Aizawl, Jan 9 Over 22,500 Inner Line Permits (ILPs) have been issued from the Sairang railway station office of the Mizoram government to different categories of visitors since the inauguration of the Bairabi-Sairang new railway line by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 13 last year, officials said on Friday.
An ILP is an official travel document issued to Indian citizens and non-indigenous persons for entry into protected areas of the Northeast region, including Mizoram.
An official of the Mizoram Home Department said that over 22,500 ILPs were issued from the official counter at Sairang railway station to tourists, professionals, traders, migrant workers and others from different states between September 13, 2025, and January 8 this year.
The Home Department had set up the ILP counter at Sairang railway station after the Prime Minister inaugurated the 51.38-km-long Bairabi (near southern Assam)–Sairang (near Aizawl) rail section on September 13.
On the same day, the Prime Minister also flagged off the Rajdhani Express connecting Aizawl with New Delhi, along with two other trains linking Aizawl with Kolkata and Guwahati. On an average, about 400 fresh ILPs are issued daily, as normally two passenger trains arrive at the Sairang railway station every day.
Most visitors come from Delhi, West Bengal and southern states, with the highest number from neighbouring Assam and other Northeastern states, the official said.
However, the official pointed out that an acute manpower shortage in the Government Railway Police (GRP) and ILP counter poses a major challenge in maintaining law and order, issuing ILPs and verifying permits.
The ILP system, aimed at protecting the identity and existence of indigenous people, is currently in force in Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur. Many organisations have been demanding to introduce the ILP in Meghalaya and Tripura.
The ILP regime operates under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, notified by the British government in 1875, which allows Indian citizens to visit ILP-enforced states and areas for a limited period and for specific purposes.
For visiting Mizoram, ILPs can be obtained from Mizoram government counters at Lengpui Airport (Aizawl), Shillong, Guwahati, Silchar, Kolkata and New Delhi.
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