West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has started the process of handing over land to BSF for fencing the India-Bangladesh border. The Chief Minister said that the land will be handed over to the Home Ministry within 45 days to deal with illegal infiltration.
The newly elected BJP government held its first cabinet meeting in Nabanna, Howrah. The Chief Minister said that this decision was one of the main proposals taken during the meeting.
The Chief Minister alleged that the previous TMC government failed to implement the *Indian Penal Code* (BNS) – the new penal code – in the state, and instead kept the old IPC and CrPC in force.
Now official approval has been given to implement BNS in the state. The central government’s flagship schemes, *Ayushman Bharat* and *Jan Arogya Yojana*, will also be implemented in West Bengal.
Ministers Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Nishith Pramanik, Khudiram and Ashok Kirtania were present in the first cabinet meeting. The ministers have not yet been assigned their portfolios.
Suvendu cabinet meeting decisions:
* The state government will take responsibility of the families of 321 BJP workers who lost their lives in the post-poll violence.
* The process of transferring land to BSF for fencing the India-Bangladesh border has been started. The plan is to complete this process in 45 days.
* *All the schemes of the Central Government including Ayushman Bharat* scheme will be implemented soon. All pending requests related to *Ujjwala Yojana* have been sent to the Central Government.
* IAS and IPS officers will be allowed to take central training.
* *The Indian Code of Judicial Procedure* (BNS), which was not implemented in Bengal, will now be implemented in the state with immediate effect.
* * Five-year extension in state government jobs has been approved.
Bengal has a 2,216 km long border with Bangladesh*
India shares a 4,097 km long border with Bangladesh. According to the Union Home Ministry, about 3,240 km of the border has been fenced, while the remaining 850 km is yet to be fenced – including a difficult 175 km stretch. A CM official claimed that out of the proposed 127 km stretch, only about 8 km stretch was fenced during the tenure of Mamata Banerjee’s government.
West Bengal shares about 2,216 km long international border with Bangladesh. This is the longest border of any state on the India-Bangladesh border. In 2021, the central government increased the jurisdiction of BSF on the Bengal border from 15 km to 50 km. This means that BSF has the authority to search, arrest and seize goods in an area up to 50 km. The then Mamta government had called it interference in the functioning of the state. In December 2021, a resolution was also passed in the Bengal Assembly opposing the move.
Ready to investigate cases of people killed in election violence
Speaking on the issue of political violence, the official said the government is ready to investigate cases related to deaths of party workers during political conflicts if families of victims demand legal action. He further said, “If the families of the 321 people who lost their lives during our struggle wish, the government will initiate an investigation.”