India to fench remaining portion of border

NEW DELHI, Jan 22: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today said his government has decided to fence the remaining portion of the Indo-Bangladesh border in the north-east and construct border roads at an estimated cost of Rs 1,335 crore, reports BSS.

Work on this project will begin in April this year, the Prime Minister said at a rally in Shillong, according to the text of the Prime Minister's speech released here.

Vajpayee announced a Rs 10,271 crore central "agenda" for socio-economic development of the north-eastern region of India at a two-day conference of the governors and chief ministers of the region in Shillong.

He said his government would sanction three Indian reserve battalions (IRBS) one each for Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur which, he added, was likely to cost Rs 15 crore for three years.

The Prime Minister said in view of the peaceful atmosphere in Mizoram, his government has allocated Rs 180 crore to cover its financial crisis.

In banking sector, he said, Rs 500 crore would be given for rural infrastructure development fund (RIDF). Banking facilities would be provided at all border trading points.