Itanagar, March 8 The government of Arunachal Pradesh has restricted the operation of weekly markets in the Itanagar Capital Region (ICR) and the Papum Pare district to Saturdays only, according to an official order.
The move aims to prevent the entry of unauthorized immigrants and curb revenue leakage, it stated.
An order issued by the Commissioner of the Home department, Saugat Biswas, on Saturday stated that the decision follows a high-level meeting chaired by the state's Home minister to address concerns raised by various organizations, including the Arunachal Pradesh Indigenous Youth Organization and the All Naharlagun Youth Organization.
"It has been reported that weekly markets are currently being conducted on multiple days of the week, resulting in frequent participation of non-local vendors and increasing the possibility of unauthorized immigrants entering the state, apart from causing significant revenue loss to the state government," the order noted.
While Saturday has been fixed for the ICR and Papum Pare, the state government has authorized the deputy commissioners of all other districts to designate any one specific day of the week for market operations in their respective jurisdictions.
The order further emphasized that the conduct of the weekly markets will be strictly limited to once a week. Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police (SPs) across the state have been directed to ensure immediate implementation of the directive and submit an action-taken report to the Home department.
This move comes after representations from indigenous youth bodies who had expressed security concerns over the unregulated proliferation of weekly markets across the state.