The vendors of Ima Keithel have kept Imphal’s economy moving through three years of disruption, often absorbing losses quietly rather than waiting for assistance that has been slow to arrive. Yet when relief and rehabilitation planning meetings happen, the market’s traders are rarely in the room.

This is a missed opportunity. The ima who run Ima Keithel are not just symbolic figures of Meitei resilience; they are also a functioning economic network with insight into what displaced families actually need to rebuild livelihoods, not just housing. Planners drafting the state’s next relief package should include market representatives directly in consultations, rather than treating them as a subject for feature stories alone.

Practical steps, like low-interest loans routed through existing market associations, could reach displaced traders faster than new bureaucratic channels built from scratch. The infrastructure of solidarity already exists in Imphal. Relief planning should use it.