Morung Express News
Kohima | August 8
The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) detected 44 Inner Line Permit (ILP) defaulters on a single day verification of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) on August 8 from five districts. The verification was conducted by the NSF as a first phase exercise to prevent the influx of illegal immigrants on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference at the office of the Angami Students’ Union (ASU), Kohima, NSF officials informed that the verification exercise was conducted taking into consideration the publication of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.
Student volunteers were assigned in different wards and check points in the five districts to check documents of the non-locals. The objective, according to the NSF, was to “identify and weed out the illegal immigrants.” It also assured that no genuine citizens of the country would be harassed in the process of the verification so long as the person is able to produce the documents.
NSF president, Kesosul Christopher Ltu at the press briefing revealed that two types of defaulters were detected i.e defaulters with absolutely no documents and secondly defaulters with expired ILPs. Defaulters were also caught possessing fake Aadhar cards.
“Defaulters were caught with expired ILP which were renewed by the district administration in writing from DC office Kohima,” revealed Ltu while questioning the issuing and renewing of ILPs by the district administration without proper verification of documents.
The NSF president also pointed out the district administration should not just issue ILP but develop strict mechanism to check as and when the document permits are expiring. ASU president, Visako Rino also noted that two defaulters were caught with “fake Hindu names who were later found out to be from non-Hindu backgrounds.”
On further enquiry, the defaulters revealed that their contractors contacted the administration and availed the ILP for them despite their lack of legal documents. “How has it become so easy for people to get ILP?” questioned Rino.
NSF general secretary Imtiyapang Imsong stated that the defaulters could easily pass the check gate by giving some amount to the personnel manning the gate. “This is alarming. We demand from the government that strict action be taken against those erring personnel/officials manning the check gate.”
Pointing out the loopholes in the government set up in failing to monitor the influx of illegal immigrants; Ltu stated that the random issuing of ILP without proper verification of legal documents and providing easy access of ILP remain the main problem.
Middlemen for renewing ILP
Another major problem was the involvement of middlemen. “They (alleged illegal immigrants) are not personally going for renewal of their documents but there are middlemen who are running this as a business by collecting ILP cards and renewing it in the DC office, the NSF president stated.
While maximum of the ILP defaulters were labourers engaged in construction works with contractors and firms, and labourers engaged with the current National highway construction, the NSF also detected taxi drivers with no work permit.
Another problem cited by the NSF was the trafficking of workers from outside by Naga contractors for cheap labour in Nagaland. Further, during the verification exercise in the Chumukedima check gate, the team discovered that there were no records of immigrants exiting or leaving the state while the record on their entry also remained poor.
Thorough scrutiny of identity before issuing ILP
Following the findings, the NSF highlighted its demands and appeals. With the accessibility of the NRC data of Assam, the NSF demanded that identity should be thoroughly scrutinized before issuing ILP.
Having detected the malfunctioning of CCTVs in the check gates, the NSF demanded effective functioning of CCTVs installed in the check gates of entry and exit points.
The NSF has also informed that it will be holding a public rally and submit a memorandum to the government to bring Dimapur within the ambit of ILP.
On Wednesday’s exercise, 17 defaulters were found without permit while 18 were found with expired permits. 9 defaulters were sent back to Dimapur as they did not possess a single document with them. The remaining defaulters were handed over to the police.
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