Imphal, Feb 25 (PTI) Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Sunday said peace initiatives have commenced to address ethnic tensions in the state.

Emphasising the government's foremost responsibility to safeguard lives, property, and the state's integrity, Singh assured citizens of appropriate security measures in place.

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"We don't need to panic...I want to assure people that security forces have been appropriately deployed in all the areas to tackle the situation," he said at the Sanaroisingi Numit (Players Day) function here.

He reiterated the commitment to pursuing peace through dialogue and urged people to trust the government's efforts.

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"To bring about a political solution, the process for peace and talks has started so that everyone can live in peace. We need to revive our earlier lives."

Singh also addressed pressing issues such as drug abuse and demographic shifts, highlighting the government's initiatives to combat drug addiction and maintain demographic balance.

"Around 1.5 lakh people out of 30 lakh are drug users. This is the primary reason why the state government announced the war on drugs in 2018," Singh said.

"From 2006 to 2018, some 1,400 new villages have cropped up in the state out of nowhere creating demographic imbalances," he added.

Singh reiterated that the state government will identify the illegal immigrants with 1961 as the base year.

"We do politics to secure the present and future generation. We want to be very clear. We will fence the borders, cancel Free Movement Regime and identify all illegal immigrants in the state who came after 1961. Its our commitment," he said.

Singh also announced that all the gold medalists of the 36th and 37th National Games would be provided with government jobs.

He said Wushu player Naorem Roshibina Devi, who won silver at the 19th Asian Games at Hangzou in China, would be appointed as a DSP.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)