West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday said his government will introduce 'Seema Mitra' award for BSF, SSB and state police personnel from 2027 to recognise their exceptional work related to guarding the country's border. He said a selection committee will be set up to decide the awardees from the forces.
"We will give the 'Seema Mitra' award from next year for BSF, SSB and West Bengal police personnel," Adhikari said while addressing Border Security Force jawans in North 24 Parganas' Hingalganj area that shares a boundary with Bangladesh.
The BSF guards the India-Bangladesh frontier, while Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) jawans are posted at the borders with Nepal and Bhutan.
The chief minister visited the Hingalganj border outpost to greet jawans on the occasion of Diwali and Kali Puja, and accused the previous government of making derogatory remarks against them.
"I, as the chief minister of the state, apologise to you for the derogatory remarks and behaviour of the previous regime towards BSF and CRPF," he said, while attacking the TMC government.
He said that the previous Mamata Banerjee government had not given the required land to the BSF for fencing nearly 600 km of the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal.
Adhikari said that soon after taking over the reins of the state, the BJP government ensured that the required land for fencing the porous border was handed over to the BSF.
(With inputs from PTI)