INDIA: Report Card of Ministry of Home Affairs for January, 2010
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15:32 IST

The Union Home Minister Shri P. Chidambaram presented the Report Card of the Ministry of Home Affairs for January 2010 here today. Following is the text of the Minister’s statement:



“Looking back, it is a matter of satisfaction that in the year 2009 Jammu & Kashmir and the North Eastern States witnessed the lowest level of incidents and casualties in many years. In Jammu & Kashmir, there were 499 incidents: 78 civilians and 64 members of the security forces were killed and 239 terrorists/militants were neutralized. In the North Eastern States, there were 1297 incidents: 264 civilians and 42 members of the security forces were killed and 571 militants/insurgents were neutralized.



However, the situation in the States affected by Left Wing Extremism continues to be a cause of grave concern. The number of deaths in 2009 amongst civilians (591), security forces (317) and militants (217) indicated a rising trend. The increase in the number of incidents and casualties is not surprising because, after a review of the policy, State Governments decided to deploy a larger number of security forces and engage the naxalites in the districts dominated by them with a view to re-establish the authority of the civilian government. I expect this trend to continue in 2010, but I am also confident that State Governments would be able to gradually reclaim control over areas that are now dominated by the naxalities.



The year 2010 began with the Government cautioning the States, especially Jammu and Kashmir, to remain at a high level of alert against terrorist and militant activities. This was mainly due to increase in the attempts to infiltrate across the international border and the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. In January, 2010 alone, 10 attempts to infiltrate were neutralized by the security forces in J&K.



Important Events


On January 5, 2010, I held a meeting with the eight recognized political parties in Andhra Pradesh and elicited their views on the demand for a separate State of Telangana and the rival demand for a unified State of Andhra Pradesh. At the end of the meeting, the eight political parties made a joint appeal for peace, harmony and maintenance of law and order.



On January 11, 2010, during the visit of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, agreements were signed between India and Bangladesh on:

(i) Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters;

(ii) Transfer of Sentenced Persons; and

(iii) Combating International terrorism, Organised Crimes and Illicit Drug Trafficking.



I visited Kolkata on January 17, 2010 to deliver the valedictory address at the sesquicentenary of St. Xavier’s College. On that day, sadly, Shri Jyoti Basu passed away.



On January 18, 2010, the Prime Minister chaired a meeting of the National Disaster Management Authority.



Home Minister, Nepal made an official visit to India on January 18, 2010 and we discussed issues of mutual interest.



I visited Raipur on January 22, 2010. There was a joint meeting with the Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh and Orissa and the Home Minister of Maharashtra. We reviewed the progress of the anti-naxalite drive in the three States, with special emphasis on inter-State operations. Following the meeting, more forces are being inducted in the affected areas.



An Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons was signed with the Republic of Korea on January 25, 2010.



Chief Minister, Jharkhand accompanied by the two Deputy Chief Ministers called on me on January 28, 2010. He reaffirmed his support to the strategy worked out by the Chief Ministers of the seven naxal-affected States in January and August, 2009.



Internal Security


Work is in progress in enhancing capacity and improving the efficiency of the security forces.



Under the Modernisation of Police Forces Scheme, a sum of Rs. 89.14 crore was released to various States in January 2010, taking the total released so far to Rs. 955.53 crore (against a Budget provision of Rs.1250 crore).



Sanctions amounting to Rs.42.97 crore were issued for construction of buildings/barracks for CPMFs:-



CISF : Rs. 14.11 crore

Assam Rifles : Rs. 13.55 crore

CRPF : Rs. 11.48 crore

SSB : Rs. 3.83 crore



BSFs proposal for “Intranet Prahari”, for the computerization of its systems, was sanctioned at a cost of Rs. 228 crore. The project would be implemented by NIIT.



CISF continues to add new clients in the private sector. Additional posts were sanctioned for providing security to two establishments/installations as under:



Infosys Technologies Ltd., Mysore : 48 posts

Korba Thermal Power Station : 5 posts



Forensic Science plays an important part in the investigation and trial of crimes. The state of forensic science as well as the state of the Central and State Forensic Science Laboratories leave much to be desired. We have, therefore, decided to declare 2010 as the “Year of Forensic Science”. A two-member team of consultants (Shri Gopalji Sharma and Dr. C. Damodaran) has been appointed to examine thoroughly the state of forensic science teaching, training and laboratories and to submit two reports, an interim report by April 30, 2010 and a final report by July 31, 2010. Based on the reports, it is my intention to upgrade and strengthen the forensic science institutions during the financial year 2010-11.



