Imphal, October 10 2009: Incidents of miscreants looting passengers, resorting to intimidatory tactics to extort money, harassing transport operators as well as many other undesired activities along the Imphal-dimapur route could be curbed to a great extent as Union Home Ministry officials have indicated that the national Highway-39 Patrolling Scheme would be executed in a month's time.

According to an informed source, top State Government officials who were at a high level meeting specifically held at Guwahati yesterday to deliberate on important issues concerning the North East region, were intimated by Union Home Ministry officials that the much-awaited scheme in all probability would come into force within a month.

The high level meeting was held under the chairmanship of Navin Verma, who is the Joint Secretary of the Union Home Ministry's North East, and was attended by Home secretaries, DGPs and IGP ranked officials of North Eastern States.

Commissioner (Home) V Vumlumang and IG (Intelligence) LM Khoute represented Manipur at the meeting.

It is informed that the official duo proposed a detailed project report for earliest implementation of the national Highway Patrolling Scheme that consequently evoked positive response from the Central Government representatives on the urgent need to begin the exercise.

It is worth mentioning that when the Union Home Secretary GK Pillai was in Senapati district headquarters some months back to attend a development seminar, the Secretary had recommended the scheme, implementation of which could greatly minimise insecure feeling of both travellers and transport operators along this vital route.

At the Guwahati session, the State officials also reportedly conveyed strong annoyance of the Manipur Government with regard to stationing of personnel of the Nagaland Armed Police at Jessami in Ukhrul district apart from cautioning that inaction on the issue from the Central Government would aggravate the situation at the inter-state border village.

The source also informed of the Union Ministry officials clarifying that the Central Government was neither consulted nor had it approved posting of NAP personnel in place of the BSF unit that previously occupied the Jessami post.

The Guwahati session focused on overall prevailing security scenario in the region and on measures pertaining to police modernisation programme.

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