GUWAHATI, June 20 - The Assam Government has sought 150 companies of additional forces from the Centre to deal with any possible law and order problem following the publication of the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Meanwhile, the Government has also sought the help of the North East Space Application Centre for proper mapping of the char lands so that the policing in such places can be improved.
The Centre has already deployed 85 companies of forces to be used for the process of updating the NRC to ensure that no law and order problem crops up in any part of the State and so far, the process has been going on smoothly. The State Government has sought 150 more companies of forces to deal with any eventuality after the publication of the final draft. The final draft was to be published on June 30 but it may now be delayed by a few days because of floods in some districts.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, Special Director General of Police (Special Branch) Pallab Bhattacharyya said that the Centre is also closely monitoring the situation and the State government is expecting extra forces whenever required. "We hope that the Centre will take a call on sending extra forces whenever the situation demands," he added.
Teams of senior officers headed by the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police have already held two meetings with the Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police of different districts in Bongaigaon and Mangaldai to review the situation and the next meeting is planned in Nagaon on June 22. The plan is to cover all the districts before the publication of the final draft of the NRC.
Bhattacharyya said that the vulnerable districts have been identified and extra precautionary measures have been taken. A few lower Assam districts and the central Assam districts of Morigaon and Nagaon are considered vulnerable and efforts are on to launch awareness drives not only in those districts but in the entire State. The DCs and SPs are using their resources and manpower to launch such awareness drives, while, the advertisements issued by the NRC Coordinator's Office have also been circulated among the people. The publication of the draft is not the end of the road for any Indian citizen as they will be given enough scope for filing claims and objections, he added.
The Special DGP said that the DCs and SPs have been asked to augment ground level intelligence gathering and to take the help of the gaonburhas, panchayat members and VDPs in this regard. They have also been asked to prepare lists of potential trouble mongers so that a watch can be maintained over them. The DCs and SPs are also talking with members of the groups voicing concern over the NRC.
Bhattacharyya admitted that char policing is still not very strong and the State Government has sought the help of the North East Space Application Centre for satellite mapping of the chars so that steps can be taken for better policing in such areas. The coordination between the Border Police and Border Security Force (BSF) has also been improved to prevent any potential trouble monger from sneaking into Assam from Bangladesh.
