Saturday, April 1 2006 12:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Guwahati: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (Apr 1,2006) made it clear that Government will show no mercy on the issue of illegal infiltration but ensure that genuine citizens were not harassed in the name of detection of foreigners.

"I want to assure the people of Assam that we will show no mercy on the issue of illegal infiltration. At the same time all genuine citizens of the state have my assurance that in the name of detection of foreigners they are not harassed," Singh, who is on a two-day election tour of Assam, told a press conference here.

The Prime Minister said that the Government was firmly against all illegal infiltration.

"We will take all positive steps to prevent illegal infiltration," he said.

Singh said the Government has strengthened border fencing and the preparation of the National Register of Citizens was going according to the schedule.

Asked whether the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) recommendation on amending the Foreigners Act superseded the Supreme Court verdict repealing Illegal Migrants Determination by Tribunal Act (IMDT), the Prime Minister said the apex Court's judgement 'is final'.

However, Singh said, it was the government's duty to ensure that the repeal of the IMDT Act does not cause any harassment of genuine citizens in the detection process.

The Government had in February dropped the idea of bringing a new law in place of the scrapped IMDT Act but decided to amend the Foreigners Act to ensure fair hearing to a person before declaring him a foreigner.