Union Home Minister Amit Shah visits Bangladesh border, reviews situation

OUR BUREAU

MANKACHAR/TAMULPUR: Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited the India-Bangladesh border in the Mankachar sector today. He chaired a meeting at the Sadartila BSF camp with top BSF officials to review the border security arrangement and the integrated border management system.

According to an official source, trans-border smuggling of cattle came up at the review meeting. The BSF presented the list of seized cattle and other materials before the Home Minister.

Shah praised the BSF for its alertness and service to protect the motherland. He said, "The BSF jawans ensure security on borders on a 24X7 basis. That is why every citizen of the country feels secured, and remains confident about national security."

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Ranjeet Kumar Dass and the Home Secretary accompanied Shah. Shah reached Mankachar and visited the Kamakhya Temple at Thakubari. He inspected barbed wire fencing at Sahapara, where he observed simultaneous and coordinated patrolling carried out jointly by BSF and BGB (Border Guard Bangladesh).

Tamulpur correspondent added: Shah laid the foundation stone for BSF Central Stores and Workshop at Geeta Nagar in Tamulpur today.

Shah said, "When I come to Bodoland, I get encouragement. In the run-up to the 2016 Assembly election in Assam, we promised to root out insurgency from the state. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and at the initiative of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has reached peace agreements with almost all insurgent groups in Assam. An example is that the Bodoland is now free from insurgency as the MHA signed peace agreements with all the militant outfits."

Shah said, "A Bodo legislator chosen as the Speaker of the Assam Assembly is a matter of pride. I assure the Bodos of making them stronger socially, culturally, economically and politically. You need not worry about your language and culture. It is the responsibility of the Centre and the State government to uplift them. We have raised the Rs 1,500-crore special package for the development of Bodoland to Rs 1,980 crore."

At the BSF Central Stores and Workshop, Shah said, "From now, the supply and repair of weapons of central armed forces will be from Assam. We will invest around Rs 50 crore for this purpose. We will supply arms and ammunition to Bengal, Guwahati, Shillong, Manipur, Cachar and Tripura frontiers from Tamulpur. We will supply the Khadi products of Assam to 170 paramilitary canteens. Bodoland and the rest of Assam are suitable for the production of honey. We will link the farmers of Bodoland with the honey mission to boost their income. Bodoland has enough scopes for Khadi products, capable enough to provide job opportunities to the local youths."

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