New Delhi, July 9 (IANS). Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair a conference of Superintendents of Police (SP) of border districts in New Delhi on Thursday. Important issues like infiltration, illegal immigration, demographic change, border security, threat from drones and drug trafficking are expected to be discussed.
This meeting is important amid the Centre’s intensified campaign against illegal immigration. The Center has described this as part of a concerted effort to change the demography of the districts located along the international border with Bangladesh.
This conference will be attended by Superintendents of Police of border states and Union Territories including Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and North-Eastern States. They will provide information about the ground situation, discuss new security challenges and discuss ways to effectively deal with these challenges.
This conference is taking place at a time when the Center had formed a high-level committee a few months ago to examine the demographic changes taking place in different parts of the country and find out the reasons responsible for it. The committee is tasked to study issues such as illegal immigration, abnormal population settlement patterns, organized migration and structural changes in population among religious and social communities.
In the last few months, Amit Shah has visited several border areas and held meetings with district magistrates and superintendents of police to take stock of the ground situation. During these meetings, he has directed the district administration to closely monitor the pattern of illegal immigration and assess its impact on population changes in the border areas.
The Home Minister has also directed officials to identify and demolish illegal constructions in the border districts. Such places are believed to be used as centers of radicalization or temporary shelter for illegal immigrants, before they are provided with fake identity documents through an organized network of brokers.
Apart from security concerns related to illegal immigration, the conference is also expected to discuss the development and welfare of people living in the border districts. These districts are considered strategically important as the first line of defense against enemy activities and cross-border infiltration.
Those involved may also review the growing threat posed by drones, particularly those that are alleged to be used to bring weapons and narcotics across the border from Pakistan. Additionally, the progress of fencing work along the India-Bangladesh border, especially in sensitive areas of West Bengal, is expected to feature prominently on the agenda of the high-level meeting.
–IANS
DCH/
