Itanagar: The Arunachal Pradesh government has restricted the operation of weekly markets in the Itanagar Capital Region (ICR) and Papum Pare district to Saturdays only, citing concerns over unauthorised immigration and revenue losses.
The directive was issued by Home Commissioner Saugat Biswas following a high-level meeting chaired by the state’s Home Minister to review concerns raised by several organisations, including the Arunachal Pradesh Indigenous Youth Organisation and the All Naharlagun Youth Organisation.
According to the official order, the decision was taken after reports indicated that weekly markets were being held on multiple days across the week, leading to the frequent participation of non-local vendors and increasing the risk of unauthorised immigrants entering the state.
“It has been reported that weekly markets are presently being conducted on multiple days of the week, resulting in frequent participation of non-local vendors and increasing the possibility of entry of unauthorised immigrants, apart from causing major revenue loss to the state government,” the order stated.
To streamline the system, the government has fixed Saturday as the designated day for weekly markets in the ICR and Papum Pare district.
For the rest of the state, deputy commissioners of individual districts have been authorised to designate one specific day of the week for the conduct of weekly markets within their respective jurisdictions.
The order also emphasised that weekly markets will be strictly limited to once a week.
Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police (SPs) across the state have been directed to ensure immediate implementation of the directive and to submit an action-taken report to the Home Department.
The move follows representations from indigenous youth organisations, which had raised security concerns over the unregulated proliferation of weekly markets in several parts of the state.