Context: Recently, Union Home Minister has said that Inner-Line Permit (ILP) had been the Centre’s biggest gift to Manipur since its statehood.
The Inner Line

• A concept drawn by colonial rulers, the Inner Line separated the tribal-populated hill areas in the Northeast from the plains.
• To enter and stay for any period in these areas, Indian citizens from other areas need an Inner Line Permit (ILP).
• Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram are protected by the Inner Line, and lately, Manipur was added (in December last year).
• The concept originates from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act (BEFR), 1873.

Its’ Inception

• The policy of exclusion first came about as a response to the reckless expansion of British entrepreneurs into new lands which threatened British political relations with the hill tribes.
• The BEFR prohibits an outsider’s — “British subject or foreign citizen” — entry into the are beyond the Inner Line without a pass and his purchase of land there.
• On the other hand, the Inner Line also protects the commercial interests of the British from the tribal communities.
• After Independence, the Indian government replaced “British subjects” with “Citizen of India”.
• Today, the main aim of the ILP system is to prevent settlement of other Indian nationals in the States where the ILP regime is prevalent, in order to protect the indigenous/tribal population.

Additional Information
Thoubal Multipurpose Project 
Context: Recently, Union Home Ministry inaugurated the e-office and Thoubal Multipurpose Project (Thoubal Dam) in Imphal through virtual mode with aim to Improvise connectivity because it is the foremost ingredient of all development vision.

• He inaugurated the e-office and Thoubal Multipurpose Project (Thoubal Dam) in Imphal through virtual mode which will irrigate 35,104 hectares.
• He also laid the foundation stone of projects, including the Churachandpur Medical College, IT-SEZ at Mantripukhri, Manipur Bhawan in New Delhi and the Integrated Command and Control Center at Imphal.

About Thoubal Multipurpose Project 

• The Thoubal Multipurpose Project or the Mapithel Dam which is known for more than 30 years of delay and cost revised several.
• It  is located on River Thoubal near the village Phayang in Manipur.
• Thoubal River is one of the major tributaries of the Imphal River that originates from the hill ranges of Ukhrul.
• The project is implemented in Mapithel area in Phungyar subdivision of Ukhrul district targeting to irrigate 21,000 hectares of cultivable land.
• The main purpose of the project is to utilize the water resource of the Yangwui Kong River which originates in the western hill slopes of Shiroi Hills and Hoomi in the Ukhrul District.
• The project has been undertaken by the Government of Manipur’s Irrigation and Flood Control Department (IFCD), with assistance from the central government.