipal councils, which are further divided into many wards. Manipur government has formed many boards such as Manipur Biodiversity Board, Board of Secondary Education Manipur, Council of Higher secondary Education, Manipur State Science & Technology Council, Manipur Urban Development Authority, Manipur Small Farmers Agri-Business Consortium, and Manipur State AIDS Control Society (MACS) to undertake different aspects of administration.
Boards and Committees
The Biodiversity Management Committees has the responsibility of ensuring conservation of biodiversity. It is also dedicated to sustainable utilization of the biodiversity of the state. It is an important administrative body of Manipur since the state is largely dependent upon natural resources and its rich biodiversity for survival and growth. They also restrict its manipulation by outside agencies and organizations.
Manipur State AIDS Control Society (MACS) came into being in 1998. Ever since the first few cases of HIV infected patients came into light in India in 1986, the Manipur State Government became active and launched immediate measures to counter the threat. When, National AIDS Committee was formed in 1986, a state level AIDS committee was also formed in Manipur and it was administered by none other than the state chief minister. When the first HIV case was reported in Manipur in 1990, the state government became alert and set up a separate State AIDS Cell in the State Health Directorate. Soon, the AIDS emerged as an epidemic in the state and MACS was set up to control it.
