Following is the text of the opening
statement of Union Home Minister Shri Sushilkumar Shinde at the press conference
of the Ministry of Home Affairs here today.:-
“I have been presenting the report of
the Ministry of Home Affairs on the 10th of every month. I have
completed one year as Home Minster on 31st July 2013. I thought to
present the report of the Ministry of Home Affairs for
the period from 1.8.2012 to 31.7.2013 for your information.
INTERNAL SECURITY
Terrorism
2. Terrorist
activities in the hinterland continue to remain a threat. Immediately
after taking over the charge as Home Minister on 1st August, 2012, I
visited Pune on 4.8 .2012 and had a review meeting with the Chief Minister , Home
Minister and senior Police Officers of the State regarding investigation of the
low intensity serial bomb blasts in Pune on 01.08.2012. There was no casualty in this
incidence. During the period from August 2012 to July, 2013, four incidents of
bomb blasts took place. In 2013, there
have been three incidents of bomb blasts:- first in
Hyderabad in which 17 persons died, the second in Bengaluru
in which there was no casualty and the third in Bodh Gaya in which no casualty was reported. We have agreed to
the request of the Chief Minister, Bihar for handing over the security of Bodh Gaya Complex to CISF. In
some of these incidents, the Investigating Agencies have been able to identify
and arrest the persons responsible and in other cases the investigations are on.
National
Investigating Agency (NIA)
3. During the period from 01.08.2012 to July
2013, the NIA has been asked/ entrusted to investigate 30 cases relating to
terrorist activities/bomb blasts. Out of
these 30 cases, the Government has issued Sanction of Prosecution in 19
cases. Also during this period, two NIA Special
Courts have been notified by the MHA.
Strengthening
of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967
4. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Amendment Act, 2012 as passed by the Parliament has come into force from
01.02.2013. The Act enlarges the ambit
of the “Terrorist Act” by incorporating threats/dangers to the economic
security of the country and the monetary stability of India by way of
production, smuggling or circulation of high quality counterfeit Indian paper
currency. The law increases the period
of declaration of an association as unlawful from two years to five years,
criminalizes high quality counterfeiting and includes within its scope offences
by companies, societies or trusts and provides for punishment to them.
NORTH-EAST
Assam
5. An unfortunate incident of violence
took place between two communities in July, 2012 in Assam. I visited violence
affected areas on 4th August, 2012 and reviewed relief and
rehabilitation process undertaken by the State Government. On 13.8.2012, I again visited Assam to review the security,
relief and rehabilitation measures undertaken for inmates staying in relief
camps in the riot affected areas of the State. I visited relief Camps in Kokrajhar and Dhubri District. Additional Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs)
were deployed. We reviewed the security situation and rehabilitation process on
daily basis with the State Government of Assam. More than 4.85 lakh persons, who were staying
in 340 camps due to violence, were rehabilitated and all camps were closed
by 31st March, 2013.
6. A tripartite Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) among Central Government, Government of Assam and both
factions of Dima Halam Deogah (DHD) was signed on 8th October 2012 in
my presence and the Chief Minister of Assam.
The MoS, interalia,
provides for enhanced autonomy to the Council set up under the Sixth Schedule
and also special package for all round speedier socio-economic
development. Both the outfits have
dissolved themselves and participated in the elections to the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Councils in Assam. Some of the leaders got elected to the
Council.
7. Talks on the
demands of ULFA are being held on regular basis. Talks with NDFB (P) are continuing. Talks with NDFB (RD Group) are also
continuing.
8. Tripartite MoS signed with UPDS enhancing autonomy of existing Council
set up under the Sixth Schedule and the special package is being reviewed
regularly. Last review meeting was held
on 9th July 2013 at New Delhi.
Due to signing of MoS and Tripartite SoO Agreement with ULFA in Assam, security situation in the
State have improved.
Meghalaya
9. An agreement has been reached with the Achik
National Volunteer Council (ANVC) mainly enhancing autonomy of the existing Garo Hills Autonomous District Council in Meghalaya. The
agreement is being placed before the Government for approval. It is expected that signing of agreement with
ANVC will improve situation in the area.
Manipur
10. A new special scheme for surrender-cum-rehabilitation of
militants in the State of Manipur has been framed and implemented w.e.f. 1.12.2012. Under this scheme, the
benefits/incentives include immediate grant of Rs.
2.5 lakhs, monthly stipend of Rs.
4000/- for 36 months, incentives for surrendered weapons, imparting vocational
training to the surrenderees and establishment of rehabilitation
camps for surrenderees.
11. Three Meitei insurgent groups in Manipur have signed Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of India
and the State Government of Manipur on 13.2.2013 and laid down their arms. A
total of 197 cadres of these groups laid 138 arms of different kind on
13.2.2013. The leaders and cadres who
have joined the peace process will be rehabilitated as per the rehabilitation
policy notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs and approved by the State
Cabinet of Manipur. These groups are: (i) The United Revolutionary Front (URF), comprising various
factions of Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) and its
military wing, Manipur Army (MA). This
group comprised of URF and KCP (Lanheiba), KCP (Chingkheingnanba) and KCP (Sunil Meitei);
(ii) The second group is KCP (Lamphei) comprising
three factions of KCP, namely KCP (Lamphel), KCP (Cith Meitei) and KCP (Taibanganba); and (iii)
The third group comprised two factions of Kanglei
Yawal Kanna Lump (KYKL)
namely, Athouba faction and Achouba
faction.
12. United
Peoples’ Party of Kangleipak (UPPK), a valley based
insurgent group in Manipur signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 24.05.2013 and 80 cadres of the militant group
joined the peace process and surrendered their arms.
13. Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) was signed between Government of
India, Government of Manipur and United Tribal’s
Liberation Front (UTLA-SK Thadou group) on 17.7.2013.
United Tribal Liberation Army (UTLA) (S.K Group) surrendered with 34 cadres and
25 weapons on 17.7.2013.
Nagaland
14. National Socialist Council of Nagaland
(NSCN/IM, NSCN/KK and NSCN/K the major outfits in Nagaland)
are in ceasefire agreement with the Government. Peace talks with NSCN/IM are
continuing.
LEFT WING EXTREMISM
15. The declining trend in LWE violence, seen during last two years (2011 & 2012) continued
during the current year. In the current
year (up to June 30), 591 incidents of LWE violence occured
with 202 resultant deaths, as against 883 incidents with 245 deaths reported
during the corresponding period of 2012. However, recent incident
of LWE violence in Chhattisgarh on 25.05.2013, where
CPI(Maoist) cadres ambushed a cavalcade carrying Congress leaders and workers
in Jiram Ghati area of Bastar District, in which 27 people were killed and 37 were
injured, was a major setback.
I held a meeting of the Chief Ministers of LWE affected States on 5th
June, 2013 to address the LWE issues comprehensively and to sensitize the State
Governments to play proactive role in combating Maoist insurgency. At present, a total of 95 Bns of CAPFs including 09 CoBRA Bns and one Naga IR Bn are deployed in the naxal
affected areas.
16. Construction/Strengthening
of Fortified Police Stations Scheme is under implementation in Left Wing Extremist
(LWE) affected States, under which 400 Police Stations/Outposts have been
sanctioned in the 9 LWE affected States @ Rs.2.00 crore
per Police Station on 80:20 (Centre share: State share) basis. Under the
scheme, an amount of Rs. 370.00 crore
have so far been released to 09 naxal affected States.The construction work has started in almost 300
locations. The work will soon begin at the remaining locations.
17. Keeping in
view the prevalence of usage of IEDs by the
CPI(Maoist) and the resultant damage involved in such incidents, an SOP on
‘Issues related to Explosives/IEDs/Landmines in naxal affected areas has been prepared in consultation with
agencies concerned and has been shared with LWE affected States and CAPFs in June 2013. Another SOP on ‘Different aspects of
interaction with the common people in naxal affected
areas has been shared with the CAPFs deployed in the
LWE affected States in June 2013.
18. The
Ministry of Home Affairs has revised the Guidelines for
‘Surrender-cum-Rehabilitation Scheme of Left Wing Extremists in the affected
States’ with effect from 1st April, 2013. The Rehabilitation package
in the revised policy, inter alia, includes an
immediate grant of Rs. 2.5 lakh
for higher ranked LWE cadre and Rs. 1.5 lakh for middle / lower ranked LWE cadre who surrender
before the State Government concerned. Also, these surrenderees
would be provided a monthly stipend of Rs. 4000/- for
a period of three years for vocational training. In addition, incentives for
surrender of weapons / ammunition etc. are also provided under the said Scheme.
19. The continuation of
the Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS) during 12th Plan period with
an outlay of Rs.373 crore has been approved on
02.04.2013. The scheme has the broad
objective to adequately provide for infrastructure requirements that are
critical to the policing and security needs in the field but are not adequately
or otherwise provided for in any of the existing Schemes. The focus of funding will be on the four
worst affected States i.e. Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha. The
Ministry of Home Affairs have released Rs. 16.52 crore to Jharkhand, Rs. 16.22 to Odisha and Rs. 9.99 crore to Andhra Pradesh
as Central share towards 75% of the total estimated cost of the projects
approved for upgradation/ critical gap filling of
Special Forces during the year 2013-14.
JAMMU AND KASHMIR
Security
Situation in J&K
20. The security
situation in J&K has improved. The number of terrorist incidents upto June this year has declined over the previous year.
There is however increase in the casualties of security forces as well as in
causalities of the civilians.
21. In a major setback to the terrorists,
Army and Security Forces, in joint operations in December 2012 eliminated 14
terrorists (including eight foreign terrorists) operating in Jammu and Kashmir.
It includes a group of nine militants (Two local terrorists and seven foreign
terrorist) involved in various attacks against security forces, who were
planning an attack in Srinagar City. Two militants
eliminated were involved in Hotel Silver Star shoot out. The militants
eliminated also include a Hizbul Mujahideen
local Commander, wanted for his involvement in the Delhi High Court blast case.
Shri Amarnathji Yatra
22. Shri Amarnathji Yatra was successfully conducted from 25th June
2012 till 2nd August, 2012 and over 6.21 lakh
pilgrims have had darshan of Ice Lingum
of Lord Shiva at Amarnath Cave. Adequate security arrangements as well as heavy deployment of
security forces at base camps and en-route were made to ensure an incident free
Yatra.
23. Shri Amarnathji Yatra for 2013 has commenced from
28.06.2013 to 21.8.2013. The entire Yatra is being managed by Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB). To provide security to the Yatra, 90 Companies of additional Central Armed Police
Forces has been deployed. Around
3.07 lakh pilgrims have visited the Holy Shrine upto 23.07.2013.
Special
Industry Initiative (SII) for J&K – ‘UDAAN’
24. The Ministry of Home
Affairs have launched
a Scheme Special Industry Initiative for Jammu & Kashmir known as ’UDAAN’,
in the nature of partnership between the corporates
of India and Ministry of Home Affairs. The scheme is being implemented by the
National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). 35 leading corporates
have partnered with NSDC to train more than 54,000 youth from the State over
the next five years. ‘UDAAN’ partners include leading PSUs
such as NTPC, BHEL, BSNL, ONGC, HAL and Canara Bank
and private organizations such as Wipro, TCS, HCL
Technologies, Infosys, Bajaj
Allianz, CMC, Cognizant, Yes Bank, Future Learning,
IL &FS, CII, Edusports, Religare,
Accenture, Tata Motors,
etc. Under ‘UDAAN’ training of 382 candidates have been completed, out of
which, 185 have been offered job and the remaining candidates are under
placement process. During last quarter,
18 corporates made 32 visits to Jammu & Kashmir
and selected 1305 candidates for training.
25. The
cash relief to eligible Kashmiri migrants staying in Jammu and Delhi was enhanced
from Rs. 1250/- per head per month (maximum of Rs. 5000/- per family) to Rs.
1650/- per head per month (maximum of Rs. 6600/- per
family) retrospectively from 1st July, 2012.
BORDER
SECURITY
Visit to Border Areas
26. In order to
have the first hand information and interact with the people and Jawans, I decided to visit all the Border areas of the
country. On 6-7th October, 2012, I
visited Kargil and Leh
districts of Leh-Ladakh region. I discussed the
developmental issues with the Council Members, Chief Executives, Ministers of J&K and officials of Leh
& Kargil Autonomous Hill Development Council. I
also visited Border outpost of ITBP at Lukumbe on
Indo-China border and interacted with Jawans and
participated in Sainik Sammelan.
27. I visited the Integrated Check Post at Attari on 7th
October, 2012 and reviewed the progress of ongoing works with Punjab Government
and Central Government officials.
28. From 12th to 14th October, 2012, I
visited Jammu and Kashmir Region. I
visited Trade Facilitation Centre at Chakan Da Bagh in Poonch
District and interacted with traders and discussed various issues relating to LoC trade and travel. I visited Border out Post of BSF at Suchetgarh in R.S. Pura in Jammu
district and inspected the border fencing and interacted with Jawans guarding the international border. I along with the Chief Minister chaired the
Unified Command meeting in Srinagar and reviewed the
security situation in the State. I also met senior police and army officers. I
also visited the famous Hazratbal shrine and met
public.
29. I visited the Indo-Bangladesh Border from 19.10.2012 to 20.10.2012. I started
from Dubri in Assam and then travelled by boat in
river Brahmaputra crossing riverine
Border Out Post (B.O.P) Mahamayachar
and landed at Shishumara B.O.P. Thereafter I travelled by road alongside
international boundary and inspected the fencing, floodlighting and Border
Roads, before taking off from Mankachar. I have
instructed the concerned agencies to address all the gaps because of the riverine terrain urgently through technology, so as to
ensure better surveillance. I also
interacted with BSF Jawans and discussed their
problems and hardships.
30. On the Western borders, on 24th March, 2013, I visited Harami Nala and BP 1175 in the Kutch area of Gujarat State. I sat inside All Terrain
Vehicle (ATV) and visited the last post of the BSF. I interacted with the BSF officers and Jawans at the Post.
31. On 27th March, 2013, I visited
Jaisalmer
sector in Rajasthan and visited Tanot BOP and
discussed the problems of BSF Jawans. I also played
the colourful Holi with BSF officers and Jawans.
