Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Inner Line Permit
Mains level: Special schemes for NE states
Union Home Minister has said that Inner-Line Permit (ILP) had been the Centre’s biggest gift to Manipur since its statehood.
Note the states where ILP is required.
The Inner Line
- A concept drawn by colonial rulers, the Inner Line separated the tribal-populated hill areas in the Northeast from the plains.
- To enter and stay for any period in these areas, Indian citizens from other areas need an Inner Line Permit (ILP).
- Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram are protected by the Inner Line, and lately, Manipur was added (in December last year).
- The concept originates from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act (BEFR), 1873.
Its’ Inception
- The policy of exclusion first came about as a response to the reckless expansion of British entrepreneurs into new lands which threatened British political relations with the hill tribes.
- The BEFR prohibits an outsider’s — “British subject or foreign citizen” — entry into the are beyond the Inner Line without a pass and his purchase of land there.
- On the other hand, the Inner Line also protects the commercial interests of the British from the tribal communities.
- After Independence, the Indian government replaced “British subjects” with “Citizen of India”.
- Today, the main aim of the ILP system is to prevent settlement of other Indian nationals in the States where the ILP regime is prevalent, in order to protect the indigenous/tribal population.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
