New Delhi, Dec.28 (ANI): The overall internal security situation in the country remained largely under control during 2007.

The situation in Jammu  and Kashmir showed perceptible improvement.  In the North East, the situation in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland were the main areas of concern.  On the Naxal front, the number of incidents and casualties showed a marginal decline.

The communal situation remained under control during 2007. Some terrorist incidents took place in the hinterland, but security forces also succeeded in busting a large number of terrorist modules.  A number of important initiatives were taken to strengthen the security apparatus in the country.

Border Management continued to receive focused attention.  Timely assistance was extended to the States, affected by natural disasters.  Some of the important activities, initiatives and achievements of the Ministry of Home Affairs are mentioned below.

Jammu and Kashmir

In 2007 (till November), the number of incidents was down by 33 percent, and those of civilians killed by 59 percent and security force personnel by 28 percent over the corresponding period of the previous year. The State Government’s proposal for deployment of 5000 more SPOs was approved. This will increase the number of SPOs to 30,474.

Action in respect of the 10 projects/schemes under the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan for Jammu and Kashmir 2004 was completed. Work is in progress in respect of 46 projects/schemes. One of the important power projects -- the Dulhasti Hydro Electric Power Project, with generating capacity of 390 MW of power, was commissioned. The project started commercial operation from April, 2007. The Baglihar Hydro Electric Power Project with generating capacity of 450 MW, is at an advanced stage of completion.

Substantial progress has been achieved in the field of relief and rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants. On April 24, 2007, the third Round Table Conference on Jammu and Kashmir was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

North East

In the North East, the main areas of concern relate to Assam, Manipur and Nagaland. In Assam, there was a spurt in violence by the ULFA. Measures to deal with the situation included intensification of counter-insurgency operations and Suspension of Operations agreements with several groups, including National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), United People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) and Dima Halam Daoga (DHD). In Manipur, various ethnic and sub-ethnic groups indulged in acts of violence. In Nagaland, peace talks initiated in 1997 continue and the ceasefire agreement was extended in July 2007 for an indefinite period. While the overall violence levels in the State have come down, factional violence continues.

Naxal Situation

In 2007, till the end of November, the number of incidents of naxalite violence and of casualties among police personnel and civilians remained about the same as in the corresponding period of 2006, with a very marginal decrease. Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand together accounted for 68.16 percent of the total incidents and 76.42 percent of the total casualties. There was a decline in the number of incidents and casualties in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The Government’s approach is to deal with naxalite activities in a holistic manner, in the arenas of security, development, administration and public perception management.

Concerned State Governments are taking necessary action to deal with naxalite activities. The Central Government supplements their efforts and resources by various measures which include deployment of 33 battalions of Central paramilitary forces (inclusive of 1 battalion of State Armed Police on inter-State deputation) to assist the State police forces, sanctioning of India Reserve battalions to the States, assistance for strengthening of the State Police and Intelligence agencies through the Modernization of State Police Forces Scheme, reimbursement of security-related expenditure under the Security Related Expenditure Scheme, assistance in training of State police forces through the Ministry of Defence, Central Police Organisations and Bureau of Police Research and  Development, sharing of Intelligence, bringing about inter-State coordination and assistance in development works through a range of schemes of different Ministries.

For certain naxalite-affected areas, it was decided that three-year perspective plans would be prepared for covering all eligible habitations under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. The State Governments have been requested to identify and prioritize unconnected habitations having population of 500 and above in plain areas and 250 and above in tribal areas for preparing detailed project reports.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme, which was originally being implemented in 200 districts, and was extended to 330 districts in April 2007, is now being extended to all districts in the country (except metropolises), having regard to the need to universalise this demand-driven programme for wage-employment.

Hinterland Terrorism and Communal Situation

As regards terrorist activities in the hinterland, there have been some incidents during the year including the Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad, the twin blasts in Hyderabad, the blast in the premises of Durgah Sharif in Ajmer, the blast at the Sringar Cinema Hall in Ludhiana and simultaneous bomb blasts in court premises in Faizabad, Varanasi and Lucknow. A number of terrorist modules were busted in different States by the State security and intelligence agencies in association with the Central agencies.

The communal situation remained under control during the year.

Police Modernisation and Augmentation

Under the Scheme for Modernisation of State Police Forces, an amount of Rs.1065 crore was released to the States during the year 2006-07.
Further, out of an allocation of Rs.1013.83 crore approved during 2007-08, an amount of Rs.671.67 crore was released to States up to December 20, 2007.  All the State Governments have been asked to furnish their annual action plans for the year 2008-09 by December, 2007 to facilitate timely release of funds during the next financial year.

 An amount of Rs.924.40 crore has been allocated in 2007-08 for providing building infrastructure at the force formations including border outposts and residential accommodation for personnel. Under the 11th Five Year Plan, an outlay of Rs.2500 crore has been approved to remove the serious deficiency of housing for the force personnel in a time bound manner.  This outlay is nearly four times more than the allocations during the 10th Five Year Plan.

Twenty battalions were sanctioned in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police to provide relief from continuous deployment at high altitude locations. In addition, 6 India Reserve Battalions have been sanctioned to various States as part of an endeavor to make the States self-reliant in their internal security needs. As a part of strengthening the security of the critical and vital installations, 1576 posts have been sanctioned in the CISF.

