Shah to launch highway project, hold meeting on Left-wing extremism in Odisha
Bhubaneswar (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to launch a national highway project here on Saturday, besides attending meetings on Left-wing extremism and disaster management at the state secretariat.
The home minister flew into Bhubaneswar late on Friday night, and was received at the airport by BJP state president Manmohan Samal and Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi, among others.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is also expected to attend the two back-to-back meetings at the state secretariat.
There is, however, no official confirmation about any one-to-one meeting between Shah and Patnaik.
Shah's visit to the state comes amid the BJD extending its support to the bill replacing the Delhi services ordinance in a boost to the treasury benches, especially in Rajya Sabha, and also backing the BJP-led NDA government against the no-confidence motion brought by opposition parties in Parliament.
The home minister will also visit the BJP's state office on Saturday afternoon, and hold a closed-door meeting with party leaders.
His last visit to the state on June 17 was cancelled in view of cyclone Biparjoy' hitting Gujarat.
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Assam to lift all cases against Koch Rajbongshis in Foreigners' Tribunals: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
Guwahati, Apr 4 (PTI): The Assam cabinet has decided to lift all cases pending against people from the Koch Rajbongshi community in the Foreigners' Tribunals, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.
They will also no longer carry the tag of 'D' or doubtful voters, he said.
''There are 28,000 cases pending in different Foreigners' Tribunals in the state against people of the community. The cabinet has taken a historic decision of lifting the cases with immediate effect,'' Sarma said at a press conference here after the cabinet meeting.
The government believes that the Koch Rajbongshis are an indigenous community of the state and they are an inextricable part of ''our social and cultural fabric'', he asserted.
The people of this community are poor and have suffered a lot over the years, he said.
''They will no longer carry the tag of foreigners or ‘D’ voters,'' the CM said.
Foreigners Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies, particularly in Assam, established to determine if a person residing in India is a "foreigner" as defined by the Foreigners Act of 1946, based on the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order of 1964.
These tribunals are designed to address matters related to citizenship and the presence of “foreigners” in India, specifically focusing on cases where someone is suspected of being an illegal immigrant.
There are 100 Foreigners’ Tribunals across Assam.
The Koch Rajbongshis have a sizeable presence in Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and parts of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, and they demand Scheduled Tribe status.
