Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 11: The Suvendu Adhikari government in West Bengal on Monday approved the transfer of land to the Border Security Force (BSF) for fencing the border with Bangladesh. The Chief Minister said the process of transferring land started from Monday itself and would be completed within 45 days.
Addressing the media after the first Cabinet meeting at Nabanna, the Chief Minister said, “The process of transferring land in border areas to the BSF for the purpose of border security begins today. Our objective is to complete this transfer process within 45 days.”
Mr Adhikari, who took oath on Saturday, chaired the first cabinet meeting on Monday with approving transfer of land as one of the first acts of the first BJP government in West Bengal. After the Cabinet meeting, Mr Adhikari said, “We held the first meeting of Cabinet today, five Ministers who took oath with me participated in the meeting. Along with that, on the invitation of Chief Secretary, several government officials participated in the meeting. This government will do away with the practice for the party by the party and ensure the Constitutional principles of government for the people by the people.”
The Chief Minister said, “We took six decisions at the Cabinet [meeting]. We are committed towards well-being of 321 families of martyrs who laid their lives as BJP supporters. We have started land transfer to the BSF for securing borders. The Chief Secretary and the secretary of the State’s land and land revenue department have been asked to complete the process of land transfer within the next 45 days.”
In a major decision, the Cabinet approved a five-year extension in the upper age limit for school job applicants, fulfilling a promise earlier made by Amit Shah during the Assembly election campaign. Mr Adhikari said the relaxation was aimed at helping candidates who had crossed the age limit due to the lack of recruitment opportunities in recent years.
The meeting also decided to induct Bengal into multiple Central government schemes, including the Ayushman Bharat health coverage programme. “The West Bengal government will implement all the schemes which the earlier government did not implement. Schemes like PM Viswakarma Yojana, PM Shri Ujjwala Yojana 3 will be implemented in the State. West Bengal will also implement Ayushman Bharat Scheme,” Mr Adhikari noted.
The Ayushman Bharat aims to provide cashless hospitalisation coverage of ₹5,00,000 per family per year to poor and vulnerable families for secondary and tertiary healthcare services. He also said he West Bengal government officials would participate in training provided by the central government. The previous government did not allow officials to participate in the scheme. Mr Adhikari alleged that the previous Mamata Banerjee-led TMC dispensation had ignored a circular, dated June 16, 2025, that was sent to the West Bengal government from the Office of the Registrar General of India under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, intimating about the impending Census exercise in the State.
“A letter was sent by the Ministry of Home Affairs on June 16, 2025, regarding the carrying out of the Census as per the directive of the Government of India. The previous government kept sitting on the file; we are starting the census in West Bengal,” said Mr Adhikari.
“The TMC government betrayed the Constitution and the people and deliberately kept the Census exercise on hold in Bengal so that women’s reservation could be stopped. The Cabinet has granted immediate sanction for the circular to take effect in the state,” Mr Adhikari added
The Chief Minister also alleged that the new criminal law of Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), replacing the erstwhile IPC and CrPC, wasn’t officially implemented by the TMC government in the State and said the first Cabinet meeting has granted official sanction to the new law to come into force.
Following the cabinet meeting, Mr Adhikari also addressed the public with a message: “Place your trust in us, we will walk the righteous path.” He paid homage to the voters of Bengal and expressed his gratitude to the election officials, the State Police, the Kolkata Police, and all political parties.
He also said that the Bengal Cabinet has granted immediate implementation of the June 2025 Census circular from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). “The previous government ignored the June 2025 Census circular from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Bengal cabinet granted immediate implementation of it,” he added.