No Detention Centre to Come Up Anywhere in Maharashtra, Says State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh

Mumbai: No detention centre is coming up in Maharashtra in connection with the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed NRC, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh told the legislative council on Thursday.

Deshmukh gave this information in a written reply in response to a question by Sharad Ranpise of Congress.

"No detention centre is coming up anywhere in the state in connection with rolling out of the CAA and NRC," he told the upper house.

However, in the past the Union home ministry asked the state government to set up a temporary facility to house foreign nationals awaiting deportation, he said.

The Union home ministry directed the state, in a letter dated September 10, 2014, and a manual dated January 9, 2019, to set up a temporary detention centre for foreign nationals who have completed their jail terms here and were waiting for deportation, Deshmukh said.

Those foreign nationals who have served their jail sentences after conviction will be kept in such a detention centre until their nationality is proved and they are deported," the NCP minister said.

There are directives for constructing a temporary detention centre at Nerul in Navi Mumbai. The government has also requested the CIDCO (a state-run city planning agency) to allot three acres of land for setting up a permanent infrastructure for the same, Deshmukh said.

All three ruling coalition allies -- the Shiv Sena, the Congress, and the NCP -- have opposed the proposed NRC (National Register of Citizens), an exercise that seeks to create a record of bonafide Indian citizens and identify illegal migrants.

However, last month the government told Parliament it has not taken any decision on preparing a nationwide NRC.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has already said his government will not allow the NRC to be implemented as it would "impact people of all religions".

But Thackeray, who is also the Shiv Sena president, has supported the CAA, which seeks to fast-track Indian citizenship for non-Muslim refugees who have fled Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan because of religious persecution.

However, his allies Congress and the NCP have opposed the amended citizenship law, calling it discriminatory and violative of the Constitution.

The CAA and NRC measures, along with the NPR (National Population Register), are facing opposition from various quarters, including some political parties.