NEW DELHI, May 8 � The size of illegal Bangladeshi migrants in India is estimated at 6 crore and the biggest problem the country is facing is on the economy and security front is due to continuous migration from Bangladesh.
A book, Bangladesi Migrants � A Threat to India, on the problem of illegal migration from Bangladesh, authored by former Addl Director General of BSF PK Mishra, highlighted this problem.
This is the first time that a number has been put on the size of the illegal migrants, that too by an official, who was responsible for guarding the country�s border.
The last time the government had given out an estimate was in the report on internal security released during the NDA regime. The figure then was put at 120 million.
The rising population, non-availability of land, unemployment, floods and cyclones, push Bangladeshi migrants to India for a better economic opportunity and good education, analysed the former top official of the BSF in his book released by former DG of BSF Prakash Singh last evening at the Vivekananda International Foundation.
The presence of about six crore migrants have posed maximum threat to India�s security and the country has failed to deal with the problem. And those involved had political interests.
The size of the illegal migrants will open the eyes of political leaders to understand the gravity of demographic changes noticed in Indian border States, the book claimed.
The author remained deployed with the troops in the border of Indo-Bangladesh from 1971 till 1990. As DIG BSF Nagaland and Manipur and then as IG Border Security Force, Shillong, he was responsible for the security of the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur. He supervised the border fencing and floodlighting in the border of Assam, Mizoram, Meghalaya and some char islands in River Brahmaputra.
