Imphal, Jan 3 Former Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla took oath as Manipur Governor at a brief ceremony at the Raj Bhavan here on Friday.
Manipur High Court Chief Justice D. Krishnakumar administered the oath of office and secrecy to Governor Bhalla in a simple ceremony at Raj Bhavan.
Chief Minister N. Biren Singh and his Cabinet colleagues, top security and civil officials were present in the ceremony, conducted by Chief Secretary Vineet Joshi.
On Thursday, Bhalla was welcomed by the Chief Minister, Assembly Speaker Satyabrata Singh and other dignitaries after he arrived in Imphal.
President Droupadi Murmu on December 24 appointed Bhalla as the next Governor of Manipur.
After the resignation of former Governor Anusuiya Uikey, Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya has been holding additional charge of the state since July 31.
Bhalla, a 1984 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, as the top official of the Ministry of Home Affairs for a long time, has vast experience in dealing with the various crisis situations in the northeastern region.
He was the Union Home Secretary when the ethnic violence between the majority Meitei and minority Koki-Zo community began in Manipur on May 3, 2023.
During the 20-month-long ethnic violence, over 250 men and women of both communities were killed, over 1,000 were injured and more than 60,000 people were displaced from their homes and villages.
Despite the unprecedented deployment of Central security forces and partial reimposition of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in certain areas, violent incidents are taking place in a few districts.
However, many organisations including the influential Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an umbrella body of the Meitei community, have been demanding the repeal of AFSPA.
Chief Minister Singh recently said that bringing a solution to the ongoing ethnic strife in the state would take time as the situation has become complex, chronic and fragile.
He had said that gradually, the situation in Manipur is improving with most of the districts remaining incident-free for the past several months.
"The state and Central security forces along with the civil administration are doing their best to maintain the violence-free situation and to deliver services to the people," CM Singh had told the media.
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