Self-management of natural resources and the community responses: A case study of leikinthabi village in Imphal west district, Manipur

In Manipur the natural resources like forests and rivers are still controlled by the self-governing institutions and organisations. The areas where this is practiced are the entire hills districts, foothill of the Scheduled Caste Loi inhabited eight villages with the larger geographical areas and some Meitei villages.

Awang Leikinthabi Meitei village is located at the northern part of the Imphal West District. It is 19 Km away from the capital city of Imphal.

Awang Leikinthabi is one of the few Meitei villages where the natural resources are being controlled by the villagers for more than a century. The natural resources of the forests and the rivers within the jurisdiction on the villages are being managed by the community through Awang Leikinthabi Development Committee (ALDC).

The paper briefly explores the background of the village and the pattern of functioning of ALDC.

The qualitative approach was adopted for the study. Case studies and in-depth interviews were utilised for data collection.

It emerges that the unregistered community organisation ALDC, with the active involvement of the locals, has been more successful at the village level than the government institutions.