Coastal Police Station/Jeetties
32. The Ministry
of Home Affairs has been implementing Coastal Security Scheme in phases
(Phase-I -2005 to 2011 and Phase-II – 2011 – 2015) with a view to strengthen the infrastructure
of the Marine Police Force and patrolling and surveillance of coastal areas,
particularly shallow areas close to the coast.
The scheme also aims at establishing institutional arrangements at State
and District level for coordination among various agencies including the Coast
Guard and the Navy. Under the Phase-II of the Scheme (over a period of 5
years at a cost of Rs.1,580 crore),
it has been proposed to provide 131 Marine Police Stations, 60 jetties, 10
Marine Operation Centres, 150 boats (12 Tons), 20 boats (5 Tons), 20 (19 mtr.) boats, 35 Rigid Inflatable Boats, 10 large vessels
(for Andaman and Nicobar Islands), 131 four wheelers
and 242 motorcycles. Against an allocation of Rs.1580 crore
for five years under Phase-II, Rs.97.57 crores has
already been released to coastal States/UTs for
starting the construction work, purchase of vehicles and operatioalisation
of coastal police stations.
33. Land identification of 130 out of 131 Coastal Police Stations
sanctioned under Coastal Security has been finalized and land acquisition
process in 130 cases has been initiated.
Land has been acquired in 87 cases.
Land identification for 44 Jetties out of 60 Jetties have
been done by Coastal States/UTs. Further Land has
been acquired for 10 Jetties. Land has
also been identified for all the 10 Marine Police operational Centers for A&N Island.
BORDER
ROADS, FENCING AND FLOOD LIGHTING
34. Government
has sanctioned 27 ITBP priority roads along Indo-China border totaling 805 Km,
against which 564.90 Km formation and 273.61 Km surfacing has been completed as
on date. Against the sanctioned 3359.59 Km of fencing along Indo-Bangladesh border, 2784.41 Km of
fencing has been completed. Against the sanctioned 2840.90 Km of floodlighting
along Indo-Bangladesh border, 1535
Km of flood lighting has been completed. Against the sanctioned 4407.11 Km of
roads along Indo-Bangladesh border,
3585.53 Km has been completed. The Government has sanctioned 2043.63 Km
of fencing along Indo-Pakistan border,
out of which 1958.50 Km has been completed. The Government has sanctioned
2009.52 Km of floodlighting along Indo-Pakistan
border, out of which 1900.92 Km has been completed.
35. Gujarat Sector: In Gujarat Sector,
along Indo-Pakistan Border, against the sanctioned length of 340 Km of fencing,
261.78 Km have been completed; against sanctioned 340 Km of border roads,
261.28 Km has been completed and against the 340 Km of flood lighting, 244 Km
has been completed. Against 70 BOPs, 51 BOPs have been completed and the work is in progress in 15 BOPs. 04 BOP locations are submerged and inaccessible.
36. Indo-Myanmar Border: We
plan to implement a Project for creation of border Infrastructure i.e.
construction of 4585 Km of roads, 113 helipads and two helibases, along Indo-Myanmar
Border during the period 2013-2025 in two phases. In Phase I ( during 2013-18 ) construction of 1417 Km roads, 56
helipads and two helibases will be undertaken. The
work of construction of remaining 3168 Km roads and 57 helipads will be taken
up in Phase II from 2018-2025 after completion of Phase I.
37. Indo-Nepal Border: The Government has
approved construction and upgradation of 1377 km of
roads along Indo-Nepal border at an
estimated cost of Rs. 3853 crore.
DPR for 552.30 km of road in Bihar have been approved by High Level Empowered
Committee (HLEC) and work for 482 km has been awarded. DPR for 248 km of road
in Uttar Pradesh have been approved by HLEC.
BILATERAL CO-OPERATION
38. India-Bangladesh relations: Home Minister level talks between India and Bangladesh were
held in December, 2012 at New Delhi and in January, 2013 at Dhaka. In the Home
Minister level talks held at Dhaka in January, 2013, the Extradition Treaty and
the Revised Travel Agreement were signed between the two countries. Besides,
Home Secretary level talks and meeting of Joint Working Group between India and
Bangladesh were held in October, 2012 at Dhaka and on 19th July,
2013 at New Delhi to discuss the security and border management related issues.
39. India-Myanmar relations: National level meeting between India and Myanmar was held in
December, 2012 at New Delhi to discuss security and border management related matters
between two countries. Sectoral level meeting between
the two countries was held in June, 2013 in Myanmar.
40. Indo-Russian Joint Commission for
Cooperation in Prevention and Elimination of Consequences of Emergencies: On 10th
April, 2013, the Government of India and the Government of Russian Federation signed a
Regulation defining the structure, functions and procedure of the Joint
Commission, which was established by an Agreement signed on 21st December, 2010
in New Delhi in the field of Emergency Management. This will enable both the countries to help each other in the
field of prevention and elimination of the consequences of emergency
situations.
