Kolkata, May 15 (IANS) The new BJP-ruled West Bengal government under the leadership of the state’s ninth Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has adopted a three-pronged strategy to hand over land to the Border Security Force (BSF) for fencing the international border with Bangladesh in the state.

Sources in the state secretariat aware of the land handover strategy said the first part of the planning is to immediately provide government land near the unfenced international border to the BSF, so that the first phase of erecting barbed fencing begins immediately.

The second part of the strategy is to procure private land near the borders from landowners after paying them suitable remuneration above the existing market price and subsequently hand over that land to the BSF so that the second phase can be started.

The third part of the land handover strategy will involve taking possession of the encroached lands near the unfenced borders and then handing over that land to the BSF, which will complete the process.

“Already the process has started for the first phase of the land handover strategy, and in the manner in which the strategy is planned on a specific deadline basis for each phase. The entire process will surely be completed within the final deadline of 45 days from the date the cabinet decided on this count,” the sources said.

Former West Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty, as the “principal coordinator for development works”, has been entrusted with the task of overseeing the entire process and ensuring the smooth handover of land to the BSF.

The handover of land to the BSF to erect barbed fencing at the unfenced borders, a long-pending issue because of the disinclination of the previous Trinamool Congress-led government, was one of the major promises of the BJP’s Sankalp Patra (election manifesto) released before the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly polls.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during his campaign programmes in the state before the polls, also had promised that the decision to hand over land to the BSF would be the first decision taken by a BJP-led government in the state.

–IANS

src/dpb