The Centre might soon do away with the system of obtaining Restricted Area Permit (RAP), which is required to visit some of the Northeastern States.
Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said this in Guwahati while addressing the ‘Northeast Region Infrastructure conclave 2014’ organised by PHD Chamber.
“I have already taken up the matter with the senior colleagues in the Ministry of Home Affairs. It will not be a blanket relaxation for all the Northeastern States. However, in some pockets the RAP requirement will be relaxed,” said the Minister.
The domestic as well as foreign tourists require obtaining the RAP to visit some of the Northeastern States including Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram.
“Besides relaxing the norms of RAP, there will also be relaxation of norms on permission to travel from one place to another in the region to facilitate more tourists to visit the region,” he said while clarifying that the relaxation will not be a blanket one for the entire region and it will be done pocket wise.
Meanwhile, Rijiju also took up the issue of India's plan to construct a frontal highway along the Indo-China border in Arunachal Pradesh and said that India has all the right to construct road in its own territory.
“We are going to construct a highway within our territory and that is not going to adversely affect the neighbouring country. We are committed to develop our border areas and we are going to do that,” he said when asked about the China's reaction to the Centre's plan to construct the frontal highway in Arunachal Pradesh. Reiterating that there are huge potentials in the northeast region of India, the Minister said that the northeastern States have to proceed with a positive attitude.
“Most of NE complaints are about neglect, isolation and lack of connectivity. Don't look at the things from a negative perspective. If you are not capable enough to solve your problem, Delhi alone cannot do anything,” he said.