41. New Visa Agreement between India and Pakistan: A new Visa Agreement was signed between India and Pakistan
on 8th September, 2012 to facilitate travel for the nationals of
both countries desirous of travelling to the other country and to promote
people to people contact. This new Visa
Agreement was operationalized on 14th December,
2012.
42. Revised Travel Arrangements between India
and Bangladesh: In order to liberalize the existing Visa Regime between
India and Bangladesh and with a view to removing certain difficulties faced by
the nationals of either country in obtaining visa, the Revised Travel
Arrangements (RTA) between India and Bangladesh was signed at Dhaka on 28th
January, 2013 by me with the Home Minister of Bangladesh. The
Visa free regime has been agreed on reciprocal basis for holders of
Diplomatic and Official Passports for a period up to 45 days of stay. Grant of
double entry visa valid for a maximum period of three months can be granted to
Bangladeshi nationals applying visa for third countries, whose representative
Missions are concurrently accredited to Bangladesh from India. It also provides
for medical visa, long term multiple employment visa
and multiple entry student visa etc. Necessary
Circular amending the provisions in the Visa Manual to incorporate the
provisions of the new RTA was issued on 12th February, 2013.
43. Sri Lanka: On January 22, 2013, the Agreement on Combating International Terrorism and
Illicit Drug Trafficking between India and Sri Lanka was signed in New Delhi.
External Affairs Minister signed the Agreement on behalf of Government of
India.
44. Azerbaijan: On 4th April 2013, a Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in
Criminal Matters was signed between India and Azerbaijan in New Delhi. The
Treaty was signed by me on behalf of Government of India and by Mr. Fikrat Mammadov, Hon’ble Minister of Justice on behalf of the Republic of
Azerbaijan.
45. Maldives:
On 25th September, 2012, I held bilateral meetings separately with
Home Ministers of Bhutan, Maldives and Pakistan during my visit to Maldives, to
attend the 5th Meeting of SAARC Home Ministers held there. In the meetings, bilateral security issues of
mutual interest were discussed. On 26th September, 2012 an MoU for setting up Police
Academy in Maldives by Government of India was signed by me with the Home
Minister of Maldives. In the 5th
meeting of SAARC Home Ministers, the issues pertaining to terrorism,
trafficking in women and children, trafficking in Narcotic Drugs immigration /visa issues, tackling
cyber crime in the region and Maritime and Security issues were discussed.
46. Russia: On April 10-12, 2013, Indian delegation led by me visited Russia and met
the Delegation of Government of Russia led by Mr. Vladimir Kolokoltsev,
Minister of Internal Security and Mr.Vladimir Puchkov, Minister for Emergency Situation. Discussions were held on bilateral security
matters between India and Russia. The delegation also visited various security
related installations in Moscow to see the best practices in the relevant
fields. I signed a Regulation related to Agreement for Cooperation in the field
of Emergency Management with Mr.Vladimir Puchkov, Minister for Emergency Situation.
47. USA: From 20th
May to 22nd May, 2013, I led a Government of India delegation to USA
and held 2nd Round of Homeland Security Dialogue with USA on 21st
May, 2013. Government of USA Delegation was led by Ms. Janet Napolitano,
Secretary, Department of Homeland Security. During the visit, I also met Director, FBI and
the Attorney General of USA and held talks on bilateral security matters. The GoI Delegation also visited security related sites in
Washington DC and also visited Boston which was the site of the recent bomb attack.
48. I had discussions in New Delhi, on bilateral matters relating to security,
immigration issues, with (i) Mr. John Baird, Foreign
Minister of Canada (on 12th September, 2012, (ii) a Government of UK Delegation, led by Home Secretary, Ms.
Theresa May (on 27.11.2012), (iii) Mr. Abba Moro, Hon’ble
Minister of Interior of Nigeria (on 12th December, 2012), (iv) Mr.
Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees
(on 19th December, 2012), (v) Mr. Jason Kenney, Immigration Minister
of Canada (on 10th January, 2013), (vi) Mr. Mohamed Nazim, Minister of
Defence, Government of Maldives (on 16th
April, 2013), (vii) Mr. Rand
Beers, Acting Deputy Secretary, Department of Homeland Security,
Government of USA (on June 24, 2013).
