Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah addressed the 59th Raising Day ceremony of Border Security Force (BSF) as the chief guest in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand today. Shri Amit Shah also released BSF’s the annual magazine-‘Borderman’. Many dignitaries including the Director General of Border Security Force were present on this occasion. 

In his address, Shri Amit Shah said that “Jeevan Paryant Kartavya” is not just a slogan of BSF but till date more than 1,900 Seema Praharis have fulfilled this sentence by making the supreme sacrifices of their lives. He said that lakhs of Seema Praharis have spent the golden period of their lives living away from their families in difficult circumstances. He said that as the first line of defence of the country's borders, the way BSF has secured the inaccessible borders of the country, the entire country is proud of these brave soldiers of the Border Security Force.

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee had taken an important decision of deployment of one security force on one border. He said that under this decision, the responsibility of protecting the most inaccessible borders of Pakistan and Bangladesh was given to the Border Security Force and BSF has fulfilled this responsibility very well. He said that be it the snowy areas of Jammu and Kashmir, the mountains of the North-East, the deserts of Gujarat and Rajasthan, the marshy areas of Gujarat or the dense forests of Sundarbans and Jharkhand, BSF has always remained alert and foiled the nefarious motives of the enemy. The Border Security Force has set new standards of service and bravery at the international level even in United Nations peacekeeping missions. Shri Shah said that a country whose borders are not secure can never develop and prosper.

Shri Amit Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, India has made progress in every field and this is possible only when our borders are protected by the sacrifice, dedication and bravery of our brave soldiers. He said that the brave soldiers protecting the country's borders are the foundation of the country's development. Shri Shah said that the BSF soldiers not only protect the borders but also give the message of discipline to the youth of the country. He said that today a total of 23 soldiers have been given bravery medals and 5 soldiers have been given medals posthumously. Out of these 23 soldiers, 11 have been given Police Medal For Gallantry, 1 soldier has been given Jeevan Raksha Padak and 11 soldiers have been given President's Police Medal for distinguished service. Shri Shah told the families of the five martyrs who received medals posthumously that no one can compensate for their loss but the 130 crore people of the country will always be proud of the sacrifice of these martyrs. He said that BSF has received many medals and awards including 1 Mahavir Chakra, 4 Kirti Chakra, 13 Vir Chakra and 13 Shaurya Chakra.

Union Home Minister said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has always given top priority to border security. Under the leadership of Shri Modi, many steps have been taken towards strengthening the security of the borders in the last 10 years. Shri Shah said that the government led by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given importance to security, development and democratic process. He said that the Modi government started building strong infrastructure in the border areas with a budget of thousands of crores of rupees. Prime Minister Modi also started a new concept of public welfare along with security through forces by connecting the Border Security Force and all other forces with many welfare schemes in the border villages. Shri Shah said that railways, road, water-way connectivity and telecommunication facilities have also been increased in the border areas. He said that along with land border trade, people to people connect has also been increased.

Shri Amit Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, in the last 10 years, work has been done to curb infiltration and smuggling by erecting around 560 Kilometers of fencing on the borders. He said that the Modi government has decided that in the next two years the entire Pakistan and Bangladesh border will be secured by fencing. Shri Shah said floodlights have been installed in 1100 kilometers of the border, 542 new border outposts and 510 observation post towers have been built and for the first time, observation towers have been built in Harami Nala area.  Electricity at 637 outposts and water connections to about 500 places have also been provided. Apart from this, the convenience of the soldiers guarding the border has been ensured by installing solar plants at 472 places.

Union Home Minister said that the People Inclusive Border Management Policy of the government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has greatly reduced the workload of the Seema Praharis. He said that BSF has seized more than 30,000 kilograms of narcotics in the last 5 years. He said that Narcotics not only make the future generation of the country hollow but the money generated from it also finances terrorism and this trade link on the border is also used to smuggle weapons. Shri Shah said that for these three reasons it is very important that we have a strict, zero tolerance and sensitive policy towards narcotics trade along the entire international border and BSF has done this work very well.

Shri Amit Shah said that Border Security Force has captured more than 2500 weapons and it has done very good experiments with evolving technology such as the anti-drone technology. He said that BSF has so far shot down more than 90 foreign drones and is also doing very good work in the field of R&D by setting up a BSF Drone and Cyber Forensic Lab in New Delhi to identify the routes of foreign drones. He added that the Central Government has provided 100 drones along with field formations for area domination which are being used very well by the BSF soldiers. Shri Shah said that a slogan was given to plant 5 crore saplings in 5 years and our Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have so far planted 5 crore saplings and are also making arrangements to nurture the tree like their own children by associating a soldier with each sapling. Shri Shah said that out of these 5 crore saplings, 92 lakh saplings have been planted by the Seema Praharis of the Border Security Force. These saplings will become big trees in the future and will cherish the memory of the soldiers who planted them.

Union Home Minister said that the day is not far when the country will be completely free from Left Wing Extremism and the government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has made continuous efforts in this direction in the last 10 years. He said that as a result of the efforts by Modi Government, the incidents of violence have reduced by 52 percent, the incidents of deaths by 70 percent and the districts affected by Left Wing Extremism have reduced from 96 to 45. Shri Shah said that Left Wing Extremism is shrinking and now CRPF, BSF and ITBP are ready to give a final blow to it with a new courage and enthusiasm. He said that the Modi Government is committed to free the country from Left Wing Extremism in the coming days. He said that 199 new camps have been opened since 2019 to fill the security vacuum in these areas. Shri Shah said that by setting up new camps and increasing patrolling, all the resources of the Left Wing Extremists have been controlled and as a result of this, we have succeeded in completely freeing the critical areas like Budha Pahad and Chakarbanda from Left Wing Extremism. He said that the final battle against Left Wing Extremism is still going on in Kolhan and some areas of Jharkhand and we will definitely win this battle.

Shri Amit Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, more than 40 lakh Ayushman CAPF cards have been distributed across the country. He said that Shri Narendra Modi has also provided homes to about 13,000 soldiers, 113 new barracks have been built and soon 11,000 more houses will be given to the soldiers and 108 barracks will also be built. He said that by the end of this year, the work of providing houses to more than 24,000 soldiers in last 5 years will be completed. Apart from this, vacant houses have been allotted to more than 70,000 soldiers through CAPF e-housing portal. He said that the government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at the Centre has done many things like air courier services, bringing parity in Ex-Gratia and increasing the central Ex-Gratia amount. Shri Shah said that during the 10 years of Shri Narendra Modi’s rule, we have succeeded in winning the battle in all three hotspots- Jammu and Kashmir, Left Wing Extremism affected areas and North-East. He said that today the security forces have complete dominance over terrorism in Kashmir. The situation of violence in the Northeast has also improved a lot and we are on the verge of winning the fight against Left Wing Extremism and BSF soldiers have given huge contribution in this fight on all these fronts.

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RK/AY/ASH/AKS