BSF DG calls on West Bengal guv amid jurisdiction tussle

Kolkata, December 13 dmanewsdesk:  Director General of BSF Pankaj Kumar Singh called on West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar in New Delhi on Monday.

The governor said that Singh, during the meeting with him, indicated that all efforts are being made to generate seamless coordination with the West Bengal Police.

“DG @BSF_India Shri Pankaj Kumar Singh today called on Governor WB Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar at New Delhi and indicated that all efforts are being made to generate seamless coordination @WBPolice @MamataOfficial & there will be due focus on its lawful role and security of borders,” Dhankhar tweeted.

The governor further said that he has, in the matter, already asked state Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi and Home Secretary BP Gopalika to take urgent steps to ensure cooperative coordination between the BSF and the West Bengal Police.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has time and again disapproved the Centre’s decision to extend the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) from 15 km to 50 km from the international boundary in the state.

She has recently asked police officers of certain districts that share borders with Bangladesh to bar entry of BSF personnel in villages without permission.

In a letter to Trinamool Congress MP and spokesperson Sukhendu Sekhar Roy on Monday, the governor wrote that in a federal polity, all agencies — central and state — need to engage in tandem and togetherness.

“On national security issues, there is need to yield to the primacy of national interest and security ignoring partisan considerations,” he wrote, in reply to a letter by the TMC chief whip in Rajya Sabha.

The TMC, which has been at loggerheads with the governor over several issues, has taken on Dhankhar over his communication to the chief minister on her criticism of BSF’s jurisdiction extension.

Maintaining that the BSF is enjoined by law with the task of ensuring the security of the borders of India, the governor wrote to Roy that seamless coordination between BSF and state administration and police would affirmatively contribute to these agencies effectively performing their role.

He further wrote that all need to work for the welfare of the people of the state and ensure governance is in accordance with constitutional prescription and rule of law where democratic values and human rights situations blossom.

“The situation, as all are aware, at the moment on all these counts needs massive uplift,” Dhankhar wrote.

Source: PTI