Imphal: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh launched a facial recognition system (FRS) for Inner Line Permit (ILP) holders and has flagged off two camera-mounted mobile FRS vehicles citing that the FRS will facilitate a smoother entry and exit system for permit applicants/holders from the state.
The ILP system came into effect in Manipur from January 1, 2020, making it the fourth state after Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram where the ILP regime is applicable. In states that come under the ILP regime, outsiders including people from other states of the country need permission to visit them. Since the introduction of the ILP system in Manipur, around 3,52,311 ILPs, including 3,17,715 temporary, 33,015 regular, and 1,581 labour ILPs have been issued till December last year.
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Speaking to media persons at the launch event, Biren Singh said “the newly launched system will help in effective checking of ILP holders whose validity has expired at the ILP counters. The system has been implemented on a trial basis for some time now,” adding that even during the trial period, the system had managed to identify defaulters in the ILP system.
Biren said the FRS system has been installed at various places including the Imphal Airport, Jiribam, and efforts are on to install at other places including Khongsang Railway Station at Khongsang and Moreh too. “On top of this, the two mobile vehicles will be stationed at different locations in Imphal East and West districts to identify ILP defaulters,” he said.
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In a social media post, CM Biren Singh posted photos of the unveiling of the latest facial recognition technology, along with a caption saying “Delighted to launch the Facial Recognition System (FRS) at the airport and Camera mounted Mobile Monitoring Vehicles today from my secretariat. With the assistance of technologies such as FRS and Camera mounted Mobile Monitoring Vehicles, our security network and the ILP system will be further strengthened to detect illegal immigrants. The state government will continue to give utmost priority to the protection of Manipur and all of its indigenous people.”
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