By IndraStra Global Editorial Team
Integrated Border
Management is mostly mandated by India’s security concerns and therefore it became necessary to install a collection of systems and sub-systems which address these concerns while also
facilitating trade and commerce across the border. There are several designated entry and exit
points on the international borders of the country through which cross border
movement of persons, goods and traffic takes place. Existing infrastructure for
discharge of various sovereign functions at these points are neither adequate
or integrated nor coordinated and no single agency is responsible for
coordination of various Government functions and services at these points.
Image: Integrated Check Post Gate, Attari, Punjab / Source: The Tribune, Chandigarh
The ICPs are
envisaged to provide all the facilities required for discharge of sovereign and
non-sovereign functions to enable smooth cross-border movement of individuals,
vehicles and goods under an integrated complex. These would facilitate the
processes of immigration, customs, security, quarantine, etc.
To enable this,
the infrastructural facilities provided by the ICPs are:-
- Passenger Terminal Building
- Currency Exchange
- Internet Facility
- Cargo Process Building
- Cargo Inspection Sheds
- Warehouse/Cold storage
- Quarantine Laboratory
- Clearing Agents
- Banks
- Scanners
- DFMD/HHMD
- CCTV/PA System
- Isolation Bay
- Parking Cafeteria
- Other Public Utilities
The Origin of Integrated Check Posts:
As a response
to the situation of inadequate infrastructure for cross border movement of
persons, vehicles and goods, various meetings of the Committee of Secretaries
discussed the situation since October, 2003 and recommended to set up
Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) at major entry points on our land borders. These
ICPs would house all regulatory agencies like Immigration, Customs, Border
Security, Quarantine etc., along with support facilities in a single complex
equipped with all modern amenities. The composition and constitution of an autonomous
agency, for construction, management and maintenance of the ICPs to be set up
under the overall charge of the Department of Border Management was also
considered.
In 2004, the
Committee of Secretaries directed the Deptt. of Border Management, M/o Home
Affairs to set up an Inter-ministerial Working Group (IMWG) comprising
representatives of the NSCS, MEA, Ministries of Commerce, Road Transport and
Highways, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, IB, SSB and State
Governments to consider the creation of an autonomous agency to oversee the
construction, management and maintenance of the proposed ICPs.
The IMWG
recommended:
(i) To set up a statutory body namely Land Ports Authority of
India (LPAI) and to bring all the ICPs under its purview and
(ii) To set up an
Empowered Steering Committee (ESC), pending setting up of the statutory
authority, with representation from MEA,
Department of Revenue, Ministry of
Commerce, SSB, NSCS, IB and Governments of Bihar and UP in the Department of
Border Management. The Committee of Secretaries approved the approach
suggested.
On Nov 2006,
the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approved ’in principle’ the setting up
of ICPs at 13 locations and of the LPAI as a statutory body. The CCS approved
the proposals with the direction that the best elements of Public-Private
Partnership (PPP) Model may be integrated suitably and efforts made to develop the
ICPs accordingly. It also approved the setting up of an Inter-Ministerial
Empowered Steering Committee (ESC) under the Secretary (Border Management) as
an interim measure till the LPAI came into being
While
developing the project for ICPs in accordance with the CCS approval, it became
apparent that the PPP Model would not be practical or feasible at this stage.
Subsequently, the issue was considered by the Cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs (CCEA) in its meeting on November 6, 2008. The CCEA noted that the procedures
related to the PPP Model required substantial time for completion and there
might be concerns about how sovereign functions on strategically sensitive
borders may be implemented in the PPP Model.
Therefore, the CCEA approved the
construction of ICPs with government funding, while enabling/authorising the
ESC/LPAI to assign non-sovereign functions for development/management in the
private sector. 13 ICPs were approved ‘in principle’ for construction
initially. The CCEA also approved to incur expenditure amounting to Rs.635
crore, to set-up the ICPs, inclusive of Rs. 57 crore for expenditure on
acquisition of land for ICPs other than at Attari/Wagah, Raxaul, Moreh and
Petrapole whose project cost was approved, as a Plan Scheme under the 11th Five
Year Plan as given in the Table at Para 10. The ESC was also empowered to change
the inter se priority of the ICPs as also to approve project cost upto Rs.100
crores.
Land Port Authority of India:
The Land Ports
Authority of India (LPAI) has been set up as a statutory body to function as a body
corporate under the administrative control of the Department of Border
Management, Ministry of Home Affairs, to provide better administration and
cohesive management of entry points/land ports on the land borders and would be
vested with the powers on the lines of similar bodies like Airports Authority
of India. The LPAI Bill received the
assent of the President after its passage in both Houses of Parliament. The
Land Ports Authority of India Act, 2010 was notified in the Official Gazette on
1st September, 2010. The Rules under the Act have been framed and was notified
in the Official Gazette on July 7, 2011. LPAI has been established w.e.f March 3, 2012 and started functioning.
For more details, download the Land Port Authority of India Act, 2010
Commissioned ICPs:
Image
Attribute: ICP at Attari, Punjab (Near India-Pakistan Border)
commissioned on April 13, 2012
Image
Attribute: ICP at Akhaura Border, Tripura (Near Bangladesh)
commissioned
on Nov 17, 2013
Under Construction ICPs
Image Attribute: Was Scheduled To Be Commissioned in Nov 2015
Image Attribute: Work in Progress at Raxaul ICP near India - Nepal Border
Image Attribute: Work in Progress at Jogbani ICP near India - Nepal Border
Planned ICPs:
Phase 1:
- Dawki, Meghalaya
- Moreh, Manipur
Phase 2:
- Hili, West Bengal
- Changrabandha, West Bengal
- Sutarkandi, Assam
- Kawarpuchiah, Mizoram
- Sonauli, Uttar Pradesh
- Rupaidiah, Uttar Pradesh
Made with reports from Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India and Google Maps