Rs1,011 cr project to upgrade immigration services

With India emerging as a major tourist destination and also facing terror threats, Government has decided to go in for a fool-proof system to identify and track the movement of foreigners in the country.
   
A Rs 1,011 crore project to modernise and upgrade the entire range of immigration services would be implemented over the next four-and-a-half years by the Union Home Ministry.

A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved a mission mode project titled 'Immigration, Visa and Foreigners' Registration and Tracking' (IVFRT), an official spokesperson said.
   
Its core objective would be to develop and implement am secure and integrated service delivery framework that would facilitate legitimate travellers while strengthening security, she said, adding that IVFRT would use biometric systems and
intelligent document scanners to authenticate the identities.

The first phase of the project would be implemented in Dhaka, London, four Immigration Check Posts (ICPs) at placesincluding Delhi and Mumbai, Kolkata, and three Foreigners Regional Registration Office at these three metros.

The second phase would cover all other missions abroad and places in India, the spokesperson said.
   
Of the total cost, Rs 132 crore would be spent during the first phase till June 2011 and the remaining Rs879 crore in the second phase up to September 2014.

The spokesperson said the project was evolved after studying similar integrated immigration systems functioning in the US, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany.