Itanagar, July 18 (IANS) To further strengthen internal security, the Arunachal Pradesh government on Friday decided to raise another Arunachal Armed Police Battalion (AAPBN), officials said.

An official of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said that the state cabinet has approved the raising of another AAPBN to enhance internal security strength in the state.

The cabinet meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Pema Khandu.

The official said that the new AAPBN would be the India Reserve (IR) battalion and that it can be deployed in any state of the country, if the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) so requires.

The official said that Arunachal Pradesh currently has seven AAPBN, including five IR battalions.

“The addition of a new battalion would significantly strengthen policing capacity, improve public safety, maintain law and order, and reduce dependency on Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). This would also generate employment opportunities to eligible local youths from the state,” he said.

The state cabinet also approved a series of significant decisions aimed at strengthening technical education, child protection, and administrative efficiency in the state.

To boost technical education, the cabinet approved the creation of 34 teaching and non-teaching posts for the government engineering college, Toru in Papum Pare district.

The cabinet also approved the adoption of Model Guidelines for Support Persons under Section 39 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, with necessary state-specific modifications.

The revised guidelines provide for one support person per ten cases to assist child victims during pre-trial and trial stages, while detailing the qualifications, selection process, duties, and responsibilities of such personnel, the CMO official said.

The cabinet approved the creation of three Deputy Director (Prosecution) posts, ten Assistant Director (Prosecution) posts, and 18 posts of clerical staff in the Directorate of Prosecution.

The currently serving Additional Public Prosecutors would be re-designated as Deputy Directors.

The Cabinet also approved the revision of the salary structure of Public Prosecutor, Additional Public Prosecutor, and Assistant Public Prosecutor posts to maintain pay parity in line with government norms.

Additionally, in order to enhance civil aviation activities in the state, the Cabinet approved the creation of 10 posts under the Directorate of Civil Aviation. All these cabinet decisions reflect the state government’s continued commitment to strengthening public service delivery, governance infrastructure, employment generation and citizen welfare, the official said.

–IANS

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