Demand for Inner Line Permit (ILP) Picking Up Steam in Assam

Demand for Inner Line Permit (ILP) Picking Up Steam in Assam

ILP, however, acts as a deterrent for investment in a State, besides repelling tourists: Official source

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Aug 20: NESO’s (North East Students’ Organization) cry for making all States in the Northeast joining the ILP (Inner Line Permit) club is picking up steam in Assam. The AJYCP (Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad) staged a statewide dharna on Monday demanding the introduction of ILP in the State.

ILP is an official travel document issued by the Government of India to allow inward travel of an Indian citizen into a protected area for a limited period. It is obligatory for Indian citizens from outside those States to obtain a permit for entering into the protected State. ILP continues to be used in India, officially to protect tribal cultures in Northeast India.

NESO’s avowed intent with ILP in all north-eastern States is to bring about a system of checking that may help detect entry of foreigners into any States in the region, illegally. Currently the ILP system has been in force in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram in the Northeast.

During the past two days, Arunachal Pradesh could detect over 2,000 people to have entered the State without any valid documents. They have been pushed back to Assam. There were such drives in Meghalaya as well as in the recent past. According to the NESO, the ILP regime will at least put in place a system of checking that may help detect infiltrators. A large number of people of doubtful nationalities, according to NESO, do enter Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya as labourers, illegally.

According to the AJYCP, an ILP regime can prevent fresh infiltration into Assam.

A source in the Assam government, on the other hand, tells a different story. It says that an ILP regime cannot solve the problem of illegal migration. “It can just check and balance. It, however, acts as a deterrent for investment in a State, besides repelling tourists,” the source said.

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