Jharkhand govt opposes fact-finding committee, but ready to discuss how to curb infiltration

THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK

Ranchi, Sept 30: Jharkhand Chief Secretary L Khiangte held a meeting with Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan in New Delhi yesterday and said that the State government was not in favour of constituting a fact-finding committee on Bangladeshi infiltration.

The chief secretary, however, was ready to discuss how to prevent infiltration during the next meeting.

The Union home ministry, in an affidavit filed today in response to the Jharkhand High Court order, said that the chief secretary, during the meeting submitted that the state government was not in favour of the fact-finding committee and that it has challenged the high court order in the Supreme Court. “Thus, the state govt has not complied with the high court order,” it added.

Notably, the Jharkhand High Court, in its September 20 order, directed the Centre and the State government to have a combined sitting and finalise the fact-finding committee members before October 1.

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A division bench comprising Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Arun Kumar Rai, in its 32-page order, observed that there is no denying that the problem of decline in the demography of the tribal population is currently affecting the population matrix of Jharkhand.

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Notably, the court is set to hear the PIL tomorrow.

Identification of illegal migrants

According to the affidavit, the Union home secretary, during the meeting, mentioned that the primary responsibility for the identification of illegal migrants lies with the state government. “The Jharkhand government has not taken any action in this regard. However, the central government is ready to come forward and assist the Jharkhand government in all possible measures.

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“In compliance with the high court order, the MHA proposed a fact-finding committee drawing members from central and state government,” the affidavit added.