KOLKATA: Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a high-level meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and senior state government officials in Kolkata on Sunday to discuss the law and order situation in the state, including the fencing of the around 2,217-km India-Bangladesh border. West Bengal also shares international borders with Nepal and Bhutan.
Chief Secretary Manoj Agarwal, Home Secretary Sanghamitra Ghosh, Director General of Police (DGP) Siddh Nath Gupta and N R Babu, Inspector General of Police (IGP) of the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID), were among the senior officials who attended the meeting.
The meeting came weeks after the passage of the stringent West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Act, commonly referred to as the 'anti-goonda' legislation, which substantially expanded the state's powers to tackle organised crime, extortion, illegal mining, cybercrime and public disorder.
On a three-day visit to the state, Shah on Saturday reviewed security arrangements along the India-Bangladesh border in north Bengal and inaugurated BSF development projects worth Rs 77.06 crore.
The Union Home Minister also virtually laid the foundation stone for what is being billed as the world's largest curd production plant under the Amul Bengal Dairy Project at Sankrail in Howrah district from the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre in New Town on Sunday afternoon. Suvendu was also present at the programme.
Addressing the event, Shah drew a contrast between the state's past and present, saying West Bengal was once "a beacon of light" for the entire country in education, culture, spirituality, the freedom movement and nationalism.
He, however, alleged that the state subsequently suffered decades of political decline.
"West Bengal remained under a Communist government influenced by foreign ideology for three decades. After breaking free from that, it fell into the clutches of the TMC, who are devoid of ideology, corrupt and criminal. Before our eyes, the dream of 'Sonar Bangla' envisioned by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore was destroyed," he said.
The 'Bhumi Pujan' event for Amul concluded Shah's three-day visit to the state. His trip to Siliguri on Saturday included a visit to a BSF outpost with a focus on border security, besides a series of administrative meetings at the north Bengal branch of the state secretariat.
The dairy project, coming up at the Howrah Food Park with an investment of around Rs 700 crore, will have the capacity to process about 30 lakh litres of milk per day upon completion.
According to a statement, the plant will be capable of producing around 1,000 metric tonnes, or 10 lakh kg, of curd and other cultured dairy products daily.
Shah also inaugurated the newly constructed 'Word Museum' on the National Library premises in the Alipore area of Kolkata on Sunday afternoon.
