The Hindu : Pak., Bangla overstayers should be deported: Advani

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 08, 2003

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Pak., Bangla overstayers should be deported: Advani

By Anjali Mody

NEW DELHI JAN. 7. The Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, has said that Pakistani and Bangladesh nationals who were living in India illegally should be located and deported.

Addressing the Conference of the Chief Secretaries and the Directors-General of Police here today, Mr. Advani said the 11,500 or so Pakistani nationals and half a crore or so Bangladeshis who had remained in India after the expiry of their visas posed a serious threat to the country's internal security.

He said the powers of the Central Government to deport the overstayers had been delegated to the State Governments and the Union Territories.

The conference today agreed to strengthen Centre-State intelligence gathering arrangements by setting up Multi-Agency Centres and a joint task force on intelligence. The MAC, which is now operational at the Centre, would be "activated soon'' in the States, the Union Home Secretary, N. Gopalaswami, told a press conference.

The Intelligence Bureau will act as the nodal agency for the MAC, which will include representatives of the Central and State intelligence agencies and the intelligence wings of Central para-military forces. A.K. Bhandari, Special Secretary in the Home Ministry, said the MAC would pool the information from these separate sources, work out the actionable areas allowing action to be taken quickly.

Mr. Gopalaswami said there was also agreement that in the States affected by left-wing extremism, issues pertaining to development and grievance redress should be prioritised. With this in mind, the Planning Commission has allocated Rs. 15 crores a year for five years for each of the nine affected States. This would be used as a "topping up fund'' for development activity under existing schemes.

He said several States had also asked the Centre to consider re-structuring the form in which Central funds for police reform were allocated. Currently, the State matches the Centre's allocation.

The Centre will now consider making a 50 per cent outright contribution and a 25 per cent loan, with the State making up the remaining 25 per cent. This financial arrangement would also be extended to the scheme to modernise and improve jails, Mr. Gopalaswami said.

The Centre has asked the States to improve the conviction rates in crimes committed against women. The rate at present was "very low, between five and seven per cent''. The States had been told they must ensure that these cases progressed quickly and that the conviction rate went up.

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