M A I N   N E W S

Work permits for Bangladeshi migrants: PM

Silchar (Assam), May 6
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today said the Centre was considering a proposal to give work permits to migrants from Bangladesh, who could not be evicted due to certain problems.

“The Centre is considering seriously the proposal to issue work permits to Bangladeshi migrants suspected to be foreigners but could not be evicted due to a host of legal and constitutional problems”, Mr Vajpayee told a election rally for the AGP-BJP candidates at the Police Parade Ground here.

Mr Vajpayee said the names of these infiltrators would be registered after a thorough scrutiny and then allowed to stay in the country till the issue of the Illegal Migrants’ Determination by Tribunal (IMDT) Act was resolved.

The Prime Minister admitted that deportation of the Bangladeshis from Assam at present was impossible because of many “legal problems and constitutional hindrances”.

His government, he said, was committed to the development of the North East and had already announced a package of projects to ensure the speedy progress of the region.

He said the package included customs relief, incentives for entrepreneurs and several measures to curb unemployment in the region.

The Prime Minister said the Centre already had approved a Rs 4,000 crore power project under the central sector at Tipaimukh in Manipur which would generate 1200 MW power per day.

He regretted that the earlier governments at the Centre had not attached much importance to the power sector which resulted in slow rate of development in the country.

Mr Vajpayee said, ISI agents were active in the North East and behind subversive activities in the region.

He asked the Pakistani government to “withdraw these elements from the North East without delay”.

Referring to the ongoing violence in Assam, Mr Vajpayee said the people here were politically mature and must not be cowed by threats.

“The most befitting reply to the violence unleashed by militants would be for the people to come out and exercise franchise without any fear. Ballot must prevail over the bullet in a democracy”, the Prime Minister added.

The National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, he said, was committed to implement the Silchar-Saurashtra National Highway scheme along with the other from Kashmir to Kanyakumari to link the country through villages and cities.

KOLKATA: Mr Vajpayee sidestepped the question of Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee’s re-entry into the National Democratic Alliance saying the matter might be given a thought after the elections.

“Chunao hone do. Uskey baad dekha jayega (let the election be over. After that, we may look into it)”, Mr Vajpayee replied cryptically when asked if the NDA’s doors were open for Mamata Banerjee’s re-entry.

The Prime Minister was talking to newsmen at the NSC Bose International Airport on his arrival from Silchar. PTI