Home Ministry designates Kollam port as Immigration Check Post
The Hindu
The Union government has designated the Kollam port in Kerala as an authorised Immigration Check Post for entry and exit from India with valid travel documents for all classes of passengers
The Union government has designated the Kollam port in Kerala as an authorised Immigration Check Post (ICP) for entry and exit from India with valid travel documents for all classes of passengers, an order by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said.
The MHA notification was issued under Rule 3 (b) of the Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-clause (2) of Clause 2 of the Foreigners Order 1948, the Central Government hereby appoints Foreigners Regional Registration Officer, Trivandrum as the ‘Civil Authority’ for the purposes of the said Order for the Immigration Check Post located at Kollam Seaport in the State of Kerala with effect from 18 June, 2024,” he notification said.
The issue was raised several times in the last Lok Sabha by Kollam Member of Parliament N.K. Premachandran.
The MHA had earlier informed a parliamentary panel that India has 31 authorised seaport ICPs and out of those 10 are under the direct control and management of the Bureau of Immigration, MHA. The remaining ICPs are controlled by State police agencies.
More than 2.6 lakh village and ward volunteers in Andhra Pradesh, once celebrated as the government’s grassroots champions for their crucial role in implementing welfare schemes, are now in a dilemma after learning that their tenure has not been renewed after August 2023 even though they have been paid honoraria till June 2024. Disowned by both YSRCP, which was in power when they were appointed, and the current ruling TDP, which made a poll promise to double their pay, these former volunteers are ruing the day they signed up for the role which they don’t know if even still exists