UTTARAKHAND
DISASTER OF JUNE 2013
49. Recently, the
State of Uttarakhand witnessed a severe disaster due
to heavy rainfall, cloud brusts and landslides on
16-17 June 2013. All the 13 districts of
Uttarakhand were affected. The disaster was so massive that 580 people
lost their lives, while 4473 people were injured. Besides over 5526 people are missing. This was the position as on 20th
July, 2013. The number of people who
lost their lives may further rise, as the debris is cleared. We immediately
moved into action to supplement the efforts of the State Government. On
22.6.2013, I visited Uttarakhand along with Vice
Chairman, NDMA, Member of NDMA (Shri V.K. Duggal), Union Home Secretary and other officers and
reviewed the progress of search, rescue and relief operations. On 28.6.2013, I
again visited Uttarakhand along with Vice Chairman,
NDMA, Chief of Army Staff and Union Home Secretary. In a
massive rescue operation 1,10,000 persons were
rescued.
50. Prime Minister announced an ex-gratia
amount of Rs. 2.00 lakh
each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs.
50,000/ each to injured persons from Prime Minister Relief Fund. In addition to
Rs. 1.00 lakh each to those
whose houses have been completely destroyed and Rs.
50,000/- each to those whose houses have been damaged, the Hon’ble
Prime Minister also announced assistance of Rs. 1000 crore. Accordingly, Rs. 145 crore from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) were released to the State Government on 20th
June 2013. In addition, Rs. 250 crore on an ‘on account’
basis were released from the National Disaster
Response Fund (NDRF) to the
State on 19th July 2013.
CRIME AND
CRIMINAL TRACKING NETWORK & SYSTEMS
51. Crime and
Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS), Mission Mode Scheme was
approved in 2009 with a provision of Rs 2000 Crores as a 100 % Centrally Sponsored Scheme to be
implemented during 2009-2012. This has now been extended up to 31st March 2015. A Pilot launch of Crime and Criminal
Tracking Network and System (CCTNS) was launched on 4th January 2013, which
earmarked connectivity of nearly 2000 CCTNS locations in 25 States/UTs. The
implementation of the project has picked up and till date contracts with System
Integrators have been signed in 31 States/UTs, 10219
CCTNS sites have been prepared and 6851 sites have been commissioned against
the target of 21895 sites and over 2.23 crore past cases have been digitized against the
target of 6.09 crore cases. As part of Capacity
Building under CCTNS, over 2.20 lakh persons were
imparted training.
IMMIGRATION VISA AND FOREIGNERS
REGISTRATION AND TRACKING
52. Integrated
online visa application system (under the Mission Mode Project on Immigration
Visa and Foreigners Registration and Tracking) has been operationalised
at 120 Indian Missions abroad.
STRENGTHENING
OF CENTRAL ARMED POLICE FORCES
53. An amount of Rs. 516.30 crore has been
sanctioned to the CAPFs for acquisition of 3921.66
acres of land and an amount of Rs.2449.54 crore has
been sanctioned to CAPFs for construction of
office/residential buildings during the period of Aug 2012 to till 18th
July 2013. In addition, the Expenditure
Finance Committee (EFC) has cleared the Infrastructure proposals of CAPFs of Rs. 12499 crore.
54. In May 2013,
a Modernisation Plan-II has been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security
(CCS) for Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) which
would be executed over the period upto 2016-17, with the budget allocation of Rs.11,009.19 crore. It has been endeavored
that the ‘Jawans’ remain the focal point of the
modernization and they are enabled to obtain the best possible training and
equipment. The major items covered under
the Scheme are surveillance equipment, MPVs/ bullet
resistant vehicles, effective communication equipment, lethal and non-lethal
weapons, B.P. Jackets and helmets, scanners, weapons simulators, protective
equipment, etc. Proposals have been
moved for allocation of sufficient funds in the current financial year for
implementation of the Plan.
55. 33 Bns of CAPFs have been raised
during 2011-12 and 2012-13 [(2011-12-
BSF-7, CRPF-4, SSB-8); (2012-13-
BSF-2, CRPF-4, ITBP-4, SSB-4)]. During the period, we have sanctioned raising of 23 Mahila Platoon in
ITBP. 3029 posts in various ranks have
been sanctioned in CISF for providing security to Government buildings,
industrial units in Public Sector, joint venture and private units.
56. As a welfare measure, on 1st November,
2012, Government approved the proposal to designate the retired Central Armed
Police Force (CAPF) personnel as “Ex-Central Armed Police Force (Ex-CAPF
personnel)”. It shall boost the moral
and motivation level of the CAPF personnel and enable the various State
Governments to provide specific benefits to the retired CAPFs
personnel.
MODERNISATION OF STATE POLICE FORCES
57. The Scheme for Modernization of State
Police Forces (MPF Scheme) has been extended for a further period of five years
with effect from the financial year 2012-13 to 2016-17, with funding partly
under Non-Plan and partly under Plan.
The items required by the State Police under mobility, weapons,
equipment, training equipment, forensic equipment are funded under Non-Plan. The construction/upgradation
of police stations/outposts, police lines, police housing, forensic science
laboratories and training infrastructure, construction of buildings are funded
under Plan budget.
