About 4,800 illegal immigrants have been sent to Bangladesh from detention centers set up in the border areas of the state, and about 836 of these people are awaiting deportation from these facilities, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Sunday.
Emphasizing that illegal immigration is a major problem, Adhikari said his government has already handed over land to the Border Security Forces to set up about 100 km of fencing, out of the 556 km required to secure the India-Bangladesh border.
He said that handing over lands is an ongoing process and necessary for the security of the country, adding that securing the international borders is the state government’s priority.
“We have handed over to the Border Security Forces an area of about 100 km out of the 556 km required for fencing and have given priority to the Chicken Neck Corridor in North Bengal,” the Prime Minister said while addressing a preparatory meeting for the BJP’s special training camp.
“Chicken’s Neck”, officially known as the Siliguri Corridor, is a narrow stretch of land – about 20-22 km wide and about 60 km long – located in northern Bengal and connecting the rest of India with its northeastern states. It is considered a crucial and sensitive lifeline from both security and strategic perspectives.
West Bengal, of all Indian states, shares the longest international border with Bangladesh, extending 2,217 km, out of a total of 4,096 km.
Pointing out that his government has started deporting illegal immigrants, who are not subject to the CAA, as per the Union government’s law, Adhikari said: “These people are being handed over to the Border Security Forces directly.”
Although the law was implemented in other states of the country, the previous Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal did not implement it, he said, adding that illegal immigrants were detained in state prisons and availed the facilities at the expense of taxpayers.
“About 4,800 illegal immigrants have been returned from detention centers set up in the border areas of the state,” Adhikari said, adding that 836 of these people are awaiting deportation from those facilities.
Referring to the influx of people at the Hakimpur border in North 24 Parganas district, Adhikari said many illegal immigrants have already left on their own.
“The demographics of Bengal have changed,” the Prime Minister claimed, adding that the BJP had made infiltration from Bangladesh and demographic change the biggest issues in the West Bengal Assembly elections, and accused the Mamata Banerjee-led party of complacency on both issues for political reasons.
Claiming that census work had not begun in the state under the previous TMC dispensation, Adhikari said the BJP government had started the process and household surveys would be conducted from August 1 to 15.
The Prime Minister said: “The census will be completed by the end of next February, and the borders will be demarcated on its basis.”
He said that the government had already transferred $3,000 each to 50 lakh women in the state under the Annapurna Yojana scheme, in line with the BJP’s election promise to double the financial assistance they enjoyed under Lakshmir Bhandar from the TMC government.
“On the first day, we provided Annapurna Yojana scholarship to 28,25,769 women, which is our biggest achievement,” Adhikari said.
Referring to the criticism from some quarters over the 12-page application form for Annapurna Yojana beneficiaries, he said: “The money to be provided is from the government exchequer. So it should be properly verified.” The Prime Minister claimed that 27,000 names out of 2.2 crore beneficiaries of Lakshmir Bhandar were not in the voters’ list, adding that “three lakh more are males who have benefited” from the women-only welfare scheme.
He described this violation as “serious corruption.”
“For the next 50 years, the government will benefit from the transparent process we have adopted,” the Prime Minister said.