The terms and conditions of engaging on contract doctors for the CPMFs were modified in order to overcome the acute shortage of doctors. The period of contractual appointment has been increased from 1 to 3 years and the age limit has been extended from 60 to 65 years. The new terms were applied to Specialist Doctors and 92 have been appointed. The new terms will also be extended to General Duty Medical Officers.



The first batch of 209 Mahila Constables were inducted into the ITBP on January 29, 2010.



The ambitious housing project for CPMFs is on track. On January 27, 2010 the Transaction Adviser was selected after a bidding process. PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) has been appointed as the Transaction Adviser for the PPP project.



To improve the communications network for inaccessible BOPs/FDLs (Forward Defended Localities) of the BSF and ITBP, 258 Digital Subscriber Phone Terminals (DSPT) were sanctioned at a cost of Rs. 3.07 crore.



Border Management


India-Bangladesh Border: 35 kms of fencing and 55 kms of road work were completed in January 2010 under phase II of the project. 70 kms of fencing were replaced in January 2010 under phase III of the project. Poles for floodlighting were erected on a length of 50 kms and cables were laid on a length of 30 kms during the month.



India-China Border: 2.41 kms of formation works and 1.53 kms of surfacing works were completed during January, 2010.



Border Area Development Programme (BADP): Annual Action Plans for 2010-11 have been received from all the 17 border States.



A sum of Rs. 28.14 crore was released to Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Tripura and Uttarakhand under BADP during January, 2010.



Coastal Security: Twelve more boats were supplied by Goa Shipyard Ltd (8 boats) and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (4 boats) during January, 2010. Thus, during the current year a total of 78 boats have been supplied by the two shipyards against a target of 126 boats to be supplied by March, 2010.



Immigration: Computer systems, including hardware and software, have been installed at 17 Immigration Check Posts (ICPs) under phase II of the modernization programme. Phase II covers 42 ICPs.



The Immigration and Registration function at Bengaluru airport was taken over from the Government of Karnataka by the Bureau of Immigration, Government of India. A new office of FRRO has been created in Bengaluru.



IPS Cadre


The IPS (Pay) Rules were amended to make Mid Career Training mandatory for promotion of IPS officers holding the ranks of SP, DIG and IG. The duration of the course will be 8 weeks, 8 weeks and 4 weeks, respectively, for the three ranks. The first batch under the new Scheme will undergo training in 2010.



The following appointments were made with effect from January 31, 2010:

DG CRPF : Shri Vikram Srivastava (IPS: UP 1973)

DG ITBP : Shri Ranjit Bhatia (IPS: UP 1974)



States/UTs


The following orders of appointments/transfers of Governors were issued:



a) Shri Shivraj V. Patil appointed as Governor of Punjab and Administrator of the UT of Chandigarh.

b) Shri M.K.Narayanan appointed as Governor of West Bengal.

c) Shri Shekhar Dutt appointed as Governor of Chhattisgarh.

d) Shri M.O.H. Farook appointed as Governor of Jharkhand.

e) Smt. Urmila Singh appointed as Governor of Himachal Pradesh.

f) Shri E.S.L. Narasimhan appointed as Governor of Andhra Pradesh.

g) Smt. Prabha Rao appointed as Governor of Rajasthan.

h) Shri K. Sankaranarayanan appointed as Governor of Maharashtra.



The assent of the President was given to the following Legislative proposals:

- The Gujarat Prohibition of Transfer of Immovable Property and Provision of Protection of Tenant from Eviction from Premises in Disturbed Areas (Amendment) Bill, 2009.



- The Bihar Special Courts Bill, 2009

- The Karnataka Devadasis (Prohibition of Dedication) (Amendment) Bill, 2009



117 posts were sanctioned for the police in the UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.



Other Initiatives


After a gap of more than three years, the meeting of the Governing Council of National Foundation for Communal Harmony (NFCH) was held on January 6, 2010 under the chairmanship of the Home Minister.



118,500 files of freedom fighters’ pension cases have been digitized, including 12,500 files that were completed in January, 2009. Another data base of living freedom fighters’ pension records now has 35,000 records, of which 8,000 were added in the month of January, 2010.



Tourist Visa On Arrival facility was provided on a trial basis for one year to the citizens of five nations, namely Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore.



The 15th National Level Meeting of Home Secretaries between India and Myanmar was held from January 19-21, 2010 at Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. Both countries agreed to strengthen the intelligence sharing mechanism between security forces on a real time basis on the activities of insurgent groups, drug traffickers, arms smugglers and wildlife and wildlife product smugglers.



An amount of Rs.48 crore was sanctioned on January 19, 2010 for infusion of additional equity into REPCO Bank.”



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OK/RS/SR