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Five important decisions were taken in the meeting of Union Home Minister Amit Shah with the Manipur Cabinet late Tuesday evening. According to sources, these decisions will be implemented immediately across the state as part of the peace process. The decisions are expected to help restore normalcy in the state, which has been under curfew and internet suspended since May 3 after violence erupted. Sources said That Amit Shah, in a meeting with Kuki tribal leaders, has also talked about the investigation of the violence by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

According to sources, the cabinet meeting decided to take necessary action to restore law and order, speed up relief operations, give a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of those killed in the ethnic clashes and give a job to a family member and reopen BSNL's telephone line to dispel rumours. Sources said That Amit Shah has directed officials to deal strictly with activities that disturb peace in the state.

After reaching Imphal late Tuesday evening, Amit Shah held several meetings. Besides Chief Minister N Biren Singh's cabinet, he also met the governor, security forces and administration officials, chaired an all-party meeting in Imphal and appealed to political leaders to help bring normalcy and communal harmony in the state. "Held a meeting with senior officers of Manipur Police, CAPF and Indian Army in Imphal to review the security situation in Manipur," Shah tweeted.

Referring to the demand of 10 tribal MLAs for a separate state for tribals, Amit Shah said that the territorial integrity of Manipur will not be affected at any cost. Sources said that during a meeting in tribal-dominated Churachandpur, the home minister requested the leaders to play an active role in stopping the violence and said a political solution would be found at the earliest.

Sources said that while assuring a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the violence, Amit Shah also told them that 20 tonnes of rice relief material will soon be given to the tribal communities of the state. In an hour-long closed-door discussion with tribal leaders, intellectuals and prominent tribal citizens in Churachandpur, Amit Shah also put forth his views on restoring normalcy in the state, which has been witnessing violence for over a month, sources said.

More than 80 people have been killed in the ethnic clashes that began nearly a month ago with a tribal solidarity march organised to protest the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status. Earlier, there was another conflict over the eviction of Kuki villagers from the reserved forest land.

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