Hingalganj (WB), Nov 8 West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday announced that his government would institute the ‘Seema Mitra’ award from 2027 to recognise exceptional contributions by BSF, SSB and state police personnel in securing the country’s borders.
A selection committee would be constituted to decide the awardees, he said while addressing BSF personnel at a border outpost in Hingalganj in North 24 Parganas district, which shares a boundary with Bangladesh.
“We will give the ‘Seema Mitra’ award from next year for BSF, SSB and West Bengal police personnel,” Adhikari said.
The chief minister visited the border outpost to greet security personnel on the occasion of Diwali and Kali Puja.
The BSF guards the India-Bangladesh border, while the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) is deployed along the country’s frontiers with Nepal and Bhutan.
Adhikari apologised to the BSF and CRPF personnel for what he described as derogatory remarks and behaviour by the previous state government.
“I, as the chief minister of the state, apologise to you for the derogatory remarks and behaviour of the previous regime towards BSF and CRPF,” he said, targeting the erstwhile Trinamool Congress government.
He alleged that the previous Mamata Banerjee government had failed to provide the required land to the BSF for fencing nearly 600 km of the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal.
Adhikari said the BJP government had handed over the required land to the BSF soon after assuming office and would provide any additional land needed for border fencing.
He said that his government will provide any additional requirement of land by the BSF in the border areas.
He claimed that the people gave their “appropriate retort” through the democratic process.
The Trinamool Congress lost to the BJP in the 2026 assembly elections in the state.
“We have to move ahead and ensure the security of the country,” he said.
The chief minister said the state administration, BSF and SSB were working in close coordination and that his government.
West Bengal shares a border of over 2,200 km with Bangladesh, he said, adding that the government would facilitate the setting up of more police stations in frontier areas and provide the necessary infrastructure, logistics and manpower.
Adhikari asserted that every infiltrator should be identified and sent back.
“This country is for Indian citizens, and we are committed to them and the people of West Bengal,” he said.
Referring to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s three-day visit to north Bengal in August, Adhikari said meetings had been held to strengthen border security and coordination between central and state agencies.
He said coordination meetings between border guarding forces and local police should be held not only at the district level but also at the police station level to address logistical and manpower requirements.
The chief minister, who also holds the Home portfolio, said the state had 105 police personnel per one lakh population, against the national average of 155.
His government would focus on creating employment opportunities for youths in border areas and had adopted the Centre’s ‘Vibrant Village’ programme for their comprehensive development, he said.
The government would also ensure optimum utilisation of existing welfare schemes and development projects in the frontier districts, he added.
Adhikari said the state had started police recruitment and handed over appointment letters to more than 11,600 recruits.
The state cabinet had so far approved 29,000 police recruitments since May, he added.
He also announced that two India Reserve Battalions (IRBs) would be raised in the state with assistance from the Centre.
“Verbal discussion for this has been held, and official papers will be prepared soon,” he said.
“It is my duty to come and greet you. When the whole country is celebrating Diwali, you are guarding the frontiers of the country,” Adhikari said, addressing the BSF personnel.
He said he was inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been visiting border outposts on Diwali to meet security personnel since his tenure as Gujarat chief minister.
Modi celebrated Diwali this year with security personnel at a CRPF camp in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district.
Speaking to reporters after the programme, Adhikari said there was close coordination between the BSF and state police, but some issues, including border fencing along the Icchamati river in North 24 Parganas, remained pending.
The state’s Irrigation and Waterways Department would work on the issue, he said.
“After completing this portion, the borders here will be 100 per cent secure,” the chief minister said.
Adhikari said he had travelled on the last floating jetty towards the Bangladesh border and alleged that people on the other side were waiting to cross over whenever BSF personnel moved away from the area.
Claiming that several lakh infiltrators had been pushed back, he said combing operations were being conducted up to 15 km inside Indian territory to identify and deport illegal immigrants.
“The rest of the infiltrators will also be sent back,” he said.
He also asserted that infiltrators would not be entitled to social welfare benefits, including the Annapurna Yojana, under which eligible women receive Rs 3,000 per month.
Adhikari also wished former deputy prime minister L K Advani on his birthday, crediting him with contributing to the country’s development and the Ram temple movement.
“In his leadership and with the intervention of the Supreme Court, we got the Ram Mandir,” he said.
Recalling his association with Advani, the chief minister said the BJP veteran had visited Nandigram two days after the March 14, 2007, firing incident in which 14 people were killed.
“He was then the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha; I am ever indebted to him,” Adhikari, who was a Trinamool Congress leader then and was a pivotal figure in the anti-land acquisition agitation in Nandigram, said.
Adhikari said that after he became a Lok Sabha MP in 2009, Advani would ask him about Nandigram whenever he met the BJP leader in Parliament.
(PTI News)
