Important to develop border areas like hinterland: Rijiju

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju on Monday said it was imperative that border areas were as developed as the hinterland of the nation and this needed a rational outlook.

Speaking after releasing a FICCI-PwC Report 'Smart Border Management -Indian Coastal & Maritime Security', Rijiju said other countries exhibit their might by projecting their border areas as active by settling civilians and engaging them in trade and commercial activities.

"Border areas of these countries are well-connected, complete with basic amenities and telecom services, whereas India has isolated its border areas and restricted civilian movement and commerce," a statement by FICCI cited Rijiju as saying.

He said the engagement of multiple agencies in border management was resulting in delay of implementation of policies and adoption of technology.

Citing an example, he said when a full-body scanner had to be installed the tedious tender process and other formalities caused unwarranted delays. He added that there was a need to address such issues immediately.

The FICCI-PwC report, meanwhile, focused on coastal security mechanism across the Indian coast, and recommended consolidation of various stakeholders and inclusion of private players in maritime security.

The report also recommended more cooperation between State and Central government agencies, integration of marine police in the coastal security chain to track coastal fishing activity and fast-tracking the setting up of the National Marine Police Training Institute in Dwarka (Gujarat), followed by intense interaction between the institute and the Marine Police Training Centres in state and union territories.

--IANS

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