58. Under the Scheme, an allocation of Rs. 8195.53 crore has been
approved under Non-Plan and Rs.3750.87 crore under
Plan during the XII Plan period (2012-13 – 2016-17). In the current year, outlay for MPF Scheme
is Rs.750 crore under Non-Plan and Rs.1097 crore under Plan. Mega City Policing in six cities namely, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata
and Bengaluru has been approved as a sub-set under
Non-Plan component of MPF Scheme. An additional allocation of Rs.432.90 crore has been approved for Mega City Policing to be
provided in two years.
POLICE TRAINING
59. Sanction
amounting to Rs. 281 Crore
for construction of Central Academy for Police Training (CAPT), Bhopal by CPWD,
Bhopal was issued on 07th December, 2012. The Academy would impart basic
training to directly recruited Dy. SPs and Addl. SPs of the States
and also address the training needs of our friendly countries. The Ministry of
Home Affairs has approved the scheme of Central Detective Training School at
Ghaziabad on 25th March 2013 at a cost of Rs.
65.14 crore and sanction was issued on 25th
April 2013. A scheme for upgradation of Police
Training Institutes of CAPFs at a cost of Rs. 34.32 crore during 12th
Plan has also been approved. The Ministry of Home Affairs also released Rs 28.40 crore for creating/
upgrading infrastructure in North Eastern Police Academy (NEPA).
MERCY PETITIONS
60. During the past one year 14 mercy petitions cases of 19 death
convicts have been decided. Out of these 14 cases, 13 cases of mercy petitions
have been rejected and one case has been commuted to life imprisonment. In two terrorist cases of Amir
Kasab and Afzal, the
sentence of death was executed on 21.11.2012 and 09.02.2013 respectively. This
will give a strong signal to the terrorists and perpetrators of heinous, brutal
and diabolical murders. The execution in
10 cases has however been stayed by the courts and in one case the execution is
pending due to the health condition of the convict. Government is vigorously persuing
these cases in the courts.
STATE
MATTERS
61. The Constitution (Ninety Eighth Amendment)
Act, 2013: The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs on 3rd August, 2012
approved 118th Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2012 to insert a new
Article 371-J in the Constitution to provide for special provision in respect
of reservation in public employment, education and vocational education to the
domiciles of erstwhile Hyderabad-Karnataka Areas of the State of Karnataka and
additionally Bellary district. The Bill was
introduced in the Lok Sabha
on 7th September, 2012. The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2012 was passed by
both the Houses of Parliament on 19-20th December 2012. The Act was
notified on 02.01.2013
62. ZERO
FIR: On 10th May, 2013, an
advisory was issued to the States and Union Territories that police shall
register an FIR or a ‘Zero FIR’ upon receipt of information of the commission
of a cognizable offence irrespective of territorial jurisdiction. If it is
found that case relates to the jurisdiction of some other police station, the
FIR can be transferred to the police station in which the case falls.
63. Demand for a separate State of Telangana:
The demand for formation of a separate State of Telangana
has been raised time and again since the formation of the State of Andhra
Pradesh in 1956. The Government of India has intervened time and again to bring
about an amicable settlement among all the stakeholders. In the recent past the
demand for the Telangana State regenerated with a lot
of renewed vigour and force. In this
regard, I held an all-party meeting of State leaders on 28.12.2012 to arrive at
a consensus. The
Congress Working Committee on 30th July, 2013 had resolved to
request the Central Government to:
a) take
steps to form a separate State of Telangana,
b) establish
a mechanism for the sharing of resources, water, power etc.,
c) declare
Hyderabad as a common capital for at least 10 years,
d) Provide
assistance for the building of a new
capital for Andhra Pradesh,
e) Declare
the Polavaram Irrigation Project as a national
project and provide funds for completion,
f)
Identify special needs of backward
regions/districts and provide adequate funds for development.
As a consensus has been reached on the
future of the State of Andhra Pradesh, the Central Government is actively
considering the resolution of the Congress Working Committee and the Union
Cabinet will be briefed shortly on the issue.
WOMEN
65. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act,
2013: Much before the horrendous
rape case of 16th December 2012 in Delhi, Government had finalized
the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012 which was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 4.12.2012. After the horrendous rape case of the 16th
December 2012, a Committee headed by Justice J. S. Verma,
former Chief Justice of Supreme Court was set up on 23rd December,
2012 to give recommendations on amending laws to provide for speedy justice and
enhanced punishment for criminals in sexual assault cases. The Justice Verma Committee in its Report submitted on the 23rd
January 2013, agreed to most of the provisions of the Criminal Law (Amendment)
Bill, 2012. Government wanted to amend criminal laws affecting women
immediately and since the Parliament was not in session, the Criminal Law
(amendment) Ordinance, 2013 was promulgated on 03.02.2013. In the Budget
Session, the Criminal Law [Amendment] Bill, 2013 was passed by the Lok Sabha on 19th
March, 2013 and by the Rajya Sabha
on 21st March, 2013. The President of India has accorded his assent
to the Bill on 2nd April, 2013.
