A special secretary from the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA), Anil Goswami, met officials of the Gujarat’s home department in connection with the Centre’s plan to take over the immigration desk at Ahmedabad airport.
A special secretary from the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA), Anil Goswami, met officials of the Gujarat’s home department in connection with the Centre’s plan to take over the immigration desk at Ahmedabad airport. Goswami, who arrived in Ahmedabad on Thursday, also met city police commissioner SK Saikia to chalk out a plan to transfer immigration-related work at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international airport to the Bureau of Immigration.
The bureau is taking over all the major international airports in the country. The immigration desk at the city airport, which is currently looked after by the local police under the Special Branch, was to be taken over by the bureau by the end of December 2011. However, the takeover is likely to be delayed.
Sources said it is expected that by the end of February 2012, officials of the Bureau of Immigration drawn from the central Intelligence Bureau (IB) will have taken charge of the immigration desk at the city airport. After meeting several officials, Goswami visited the historic site of Lothal in Dholka before leaving the city on Friday.
Highly-placed officials said immigration-related work at the airport had seen a sharp rise because of the increase in the number of international fliers and aircraft. In view of the rising number of international passengers and international charter flights, immigration-related work at the airport has also increased manifold.
The airport has also become a transit point for international non-scheduled flights as the number of such flights has increased by 55% over the years.
State government officials, including additional chief secretary (home) Varesh Sinha, confirmed that Goswami was in the city. He said that Goswami had met Saikia to chalk out a plan for the takeover. The Ahmedabad police commissioner, however, was not available for comments due to personal reasons.
Sources said that the bureau is likely to take over immigration work at the city airport by the end of February next year. The immigration desk at the city airport, which is currently manned by the local police, lacks several facilities and is also suffering from staff shortage. Moreover, the local authorities are finding it difficult to find well-educated and trained staff for the work. This year alone there have been several cases of illegal migration in which the role of some officials was suspect. These officials were later transferred.
"The takeover should change the manner in which immigration work is being done these days. However, even the Bureau of Immigration doesn't have enough staff. Therefore, even after the takeover, the local police will still be there. But we can say that it will bring professionalism to the immigration desk," said a senior airport official.
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