Amit Shah stresses on role of states in securing border

Union home minister Amit Shah stressed on better coordination between eastern states and the Border Security Force (BSF) on border-related issues and called on chief ministers of the region to share responsibility with the BSF in securing the Indo-Bangladesh border.

Shah was speaking at the 25th meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council in Kolkata on Saturday.

The home minister also held a separate, one-on-one meeting with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee at her chamber in Nabanna (a building which houses the state Secretariat) after the zonal council meeting.

Banerjee, it is learnt, apprised Shah about the withholding of central funds for more than one year by central departments, especially pertaining to the MGNREGA scheme, non-release of funds for other central schemes including the PM Awas Yojana.

Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, Bihar deputy chief minister Tejaswi Yadav, Odisha minister Pradeep Amat and Banerjee participated in the zonal council meeting. Shah, who is the chairman of the council, was accompanied by five home ministry officials at the meeting.

Illegal infiltration, trans-border smuggling and the Indo-Bangladesh boundary issues were discussed at the meeting, sources in the state Secretariat said.

With the increase of the operational area of the BSF earlier this year, its role was also discussed at the meeting.

The home minister reportedly indicated that the state governments had a role to play in border security issues, the sources said.

Banerjee raised concerns over the increase in BSF's jurisdiction and the border guarding force's proactive role regarding certain issues, people in the know told ET.

She highlighted that BSF has been active in some locations while being inactive in other areas.