Singh: Fast forward

Guwahati, April 8: Assam Governor Lt Gen (retd) Ajai Singh has decided to move the Centre to strengthen security in the border areas along Bangladesh by expediting work on the fence and installing floodlights.

Sources at the Raj Bhavan said, barring last-minute changes, the governor would call on defence minister A.K. Antony tomorrow and ask him to ensure that the fencing was completed soon.

Singh’s decision to raise the border issue comes after the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and the Opposition parties launched a scathing attack on Dispur for its failure to complete the fencing work despite the March 31 deadline.

The Opposition said Dispur was not making enough efforts to convince the Centre of permanent fencing, the lack of which encourages influx of migrants and fundamentalist forces.

The governor will also meet the railway minister and ask him to help expedite the gauge conversion work in trouble-torn North Cachar Hills district and also expand the stretch to Bairabi near Mizoram.

The project has been virtually held to ransom by the Jewel Gorlosa faction of the Dima Haolam Daogah (DHD) group.

“Intervention by the railway minister will be of great help in boosting morale,” the source said.

Sources in the chief minister’s office said the Assam chief secretary, P.C. Sharma, is also in Delhi for meetings with defence, home and officials in the Prime Minister’s Office from April 9 to 11.

The meeting with the home secretary on Thursday will be on the security situation of the state, while that with the PMO will be on time-bound completion of national projects in North Cachar Hills.