Taking the first important step towards a complete overhaul of the check-posts along India’s international border, the Government on Thursday approved the introduction of a Bill in Parliament seeking to establish a Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) that will create and manage modern entry and exit points on the country’s land borders.

The LPAI, which will be established once the Bill becomes law, will have the mandate to construct, manage and maintain state-of-the-art Integrated Check-Posts (ICPs) along the border for regulation of trade and transit.

As of now, India’s border check-posts are in an extremely shabby state with substandard physical infrastructure and inefficient manpower resources. The agencies manning these check-posts are often found to be working at cross-purposes and there is a complete lack of coordination.

By setting up the LPAI, the Government is trying to bring together all the regulatory agencies working on the border like immigration, customs, border security under a single ICP complex which will also be equipped with modern support facilities like banking, parking and warehousing that will make the transit through land borders a vastly improved experience. The ICPs will also house hotels and restaurants, waiting halls, public conveniences, cargo and baggage examination halls and health facilities.

The LPAI is conceived to be an autonomous agency functioning under the Department of Border Management of the Home Ministry. It will have the powers to notify any entry or exit point along the land border as an ICP and equip it with all the facilities necessary for its smooth functioning.

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