NEW DELHI, Nov 22 - Sluggish progress of fencing work prompted Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure expeditious sealing of the India-Bangladesh border.
Talking to newsmen after meeting the Prime Minister at his Parliament House office today, Sonowal told newsmen that he broadly discussed about the fencing of the Indo-Bangla border, the updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the by-election results, besides the law and order situation.
Sonowal, who was accompanied by two Lok Sabha MPs RP Sharma and Rameswar Teli, said he briefed the Prime Minister about the initiative taken by his government to assess the progress of the fencing work along the international border. He informed the Prime Minister that several teams constituted for the purpose had also made on-the-spot assessment in various sectors and reported back to the State Government.
�Considering the pace of the work in Brahmaputra and Barak Valleys, I have requested the Prime Minister to ensure that the work to seal the India-Bangladesh border is expedited without delay,� said Sonowal.
The total sanctioned length of fence along Indo-Bangladesh border is 3326 km, out of which 2731 km has been completed. The ongoing fence work along the complete Indo-Bangladesh border is targeted for completion by March� 2019.
Meanwhile, Sonowal said that he discussed some pending issues regarding the updating work of the NRC with the Prime Minister including release of funds by the Centre for the project.
The Centre on October 19 last sanctioned additional funds of Rs 620 crore for the NRC updating process. With this, the sanctioned amount has increased to Rs. 908 crore from the earlier amount of Rs 288.18 crore.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister said that he has conveyed that the demonetisation has been successful in Assam. This has been proved by the results of the bye-election. �The people of Assam have accepted the demonetisation of the high currency notes by the Centre,� he said.
The Chief Minister apprised the Prime Minister about different steps that the State Government has taken with the help of the Reserve Bank of India to facilitate smooth flow of new currency notes in every nook and corner of the State in the wake of demonetisation of high currency notes. He also informed the Prime Minister that the State Government machinery with the help of RBI, SBI and other Banks has made adequate steps to ensure smooth flow of new currency notes to all sections of people including tea garden workers.
The Chief Minister also briefed the Prime Minister about the recent encounter in Tinsukia district in which three army-men were killed. Suspected ULFA (I) and NSCN (K) factions were suspected to be responsible for the ambush.
