Arunachal limits weekly markets to one day amid illegal entry concerns

Itanagar, Mar 8: The Arunachal Pradesh government has restricted the operation of weekly markets in the Itanagar Capital Region (ICR) and Papum Pare district to Saturdays only.

An order issued by the Commissioner of Home department Saugat Biswas, on Saturday, stated that the decision follows a high-level meeting chaired by the state's Home minister to address concerns raised by various organisations, including the Arunachal Pradesh Indigenous Youth Organisation and the All Naharlagun Youth Organisation.

The move aims to check the entry of unauthorised immigrants and plug revenue leakages, it said.

"It has been reported that weekly markets are presently being conducted on multiple days of the week, resulting in frequent participation of non-local vendors and increasing the possibility of entry of unauthorised immigrants, apart from causing major revenue loss to the state government," the order noted.

While Saturday has been fixed for the ICR and Papum Pare, the state government has authorised deputy commissioners of all other districts to designate any one specific day of the week for market operations in their respective jurisdictions.

The order further emphasised that the conduct of the weekly markets will be strictly limited to once a week.

Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police (SPs) across the state have been directed to ensure immediate implementation of the directive and submit an action-taken report to the Home department.

The move comes after representation from indigenous youth bodies who had expressed security concerns over the unregulated proliferation of weekly markets across the state.

PTI