The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that it does not maintain a centralised data on the total number of detention centres in the country, as powers have been delegated to the State governments “to make necessary arrangements for detention centres/camps as per their requirement.”
Replying to a question by CPI’s Binoy Viswam on the total number of Foreigner Tribunals (FTs) currently operating in the country, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said in a written reply that 100 FTs were operating in Assam.
“The total number of cases pending in these FTs as on December 31 is 1,23,829. The total number of people declared as foreigners is 1,43,466. The total number of people declared as Indians is 1,21,598. A total of 329 persons have been deported to their countries of origin as on February 1,” the reply stated.
Unique to Assam
FTs are quasi judicial bodies, unique to Assam. According to the State’s Home Department, there were initially 11 Illegal Migrant Determination Tribunals (IMDT). These were converted to tribunals after the Supreme Court scrapped the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983 in 2005.
The reply added that State governments were delegated the powers and functions to make necessary arrangements for detention centres or camps as per their requirement and according to er Model Detention Centre/Holding centre/Camp Manual 2019. “No data in respect of such centres/camps is maintained centrally,” the reply stated.
The MHA since allocated a total of ₹69 crores for functioning of Foreigners Tribunals in the Financial Years 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22.
