The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will allocate Rs 5 crore this year for free rice as humanitarian assistance to more than 31,300 refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh and over 7,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Manipur sheltering in Mizoram, state home department officials said on Saturday. The state food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department has procured 1,291.3 metric tonnes of rice from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution through the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for the purpose.
Eleven district administrations have been instructed to collect their allotted shares and distribute the rice to refugees and IDPs. Donny Lalruatsanga, deputy commissioner of Lawngtlai district in south Mizoram, told TOI by phone that distribution would begin from Monday. “We will lift 2,850 quintals of rice to be distributed to refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh, as well as internally displaced people from Manipur taking shelter in the district,” Lalruatsanga said.
Lawngtlai currently hosts 6,328 refugees from Myanmar, 1,353 from Bangladesh and a small number of Manipur IDPs. It shelters the second-largest number of Myanmar refugees and the largest number of Bangladesh refugees among the 11 districts. Champhai district, which has the highest number of Myanmar refugees at 12,083, has been allocated 4,460 quintals of rice. Aizawl district will receive 2,794 quintals and Siaha district 1,118 quintals.
The state food department issued a despatch order on May 25 instructing all district administrations to lift their rice allocations by June 30. Additional Secretary for Home Andrew H Vanlaldika, who chairs the state-level task group on displaced persons, said the central government approved the Rs 5 crore rice assistance proposal in April last year but implementation was delayed due to a communication gap between the MHA and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
Officials said this is the second consecutive year the central government has provided humanitarian rice assistance to refugees in Mizoram, following a similar allocation in 2024. District officials are expected to oversee local distribution to ensure the rice reaches refugee camps and other shelters in the coming weeks.
Original Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/mha-to-allocate-rs-5cr-for-free-rice-distribution-to-31k-refugees-7k-idps-in-mizoram/articleshow/131556928.cms
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Publish Date: 2026-06-06 23:17:00
