IMPHAL, Jan 1 � The removal of Protected Area Permit (PAP) from Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland has evoked positive response from various sections.
Rajkumar Singh, president of Manipuri Association of Canada (MAC) which launched an online petition for removal of PAP from December 5 last year, in an e-mail said, �Your voice has been heard and the Government of India has removed PAP from Manipur and its neighbouring states of Mizoram and Nagaland effective January 1, 2011.�
Stating that the Centre�s move was a �New Year gift to the people of these three states and their foreign visitors�, the MAC mail said, �By the time this mail was going out 1061 people from all over the world had signed the petition.�
Many more people from Manipur also signed the hard copies of the petition launched in Manipur by the Local Support Group (LSG) on Removal of PAP, Manipur. A five-member LSG team that spearheaded the movement from Manipur to New Delhi mobilising support from all sections of people and submitting the petition to several ministries in Delhi, returned home today.
The government has now decided to exclude the entire area of the states of Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland from the Protected Area regime notified under the Foreigners (Protected Areas) Order 1958, initially for a period of one year, a PIB release said.
�However, all foreigners visiting these States will have to register themselves with the Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO) of the district they visit within 24 hours of their arrival,� it added.