Rajnath Singh asks states to collect biometric details of Rohingyas

Kolkata: Union home minister Rajnath Singh has asked states governments to identify Rohingya refugees and collect their biometric details. Advisories have already been issued to the states, Singh said on the sidelines of the Eastern Zonal Council meet in Kolkata.

“The Centre will share the reports with Myanmar through diplomatic channels,” Singh added. The central intelligence agencies have previously raised concerns over alleged Rohingya settlements in Hardaha, Baruipur, South 24 Parganas in Bengal. These agencies had flagged off security concerns by saying that these settlements were on encroached government lands and can lead to more influx of illegal refugees.

A faction of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, which is still controlled by the absconding Bimal Gurung, has alleged that the government has facilitated Rohingya settlements in various parts of the Kalimpong district.

Singh chaired the meeting which was attended by chief ministers of Bengal Mamata Banerjee, Jharkhand Raghubar Das and deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi. Shashi Bhusan Behera, the finance and excise minister of Odisha also attended the meeting.

Singh added that central forces withdrawn from different parts of the state will be reinstated. The withdrawal was primarily to meet electoral requirements, he said. Waiver of condition of advance payment for Central Armed Police Forces deployment by the ministry of home affairs was also discussed in the meeting.

According to a press statement issued by the state government, the council took up 15 new issues including the development of allocated coal mines, land acquisition for 11 airports in these states, establishment of shelter for urban homeless under National Urban Livelihood Mission, expeditious clearance for right of way for laying optical fibre cable etc.

Banerjee and Singh met one-on-one after the formal meeting.