Why in News?

• The government has declared in Lok Sabha that Manipur would be brought under the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system in order to exempt it from the provisions of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

About:

• Recently Citizenship amendment bill, 2019 has been passed by the lok sabha and has been tabled in Rajya Sabha for clearance.
• As per the governments assurance to allay fears of north Eastern state people due to the above bill, government is insulating north eastern states from the citizenship bill through adding them under the ambit of Inner line Permit.
• It has to be noted that areas under inner line permit, areas under sixth schedule(i.e. tribal areas of Assam and Tripura), and whole of Meghalaya are exempted from the ambit of citizenship bill already. Currently, the Inner Line Permit is operational in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland.
• So the remaining areas such as Manipur and Dimapur area of Nagaland are included in the “Inner line permit ambit” now.

Areas that are exempted from Citizenship Amendment Bill:

• Except non tribal areas of Assam and Tripura, the entire North-east has been exempted from the Citizenship bill.
• This means that the illegal migrants from the six minority communities who will become Indian citizens as per the proposed amendment will not be able to take up jobs, open businesses or settle down in these areas and will require a permit to enter the States.
• Also the resident of other Indian states also require ILP to enter these areas.

About Inner Line Permit:

• The Inner Line Permit (ILP) is an official travel document issued by the Government of India to grant inward travel of an Indian citizen into a protected area for a limited period.
• It  is  obligatory  for  Indians  residing  outside  those  states  to  obtain  permission  prior  to entering the protected areas.
• The main objective of the ILP system is to provide a special protection of the distinct identity and safeguard for the peaceful existence of the indigenous people of the state
• Currently, the Inner Line Permit is operational in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland.
• The document has been issued under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873and the conditions and restrictions vary from state to state.
• It can be issued for travel purposes solely. Visitors are not allowed to purchase property in these regions. However, there might be a different set of rules for long term visitors, though they are not valid for central government employees and security forces.