Panic and uncertainty have gripped hundreds of daily wage labourers from Assam following the strict enforcement of the revised Arunachal Pradesh Inner Line Permit (ILP) Guidelines, 2026. The sudden tightening of border regulations, coupled with ongoing local protests, has severely disrupted interstate labour movement.
On Monday morning, over 100 labourers—primarily from the Talap and Dhola areas of Assam’s Tinsukia district—were halted at Sadiya. They were denied entry into Arunachal Pradesh’s Lower Dibang Valley district for lacking valid labour permits and required documentation under the new framework.
While student bodies, including the All Assam Tea Tribe Students’ Union, have welcomed the regularisation of labour through proper legal channels, they have flagged serious discrepancies in enforcement. Union leaders allege that local employers in Arunachal Pradesh frequently bypass ILP rules to bring in workers, yet the authorities penalise only the undocumented labourers. Observers also note that a lax system historically allowed workers to cross borders by paying minimal informal fees, leaving them highly vulnerable without official protection or compensation during workplace accidents.
Meanwhile, internal opposition to the new rules is mounting within Arunachal Pradesh. The Arunachal ST Bachao Andolan Committee recently enforced a 36-hour bandh in the Itanagar Capital Region. The organization claims that certain provisions of the 2026 guidelines violate the historic Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation of 1873, potentially compromising the rights of indigenous communities.
As tensions rise, stranded labourers are urgently appealing to contractors and employers to ensure all legal paperwork and formal ILP documentation are completed before transporting them across the state border.
