Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to sympathetically look into the problems being faced by farmers along the India-Pakistan border fence in the state.
Addressing a two-day ''Chintan Shivir'' of home ministers here, Mann urged Shah to reduce the distance between the border fence and the actual border to facilitate the farmers cultivating their land across the fence. The chief minister said the distance must be reduced to 150-200 metres, instead of the existing around one kilometre, to ensure that the farmers of the border region benefit from it.
He said this will ensure optimum utilisation of the land on one hand and strengthen the security of the country on the other. Flagging another issue, Mann urged the Centre to set up a regional centre of the National Security Guards (NSG) at Pathankot. He said the setting up of the NSG centre at Pathankot will help effectively combat any terror activity in the entire northern region.