66. Substantive amendments in
IPC, Cr. P. C and Indian Evidence Act have been made to effectively deal with
the crime against women. Sentence of death has been provided as punishment in
case of rape followed by death or vegetative state of the victim. For the first
time acid attack, human trafficking, voyeurism, stalking etc. have been
included as a specific offence and severe punishment has been prescribed. Non-
treatment of victims of rape and acid attack by the hospitals (Government/ Private)
has been made punishable. The police has been made
accountable and disobeying of any directions of law (like not recording of FIR)
has been made punishable. Adequate
provisions have been made to protect the women victim from harassment and
humiliation during investigation and trial.
67. Justice
Ms. Usha Mehra Commission
of Inquiry: In pursuance to the Statement made by me on 22nd
December, 2012 subsequent to the unfortunate incident of gang rape on 16th
December, 2012, a Commission of Inquiry consisting of Ms. Usha
Mehra, a retired Judge of Delhi High Court under the
Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 was appointed on 26.12.2012 to look into the
various aspects of this incident and to suggest measures to improve the
security and safety of women. The Commission forwarded their recommendations/
observations on 22nd February, 2013. The recommendations are broadly
for improvement in public transport system and associated infrastructure,
improved institutional and legal mechanisms to support/ assist victims,
incorporation of gender sensitization in education curriculum etc. Action Taken Report on the recommendations of
Justice (Ms) Usha Mehra
Commission’s report is being finalized.
NCT DELHI
68. Vehicles and Posts sanctioned to Delhi Police: With a view to further strengthening the Delhi Police, 370
vehicles to be used as PCR Vans have been sanctioned to Delhi Police in
February, 2013. Additionally, between
01.04.2013 to 30.06.2013 sanction for 11 Big Jail Vans, five Mini Jail Vans, seven TATA Safari
Vehicles, three TATA Starbuses, twelve Toyota Innova vehicles have been sanctioned to Delhi Police
against condemned vehicles. Ministry of
Home Affairs have also conveyed the approval for creation of 1084 posts in
Delhi Police exclusively for Women Police personnel, in March, 2013. A Task
Force set up under Union Home Secretary periodically monitors Law & Order
situation in the NCT of Delhi including Women and children related issues, Traffic
and Transport related issues etc.
69. CCTV Surveillance
System in NCT Delhi: In 2nd phase the provision of installation
of CCTVs Surveillance System at 38 markets places/border check posts at a total cost of
Rs.148.83 crore was made. Installation work of CCTV
Surveillance System at six Police Stations in phase-II (b) at a total cost of
Rs.88.87 crore has been awarded to M/s ECIL. Work for
installation of CCTV Surveillance System at five District Courts at a total
cost of Rs.20.74 crore, Supreme Court of India at a
total cost of Rs.4.18 crore, High Court of Delhi at a
total cost of Rs 4.16 crore,
L.G House at a total cost of Rs.2.28 crore and V.P.
House at a total cost of Rs.2.75 core have also been awarded. While the work at
five District Courts, High Court and Supreme Court has been completed, other
works are in progress.
NARCOTICS
70. During the
period from 01.08.2012 to 15.07.2013, the Narcotics Control Bureau seized 239
kg of Opium, 251 kg Heroine, 3832 kg Ganja, 190 kg
Hashish, 3 kg Cocaine, 47 kg Methaqualone, 33 kg
Amphetamines, 4881 kg Ephedrine and 380 kg Acetic Anhydride. Ketamine manufacturing facility in Maharashtra
(August- 2012), Illicit Methamphetamine Lab in Tamil Nadu
and Multi-drug Manufacturing Laboratory in Rajasthan were busted during the
period.
71. During the same period, NCB in coordination with State law
enforcement authorities have destroyed 901 acres of illicit poppy cultivation
in the states of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. Further, 952 acres of illicit cannabis were
destroyed in the States of Odisha, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh,
Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal and
Uttar Pradesh.
NATIONAL POPULATION
REGISTER (NPR)
72. The task of creating National Population Register (NPR) has been
taken up for the first time in India. The data collection for the National
Population Register in all the States/UTs has been
completed along with first phase of Population Census 2011. Data digitization
(in English and regional languages) has been completed for more than 117.32 crore persons. The Capture of biometrics under NPR for the
country is in progress and as on date biometrics have
been collected for more than 16.4 crore persons. The
field work for creating the National Population Register (NPR) in 3331 coastal
villages has been completed. More than 65.4 lakh cards have been produced and dispatched, to the usual
residents of age 18 years and above, in these areas.”
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KSD/
SAMIR/ sk