In an endeavor to strengthen the Sashastra Seema Bal, the SSB Bill 2007 was passed by Parliament in November 2007.

A Welfare and Rehabilitation Board has been constituted by the Government to provide an institutionalized mechanism to look into the welfare and rehabilitation requirements of the Central Police Force personnel.

The Government of India has sanctioned creation of 5000 additional posts in Delhi Police in connection with making security arrangements for Commonwealth Games 2010.

A Committee of Experts set up in September 2005 has submitted a draft Model Police Act, which has been sent to States/UTs for appropriate action.

Border Management

The Government has decided to undertake floodlighting in 2840 Kms. along the entire length of the Indo-Bangladesh border, in the stretches where fencing has been erected, at an estimated cost of Rs.1327 crore.  The floodlighting works are expected to commence soon and would be completed by the year 2011-12.

Further, in pursuance of the decision of the Government to replace the entire 861 Kms. of fencing constructed under Phase-I in West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya, which got damaged due to adverse climatic conditions, repeated submergence etc., 118 Kms. of fencing has been replaced so far.

Under the Coastal Security Scheme, assistance has been given to the coastal States and Union Territories to set up coastal police stations, check posts, out-posts and barracks.  Till date, 47 out of 73 coastal police stations have been made operational.

During 2007-08, out of 520 crore rupees earmarked for the Border Area Development Programme, Rs.298.71 crore have been released to the State Governments so far.

Disaster Management

The Ministry formulated the revised Crisis Management Plan 2007 and circulated it to all the State Governments /UT Administrations and Central Police Forces for necessary follow-up action to frame/update their detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for dealing with different crises/emergencies.

The provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 relating to the States/ UTs have been brought into force w.e.f. August 1, 2007. A number of States have initiated action to set up the institutional mechanism provided in the Act.

The Second Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction was organized by the Ministry of Home Affairs on November 7-8, 2007 at New Delhi in partnership with various international bodies. The Conference was attended, among others, by delegates of 51 national governments.

NDMA has issued guidelines on management of earthquakes, chemical (industrial) disasters, medical preparedness and mass casualty management and preparation of the State Disaster Management Plan.

A proposal for constitution of the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) was approved by the Government in November, 2007. NDRF is to be made available to the National Executive Committee, headed by the Union Home Secretary, to be applied towards meeting the  expenditure for emergency response, relief and rehabilitation in the wake of various disasters. NDRF will have an initial corpus of Rs.100 crore.

Government of India has approved the revised items and norms of assistance from the Calamity Relief Fund and National Calamity Contingency Fund. The main focus of the revised norms is on providing more assistance direct to the persons affected due to various  natural calamities

International Cooperation

Agreements for Transfer of Sentenced Persons were signed with Bulgaria and Cambodia.  An agreement was negotiated and finalized with Egypt.

In October 2007, the Union Home Minister visited Vietnam where a bilateral Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in Criminal Matters was signed.

A Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters was signed with Mexico, Bulgaria and Vietnam. India has so far signed these Treaties with 26 countries.

Home Secretary level talks were held with Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan.

The Second Meeting of the SAARC Interior/Home Ministers was held in New Delhi in October, 2007 which was preceded by the Second Meeting of the SAARC Interior/Home Secretaries and Sixth Conference on Cooperation in Police Matters.

The Inter State Council, Ministry of Home Affairs, in partnership with the Forum of Federations, Ottawa, organized the 4th International Conference on Federalism in New Delhi in November 2007. It was attended, among others, by some Heads of State/Government.

For the first time, a Female Formed Police Unit consisting of 125 women personnel have been deployed with the UN Mission in Liberia.

Miscellaneous
 
A Conference of Chief Ministers on internal security was chaired by the Prime Minister on December 20, 2007 in New Delhi.

An amount of Rs. 70.55 crore has been released to the Gujarat Government for disbursement to the beneficiaries/claimants in death and injury cases in connection with the communal riots of 2002.

In order to regulate the activities of private detective agencies operating in the country , the Private Detective Agencies (Regulation) Bill, 2007 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in August, 2007.  The Bill has since been referred to the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee.

The Constitution (One Hundred and Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2007 and the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2007 for creation of  the Gorkha Hill Council, Darjeeling in West Bengal were introduced in the Lok Sabha in November, 2007.  These have been referred to the Standing Committee of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Identity (Smart) cards have been distributed for the first  time in the country under the Pilot Project on Multi-Purpose National Identity Cards.  The project is now nearing completion after which a decision on the national roll-out is expected.

Preparations for the next census in 2011 have begun. The Technology Conference of national and international experts has been held to decide the choice of technology for the next census.

The Committee constituted under the chairmanship of Prof. N.R. Madhava Menon to draft a National Policy Paper on Criminal Justice System submitted its report to the Government in August, 2007. The report has been referred to State Governments/UTs for their views/comments.

It has been decided to grant three years initial Employment Visa (Indian Employment Visa) to USA CEOs/Senior Executives of an American company.

In November 2007, online facility was provided for filing of applications, seeking prior permission to receive foreign contribution by associations. (ANI)