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Inner Line Permit: ILP Full Form, ILP States, ILP Manipur

By BYJU'S Exam Prep

Updated on: November 14th, 2023

Inner Line Permit or ILP is an official travel document required for non-residents of a state to visit or stay there. In simple words, the inner line permit allows non-residents or non-natives to enter a state. Four states in the North-Eastern belt have an inner line permit. They are Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Lakshadweep. In addition, the inner line permit is required to enter the islands of Lakshadweep.

This inner line permit determines the duration of staying in a particular state and the areas allowed for access. Learn more about Inner Line Permit in different states of India.

What is an Inner Line Permit?

The colonial rulers initiated the ILP or Inner Line Permit during the British era. The ILP acts as a line that was used to divide the tribal populated hilly areas in the North East region of India from the great plains.

  • The inner line permit is permission granted to the non-resident Indian citizens to enter and stay in any of the states having the concept of ILP for a while.
  • The main purpose of introducing the Inner Line Permit concept is to restrict the entry of outsiders within the protected states and their settlements to protect the tribal population of that area.

Download Inner Line Permit Notes PDF

Latest Updates on Inner Line Permit

The inner line permit has been in the news recently. The home minister highlighted the need and significance of the inner line permit system in Manipur along with the inauguration of many other development projects there. Some of these projects include the Thoubal multipurpose project, a Thoubal dam integrated command and control centre at Imphal, etc.

About 48 crore rupees were released by the planning commission of India in 1980. A scheme was launched for it in 2004 which remained in the pipeline for the next 10 years. The Thoubal Dam is located on the river Thoubal.

History of Inner Line Permit

The Inner Line Permit system was implemented under the British Frontier regulation. It is a legal and official document that allows the entry and exit of the non-residents of some particular states who are provided with the privilege of having the inner line permit system.

  • The inner line permit can be considered a hypothetical line that was created to divide two specific communities so that none of them can move to and fro among the respective States without special permission from the authorities.
  • Under section 2 of regulation 1873, the inner line permit initially was applied to Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram. Later in 2020, Manipur was also added to it.
  • This inner line permit is a special obligation that is a mandate for outsiders from other countries. The inner line permit is issued by the state government of the concerned state and is specifically for travel purposes only.

Inner Line Permit for Foreigners

The inner line permit for the foreign tourist is called the protected area permit, which is different from the inner line permit for domestic tourists. According to the Foreigners(Protected Areas) Order 1958, all the land that comes within the inner line of a particular state, especially the North-East state, is declared a protected area and requires a Protected Area Permit to enter.

  • A foreign tourist is generally not permitted to enter such protected areas unless the state government and local police authorities are satisfied with the extraordinary reasons to justify their visit to this state.

Importance of Inner Line Permit

The concept of application of inner line permit to certain States is very important because of the following reasons:

  • First, to protect the particular culture and Indigenous tradition of an area.
  • To restrict the entry of illegal immigrants to the states with the inner line permit.
  • The inner line permit is important to safeguard the demographic dividend of the tribal population in the North-Eastern region.

The inner line permit is of great significance for the protected states in the North-Eastern region as it is the only way possible that helps to control the influx in these states. The influx in the states is considered a threat to the existing tribal community in such states. Also, the indigenous tribes that have their domestic setting in The Hills would be regularly disturbed by the interference of outsiders which may eventually lead to vanishing their existence or culture.

The inner line permit along with saving the demography of North East States also helps to conserve the specific cultures of the tribes residing in the particular area. The constitution of India gives the right to travel to all the citizens of the country but the states having special permission required need to be presented with the required documents for the inner line permit process.

Inner Line Permit State

The inner line permit of any state is issued by the respective State Government and is issued for travel purposes only. The following states require an Inner Line Permit.

  1. Arunachal Pradesh
  2. Nagaland
  3. Mizoram
  4. Manipur

Apart from the territorial States, Lakshadweep Island also has the concept of an inner line permit. In addition, some states like Meghalaya Assam and Andaman and Nicobar Islands also demanded the inner line permit for their respective states and Islands.

An interesting part of learning about the inner line permit is that at first, it was also applicable in some districts of Ladakh, but in May 2014, it was abolished; however, foreign nationals still require a permit to visit the protected areas.

Applicability of Inner Line Permit

The inner line permit applies to the four states. The details of all the four states having a line permit are given below-

  • Inner Line Permit Manipur: In the region of Manipur, the inner line permit is required for domestic tourists. Similarly, the foreign tourist requires special permission, called a ‘Protected Area Permit’ to enter the state of Manipur.
  • ILP Mizoram: Inner line permit is required for domestic tourists to enter the state boundary of Mizoram. The foreigners must get the PAP and register themselves with the local SP for identification.
  • ILP Nagaland: Inner line permit is required to enter the state boundary of Nagaland for domestic travellers. The foreigners need to get a PAP and register themselves with local police officers. It should be noted that Dimapur is a commercial hub and the only district in Nagaland state exempted from the Regime of an inner line permit.
  • Arunachal Pradesh: Arunachal Pradesh is considered a special state concerning ILP; thus, it requires a protected or restricted area permit from the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India.

Inner Line Permit Manipur- Merger of Manipur

  • Before Independence, most of the rulers of the states agreed to become part of the Union of India and signed the instrument of accession.
  • During that period, Manipur was ruled by Maharaja Bodhachandra Singh, who signed this instrument of accession, taking responsibility for maintaining the internal autonomy of Manipur.
  • Later, under pressure created by the public, Maharaja had to hold the elections in Manipur, and finally, after the results, Manipur became a constitutional monarchy.
  • Later in 1949, the Government of India started pressurizing Maharaja to sign a merger agreement without consulting the Legislative Assembly of Manipur. In January 1972, Manipur became a full-fledged state under the North Eastern region Act of 1971 along with Meghalaya and Tripura.
  • Finally, the political map of India transformed the sub-state of Meghalaya and the union territories of Manipur and Tripura.

Inner Line Permit UPSC

Inner line permit UPSC topic belongs to the current affairs Syllabus of UPSC along with having a slide touch of Indian Polity in it, therefore, it becomes doubly important to learn this topic from UPSC Prelims point of view. The inner line permit is an important topic to learn for which you need to have your current affair base strong. You can practice searching current affairs topics from the previous year’s UPSC question papers and also download the UPSC study material and current affairs notes for it. Also, you can download the UPSC syllabus for convenience.

Download Inner Line Permit UPSC Notes PDF

Inner Line Permit UPSC Question

Question – Name the states that have the concept of the Inner Line Permit Concept?

  1. West Bengal, Manipur, Mizoram
  2. Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland,
  3. Arunachal Pradesh, Leh- Ladakh, Assam
  4. None of the Above

Choose the correct option from the given below-

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. 2 and 3 only
  4. None of the above

Answer – Option B

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