Cabinet nod for integrated checkposts

In order to step up its vigil along the international border, the Government has decided to set up Integrated Check Posts...

In order to step up its vigil along the international border, the Government has decided to set up Integrated Check Posts ICPs at 13 identified entry points along the land border. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs CCEA, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Thursday, also decided to introduce a Bill to establish a Land Port Authority of India for the management of these ICPs.

8220;The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs CCEA approved setting up of the ICPs on the land borders of the country at a total cost of Rs 635 crore,8221; Minister of State in PMO Prithviraj Chavan told reporters after the meeting. In the first phase, the ICPs would come up at entry points at Attari-Wagah on the Pakistan border, Raxaul on the Nepal border, Moreh on the Myanmar border, and Petrapole on the Bangladesh border, he added.

Like airports, the ICPs would house all regulatory agencies such as immigration, Customs and border security, apart from having support facilities such as parking, warehousing, banking and hotels in a single complex. The Land Port Authority of India would be responsible for overseeing the construction, management and maintenance of the ICPs.

In another decision, the CCEA also approved a Centrally-Sponsored Scheme to set up 6,000 model schools at block-level across the country. Announcing the decision, Chavan said in the first phase, 2,500 such schools would be set up in educationally backward districts with a total cost of over Rs 9,000 crore of which over Rs 7,000 crore will be provided by the Central Government during the current plan period. However, Chavan said the scheme would not be rolled out in the six poll -bound states till the election process got over.

The Union Cabinet also approved the National Biodiversity Action Plan NBAP. Chavan said the NBAP would aim for development and integration of biodiversity databases; building national capacity for biodiversity conservation; assessment of vulnerability and adaption to climate change and regulation of introduction of alien species in indian system among other things. The Cabinet also approved a new scheme on Bio-Technology Industry Partnership Programme, which will seek to forge new partnership between the Government and industries for high risk discoveries and futuristic technology development in this sector on cost sharing basis. The CCEA earmarked Rs 350 crore for this scheme during the Eleventh Plan period.

Other decisions

8226; The Cabinet approved a combined project to build Afghanistan8217;s Parliament building and Indian Chancery complex in Kabul at a revised estimate of Rs 950 crore. The Chancery complex was expected to be completed within 16 months and the Parliament building within 36 months.

8226; The CCEA also approved construction of a new broadgauge line from Sivok to Rangpo at a cost of over Rs 1,300 crore to provide rail connectivity to Sikkim.

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8226; The CCEA also approved implementation of the 110-MW Pare Hydroelectric Project in Arunachal Pradesh by North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd NEEPCO with an estimated cost of about Rs 600 crore. The power generated from the project, which is scheduled to be commissioned within 44 months, will be utilised within the northeastern region itself.

8226; The Cabinet also approved payment of a productivity linked bonus reward to over 66,000 port and dock workers as per the increased ceiling limit of wage at Rs 3,500 per month from 2006-07 till 2009-10.

8226; It also approved signing of the agreement on transfer of sentenced persons between India and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region HKSAR, which would enable the sentenced persons to be near their families and help in the process of their social rehabilitation. The HKSAR8217;s convicted prisoners can now be transferred to their home country and prisoners of Indian origin can be brought to India to serve the remaining part of their sentence.