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42 more BOPs to come up along LAC with China: Rijiju

By STAFF Reporter

GUWAHATI, June 3 � Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju today said that Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim would soon have 42 additional border outposts (BOPs) as part of the Government of India�s initiative to boost security and vigilance along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.

To be manned by Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel, 37 BOPs would be established in Arunachal Pradesh and the rest in Sikkim.

Addressing the media along with Union Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Sarbananda Sonowal on the occasion of completion of one year of the Narendra Modi government, Rijiju said besides boosting vigilance, the new BOPs would effectively reduce the existing gap of 40-50 kilometres between the BOPs.

�Civil populations in these remote areas will also benefit as the BOPs will provide free ration to border villages,� Rijiju said.

On the efforts to contain militancy in the North-east, Rijiju said the Centre would continue to support the surrendered ultras with rehabilitation packages but, �there will be zero tolerance on any acts of violation of peace agreement.�

�I have personally interacted with many surrendered militant groups and made it clear to them that strictures laid down under the peace process are sacrosanct. Nobody can carry arms outside the designated camps,� he asserted.

Rijiju admitted that the NSCN(K)�s pulling out of ceasefire was a surprise for his ministry and that the development had serious implications on the law-and-order front.

Rijiju stressed the need for creating a congenial environment for investment in the North-east, adding however, that there were loopholes in the NEIPP-2007 and that the Centre was working on a fresh policy to promote industrial development in the region.

�NEIPP had drawbacks and on occasions subsidies provided under the policy were not utilised properly. We are working on a fresh policy for facilitating proper utilisation of subsidies for industrial development,� he said.

Asserting that the North-east was a high-priority area for the Central government, Sonowal said the budgetary allocation to the region would be to the tune of a whopping Rs 53,000 crore.

�This speaks volumes about the Centre�s commitment for addressing the developmental concerns of the North-east. The holding of the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in Guwahati and Shillong also testifies to our commitment to the region,� he said.

Rijiju said that relaxation of protected area permits for foreigners visiting the north-eastern states would trigger a tourism boom in the region.

Rijiju also said that recruiting boys and girls from the North-east in Delhi Police was now a part of the Centre�s policy. Now onwards, he added, the office of the Inspector General of Central Industrial Security Force looking after airports and other government installations in the North-east would be based in Guwahati instead of Kolkata.

Rijiju added that with the Centre�s thrust on the Act East Policy, the North-east would increasingly figure in the Centre�s scheme of things in matters of trade promotion.

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