GUWAHATI, Oct 31 � Reacting to the All Assam Students� Union (AASU)�s criticism of the white paper on influx published by the State Government, Government spokesperson and Power Minister Pradyut Bardoloi today said that the white paper was an �objective, factual unbiased and transparent account of the issue devoid of any political tenor.�
Addressing a press conference, Bardoloi gave an account of the problem of migration through the decades, and asserted that the Congress Government was not trying to trivialize the issue but rather was serious about resolving it with cooperation from all concerned.
Bardoloi, who elaborated the various steps taken by the State Government for checking cross-border infiltration from Bangladesh, however, sought to sidetrack a question as to why the Government had all along failed to deport even a fraction of the migrants declared as illegal settlers by the courts.
Bardoloi said that of late the issue of infiltration figured in Indo-Bangla talks and efforts were on to work out a bilateral arrangement with Bangladesh to make it accept the declared illegal migrants.
Bardoloi said that the State Government recently proposed to the Centre to increase the number of Foreigners Tribunals to a hundred from the existing 36. �We are also restarting the National Register of Citizenship (NRC) update process and the NRC will be digitized for all time to come,� he said, adding that the NRC Directorate would be upgraded to a Commissionerate.
Bardoloi said that the AASU leadership probably made the mistake of treating the white paper as a status report on implementation of the Assam Accord, was �criticizing it on wrong grounds.�
On the complications arising in the rehabilitation process of violence-displaced people in Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD), with the BTAD authorities insisting on land documents for the affected populace, the minister said that �differences were there but a workable solution acceptable to all would be evolved soon.�
