GUWAHATI, Sept 24 - Proposals have been mooted for modernising the Border Police force of the State and immediate priority will be to digitise all the records so that those can be properly maintained. Moreover, proposals are also on to upgrade the facilities of the police personnel deployed as second line of defence behind the Border Security Force (BSF).
Highly placed official sources told The Assam Tribune that proper maintenance of records is a must to deal with the problem of infiltration of foreigners. To avoid mismatch of records kept by various agencies, including police, foreigners� regional registration offices, foreigners� tribunals and district election officers, a proposal for digitisation of the records has been mooted. There is also need for avoiding mismatch of data maintained by various agencies dealing with the problem of foreigners and that is why the EFT (Electronic Foreigners� Tribunals) concept has been mooted. Once all the data is properly digitised and matched, it will be easier to deal with the issues relating to the problem, sources said.
The second major proposal to deal with the problem is procurement of hand-held devices to keep biometrics of persons declared as foreigners. Sources said initially such a device has been put into work in the Border Police headquarters so that biometric records of persons declared as foreigners can be kept. Gradually, such devices can also be used in other districts of the State to keep biometric records of such declared foreigners.
Sources said there is need for improving facilities given to the police personnel deployed as second line of defence behind the BSF. Steps have already been initiated to improve their facilities such as accommodation and mobility. Sources also admitted that there is need for improving record keeping by the personnel manning the watch towers.
The river police force is also in need for immediate attention and the Border Police has requested the government to provide boats as soon as possible, while there is need for setting up of new police stations of the force in the areas considered vulnerable.
Sources admitted that adequate number of trained manpower would be required for digitization of the data of the organizations dealing with the problem of infiltration and the government may even consider appointing consultants, if required, to carry out the job and to train up the manpower of the agencies concerned.
Meanwhile, considering the misgivings about serving of notices to suspected foreigners, the Border Police headquarters has issued instructions to the superintendents of police of all the districts to look into the issue. The SPs have been instructed that lower level functionaries should not be allowed to issue such notices on their own and senior officers, including the SPs should supervise the process.
A special cell headed by an officer of the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police has also been opened in Guwahati for redressal of grievances, if any. The cell has already extended help to the �D� voters , who have later been declared as Indian citizens by the foreigners� tribunals and wrote to the Election Commission to do the needful in this regard.
