Accord implementation

Accord implementation

It is a positive sign that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has started taking personal initiative to monitor the implementation of the Assam Accord as only such initiatives at the highest level can bring a ray of hope to the people of Assam, who are waiting for around 23 years for the implementation of the Accord for the solution of the problem of infiltration of foreigners. The Prime Minister recently assured a delegation of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) that he would seek reports from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Assam Government on the progress of the implementation of the Accord to personally monitor the same. One hopes that he would keep his promise to ensure that at least the international border is sealed within the tenure of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to at least check the unabated infiltration of foreign nationals to Assam which to not only poses a threat to the identity of the indigenous people, but also a threat to the security of the nation. However, it remains to be seen whether the Prime Minister actually keeps his promise in the interest of the nation as the decisions taken in a meeting chaired by him more than three years back are yet to be implemented. A series of vital decisions were taken in a tripartite meeting involving the State and Central Governments and the AASU on May 5, 2005, which was chaired by none other than the Prime Minister himself, but unfortunately, the decisions taken in the meeting are yet to be implemented.One of the major decisions taken in that meeting was to complete the fencing and roads along the Assam-Bangladesh border within a year, but till date, the international border remains a porous one and several deadlines on the completion of the fencing expired. The Government of India must complete the fencing on war footing to check further infiltration of foreigners. The other major decision was to complete the process of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of 1951 within a couple of years and to provide photo identity cards to the Indian citizens. This is vital for identification of the foreigners. But unfortunately, the Assam Government took more than three years even to formulate the modalities for updating the NRC and the same is yet to be approved by the Government of India. Moreover, the Centre is yet to amend the Citizenship Act to authorise the State Government to update the NRC. If the decisions taken in a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister are not implemented, the people may lose faith on the democratic system and one hopes that keeping this in mind, Dr Singh will take personal initiative to ensure implementation of all the clauses of the Assam Accord within a stipulated time frame. Source: Assam Tribune 13.06.08