Photo credit: The Economic Times
After reports of mass detentions of Bengali-speaking migrants in other states, Bengal Police has witnessed a rapid increase in online Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) applications.
The Times of India reports that there has been a mass detention of Bengali-speaking migrants in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi, and UP. Cops in those states have refused to accept Aadhaar, EPIC, and in some cases even birth certificates as valid citizenship proofs. PCCs have become the saving grace of workers. If they don’t have it, they’ll be thrown into detention camps on suspicion of being Bangladeshis.
About 700 Bengali migrants in Odisha and Haryana have been freed after their PCCs reached the hands of the respective state police. However, about 20 individuals are still in detention, according to an officer.
The police said between 14,000 and 15,000 people in six districts with the highest outbound migration. The districts are Malda, Murshidabad, South and North Dinajpur, and Birbhum. The figure has doubled: “People, mostly poor migrants who want to work in other states, are all applying for PCCs,” an officer said.
PCCs used to be issued by the state Intelligence Branch (IB), but it is now issued by local police stations to fast-track physical verification. Bengal police announced a WhatsApp number on Friday for residents facing police harassment in other states to drop a message with all necessary information.
A police officer said they have been receiving quite a few calls since then, instead of the text messages the police said they would entertain. As a result, they had to put extra men on duty. Most of the queries were on documents required to avoid detention and ways to contact the Bengal administration in an emergency.
PCCs are mostly required for pre-job screenings and immigration. They allow cops to verify if a person has criminal records and whether the place of residence cited is genuine.
During the mass detention of 444 Bengali-speaking workers in Odisha, Bengal cops had used all available resources to physically verify the addresses and backgrounds of all of them. They subsequently sent detailed reports to Odisha police to secure their release. The same applied to 250 people freed in Haryana
