GUWAHATI, June 25 - Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today assured Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal that the Centre would extend all possible help to the State in the fight against corruption and asserted that the Home Ministry is committed to deal with the problem of infiltration of foreigners, besides sealing the international border with Bangladesh to prevent further influx.
Sonowal, accompanied by his media adviser Hrishikesh Goswami met the Union Home Minister at his official residence in New Delhi and discussed various issues relating to the State, including sealing of the international border, tribal issues, floods, etc.
Talking to The Assam Tribune over phone from New Delhi immediately after his meeting with Singh, Sonowal said that the government is committed to fulfil its promises, including the fight against corruption, dealing with the problem of infiltration of foreigners, etc. �The Union Home Minister has assured the Centre�s support on all these issues,� he said.
Sonowal said that the problem of flood was one of the issues discussed and the Union Home Minister assured him that the Centre would extend all necessary help in dealing with the problem and providing relief to the affected people.
The Union Home Minister praised Sonowal for the State Government�s fight against corruption and assured that the Centre would give its full backing on the issue to make Assam a corruption-free state.
Singh revealed that he has already issued instructions to the officials concerned to expedite the process of sealing of the international border with Bangladesh so that further infiltration can be checked. He requested Sonowal to personally visit the international border to assess the situation on the ground. Sonowal told Singh that he has already visited the international border areas twice, once in the Dhubri sector and once in the Barak valley. Singh suggested that the Chief Minister should visit the international border areas again if required so that the process of sealing of the border can be expedited.
Sonowal also raised the issue of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and told the Union Home Minister that the draft of the updated NRC would be ready by December 31 this year. He said that all precautions are being taken to ensure that the updated NRC is totally free from any mistake and that is why the process is taking some time. He also informed the Union Home Minister that the State Government was forced to remove 19 Members of the Foreigners Tribunals as their performance was not satisfactory.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister�s media adviser Hrishikesh Goswami revealed that several other issues, including the recently concluded polls to the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, were also discussed in the meeting. The Home Minister praised the State Government for ensuring that the polls were by and large peaceful in an area that had previous record of major violence during polls. He said that the problems relating to tribals, including the demand of six communities for their inclusion in the list of scheduled tribes and the opposition to the demand by different tribal organisations were also discussed. The support given to the demand for Gorkhaland by some organisations of the State also featured in the talks.
