Discussion on Border Areas of Punjab

General Outline

1. A discussion on the Border Areas of Punjab, “Basic Conditions and Demography” was organised by the Centre for Socio-Cultural Studies (CSCS), Punjab on 21, June, 2019, at the ICSSR Complex, Panjab University, Chandigarh.
2. Prominent personalities in the domain of Defence Services, Police Services, Academicians, Journalists and Lawyers were invited to participate in the discussion and kindly spared their valuable time for the same. Many of the participants had served in the border areas or belonged to them. Lt Gen (Retired) JS Cheema, who has commanded an Army Corps in the Punjab Border Areas and is also a son-of-the-soil kindly consented to join the discussion and gave some very valuable inputs.

Opening Narrative

3. Col (Retired) Jaibans Singh, on behalf of team CSCS, welcomed the participants in the discussions and highlighted the agenda.
4. The state of Punjab has approximately 553 kms International Border (IB) with Pakistan, comprising the districts of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tara Taran and Firozepur. These districts have a population ranging more than 6 million with a rural/urban divide standing at approximately 70/30 percent, about 20 percent of these constitutes the border belt which is predominantly rural in nature and remained central to the discussion.
5. Most Indian areas bordering Pakistan survive in a hostile environment and the Punjab border belt is no different. It is, in fact, more vulnerable because of propagandist interventions by Pakistan that led to a decade long, debilitating terrorism and other issues of drug trafficking, illegal trade of arms and crime. There is a larger than normal deployment of security personnel in the area that comes with a different set of issues.
6. It was proposed to hold the discussion in an open format with all participants giving their views freely. The overall framework was identified as follows:-

• Agriculture has reached at saturation point.
• The social sectors, education and health, are suffering from serious deficiencies.
• Majority border areas of Punjab are well developed, yet, they are suffering from acute discontent, both economic as well as social.

Points Highlighted

7. The border areas of Punjab have well developed infrastructure and connectivity, especially when seen in relation to that available in Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. Within Punjab, the border areas of Ferozepur are less developed in comparison to Amritsar and Gurdaspur. The effort of the government to develop roads and bridges in these areas is augmented by the Indian Army as an operational necessity.
8. 8. What is lacking, however, is a robust education structure, health structure, skill development and well balanced irrigation network. These deficiencies are impinging on the socio-economic development of the region. There are village on the border, more so in the Ferozepur district where even drinking water has too much arsenic, not to speak of lack of proper sewerage etc.
9. Routine problems include:-

• Sanitation is at a significantly low level with the percentages of households having latrines being considerably less than the national average, despite the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan.
• Paucity of teachers and their absenteeism is a common characteristic.
• High dropout rate among school children and high crime rate among adults.
• Lack of interest in pursuing higher education.

10. Of great potential in build-up of infrastructure is the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) being run by the Ministry of Home Affairs, mainly through the BSF. The programme aims to meet the special development needs of border areas with provision of essential infrastructure through convergence of Central/State/BADP/Local schemes and participatory approach. BADP received an outlay of Rs. 19.60 Cr for Punjab for the financial year 2018-19. It is a significant resource that needs to be tapped to its full prospective, especially in areas of education and skill development.
11. The menace of drugs was discussed in detail. It was identified as a residual of terrorism whose containment and eradication would require a multi-pronged approach. The main thrust would have to be towards:-

• Gainful employment of the youth
• Keeping students preoccupied in activities like sports and culture
• Removal of social stigma attached with drugs that impinges on timely treatment for those addicted.
• Creation of a Multi-agency approach involving the Border troops, Police, Narcotics Squads etc. in the anti-drug networks
• Optimum use of media, especially social media to create awareness and positive management.

12. Lt. Gen. JS Cheema, mentioned here that the army does carry out sports events and other activities in border areas as also provides special training and coaching to the youth for recruitment. These efforts need to be coordinated with the govt and other agencies. Also, development in the areas has received a boost by the forward deployment of Army as exemplified by the Tibri Cantonment near Gurdaspur and the Khasa Cantonment in Amritsar. This concept merits further development.
13. There was unanimous agreement that all effort should be directed towards ensuring that the border population stays in its home instead of migrating due to better prospects. To this end there is a necessity to take industry to the doorstep of the border people. The feasibility for such a move emerges from the following:-

• Change in the industrial investor mindset of border areas being dangerous. In modern warfare the inner areas are more dangerous than the borders.
• People are more vulnerable not industries, hence, if people are available then why should industries not be set up?
• Incentive should come from the government for opening such small scale industries in border areas that feed the larger industries established more into the hinterland.

14. The defence industry was identified s a sector that can give good leverage since moving it closer to the border would greatly reduce the logistics of moving and maintaining weapon systems.
15. It was noted that the government has identified Nodal Points for industry in the border belt but has failed in development of the infrastructure. As a result, it is not the Nodal Points but areas under private builders that have come up as commercial hubs, leading to unplanned haphazard development.
16. A very significant point raised by Lt. Gen. JS Cheema was institution of military tourism along the border areas that are repository to great battles and c stories of individual courage. It would involve:-

• Creation of a circuit and a package.
• Visit to sites of great battles and memorials where the event is relived through light and sound shows etc.
• Interaction with the locals.

Conclusion

17. In conclusion the following points were highlighted:-

• Need to create sensitivity to what the nation owes to the people of the border areas and how the debt can be repaid.
• Need to look beyond the government and see what the society can do in support of fellow citizens suffering the vagaries of life on the border.
• Understand that prosperity and settled population along the borders has a salutary effect on the morale of the Armed Forces that would be called upon to fight there.

18. A moot point that should guide all discussion on border areas is – why are the people there getting consistently allured by Pakistan? Earlier it was smuggling of weapons, now it is drugs. The nation needs to address these challenges.
19. It was felt that the scale of issues and challenges being faced by Border Areas cannot be covered in a single discussion. CSCS will organise a series of discussions wherein each of the points discussed will be focussed upon individually.