What happened: Amit Shah’s security review of the Siliguri corridor

Union Home Minister Amit Shah conducted a review of the security of the Siliguri corridor. The review meeting was attended by senior officials from central and state Ministries and security agencies, including the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), the Army, Border Security Force (BSF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), and the Railway Protection Force (RPF). The meeting also included the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP) of West Bengal, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, and presentations by the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) Standing Focus Group on Siliguri Corridor (SFG-SC).

The MAC’s Standing Focus Group on Siliguri Corridor (SFG-SC) presented progress made so far and recommendations for further strengthening security in the Siliguri corridor. Amit Shah assessed the status of infrastructure projects in the corridor that are critical for security and discussed issues related to PIO activities, demographic changes, illegal immigration, and border affairs.

Amit Shah directed agencies to implement a quadrangular approach to border security fully. He also emphasised infrastructure completion, asked for increased presence of agencies in the corridor by establishing more institutions, and directed that vital installations (important security-critical sites) be secured. Amit Shah further directed that the Siliguri corridor should be kept free of encroachments and that steps should be taken to stop illegal immigration.

For north Bengal, Amit Shah suggested to the Chief Minister of West Bengal exploring possibilities of opening more Sainik schools. He also urged increasing senior National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets in north Bengal and asked for strengthening Civil Defence and Home Guards in the Siliguri corridor.

Background and earlier position: corridor security tied to border management

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