Over 22,500 Inner Line Permits (ILPs) have been issued from the Sairang railway station office in Mizoram to various visitors since the inauguration of the Bairabi-Sairang railway line by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 13. These ILPs are official travel documents for entry into protected areas of the Northeast region, including Mizoram. The Mizoram Home Department reported that the ILP counter at Sairang railway station issued permits to tourists, professionals, traders, migrant workers, and others from different states between September 13, 2025, and January 8 this year.
Following the inauguration of the 51.38-km-long Bairabi-Sairang rail section, the Home Department established the ILP counter at Sairang railway station. On the same day, Prime Minister Modi also launched the Rajdhani Express connecting Aizawl with New Delhi and two other trains linking Aizawl with Kolkata and Guwahati. The ILP counter at Sairang railway station issues an average of about 400 fresh ILPs daily, coinciding with the arrival of two passenger trains at the station each day.
Visitors primarily originate from Delhi, West Bengal, and southern states, with a significant number coming from neighboring Assam and other Northeastern states. However, a shortage of manpower in the Government Railway Police and ILP counter poses challenges in maintaining law and order, issuing ILPs, and verifying permits. The ILP system, aimed at safeguarding the identity and existence of indigenous people, is currently enforced in Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Manipur, with calls to extend it to Meghalaya and Tripura.
Under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, the ILP regime allows Indian citizens to visit ILP-enforced states and areas for specific purposes and a limited period. To visit Mizoram, ILPs can be obtained from Mizoram government counters at various locations, including Lengpui Airport (Aizawl), Shillong, Guwahati, Silchar, Kolkata, and New Delhi.
