Ukhrul: Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (Retd) and former NDA candidate for Outer Manipur (ST) Parliamentary Constituency K. Timothy Zimik, has written to the Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand, calling for a separate budgetary allocation for the hill districts of Manipur in the upcoming 2026–27 financial year.
Zimik emphasized the need for inclusive and participatory governance, urging the state government to consult public stakeholders and professionals during the budget planning process. He referred to a 2021 government notification that recommended replacing the current Hill-Valley allocation system with a Tribal Sub-Plan model, similar to those utilized in other Indian states.
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The proposal aims to address long-standing developmental disparities between the valley and hill regions, advocating for an equitable distribution of funds and tailored planning for tribal communities.
In a detailed recommendation appended to the budgets of previous years, Zimik stated that the allocation of developmental funds between the Valley and Hill areas has been done on an ad hoc basis. He cited a committee report established by the Manipur government to review the funds released for all the hill districts in the state.
He noted, “The committee concluded with the final recommendation that, for better allocation of funds for the Tribal Sub-Plan, the State Government should consider following the formula of the Central Finance Commission, which recommends fund distribution based on population and area. The allocation of development funds among the various hill districts can also be based on a similar formula to prevent arbitrary distribution.”
He stated that the State Government has not yet acted on the recommendations from its own Committee, while noting that the analysis of the Committee’s Report, on the methodology and the high percentage of developmental expenditure allocated to the hills, was flawed.
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In the representation, Timothy Zimik provided detailed revenue and capital expenditure data for the years 2016-17 to 2025-26. Despite the Hill Areas covering 90% of land and housing 42.8% of the population, the Imphal Valley received over 80% of capital expenditure annually, peaking at 97% in 2025-26, while Hill Districts received only 3%.
He also mentioned the state share of central taxes, grants-in-aid, capital borrowed by the state government for developmental programmes, the state’s own resources, including miscellaneous receipts, etc. He excluded the expenditure routed through Centrally Sponsored Schemes, Central Sector Schemes, Externally-Aided Projects, NEC and MoDONER-funded projects, etc., from the State budget, being projects/programmes funded by the Central Government / Central Agencies.
Arguing this distribution as unfair, discriminatory, and inequitable, lasting unchallenged for decades, and to reduce the fund allocation gap between the hill and valley, which is over 80%, he recommended a separate budget and autonomous administration to bridge the gap. Also, he opined that such allocation of funds should be based on the 6 formulas adopted by the 15th Finance Commission of India. The formulas include income distance, population, area, forest and ecology, demographic performance, and tax and fiscal efforts.
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Stressing the need to apply the six formulas of the 15th Finance Commission, he underscores that the Hill Areas cover a much larger geographic area and have more forest resources, but receive a smaller share of revenue due to lower population and demographic performance.
Additionally, he stated that the village authorities in the state had functioned without any financial support from the Central and the State governments. He recommended funding for the hill villages authorities, urging the State Government to seek additional Central Government grants and state-specific grants to fund the Village Authorities of hill districts in Manipur.