Jaisalmer: Rajasthan govt has launched a security initiative in five districts along the India-Pakistan international border, under which every resident living within 50km of the border will be digitally surveyed and mapped under Operation Clean.Officials said the exercise will begin after an initial survey of buildings and constructions in the area. A door-to-door verification drive will then be carried out in Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bikaner, Phalodi and Sriganganagar districts.Under the new system, a digital family card will be created for every household, containing details of all family members. The card will be linked to Aadhaar, which officials said would help prevent tampering and ensure authenticity of records.Security agencies are expected to benefit from the integrated database. Officials said that if a criminal case is registered against a resident of the border area or if suspicious activity is detected, the individual’s record could be accessed quickly through the digital system.According to administrative officials, authorities have often found that outsiders take shelter in border villages by posing as labourers, guides or local workers and may be involved in anti-national activities. The verification drive aims to establish an accurate database of genuine residents and make it easier to identify outsiders or suspicious persons.The campaign will cover all villages, dhanis and towns located within 50km inward from the international border, with police and administrative teams collecting data from every household.Officials said the initiative revives an older border-identification system that existed around four decades ago, when infiltration and smuggling were major concerns on the Punjab and Rajasthan border and paper identity cards were mandatory for border residents. Those cards gradually fell out of use.With new security challenges such as drone-based smuggling of weapons and drugs and concerns over espionage, central and state agencies have decided to reintroduce the identification system in a digital format, officials said.
