The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) will be revoked from all parts of Meghalaya and it has been reduced from 16 to eight police station and outpost areas bordering Assam, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a released statement.

It stated that there was a 37 per cent decline in the number of insurgency incidents in 2017 in the Northeast region. It also said there was a 30 per cent decrease in security forces casualties and 23 per cent reduction in civilian deaths since 2017.

In order to provide connectivity to remote areas, the MHA release said that helicopter services have been extended to Assam.

The MHA further stated that sustained counter-insurgency incidents against the National Democratic Front of Boroloand (Songbijit) (NDFB-S) have resulted in 63 cadres being neutralised and the arrest of over 1,000 of them. This is in addition to the recovery of huge cache or arms and ammunition between December 2014 and March 2018.

To improve security in the region, the government has sanctioned 10 Indian Reserve Battalions in March this year – two each for Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura.

The MHA will reimburse 75 per cent of standard cost of raisin and half the cost of infrastructure development for these new battalions.(Agencies)