Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday made it clear to Union home minister Amit Shah that the Bengal government would not be able to provide more than 5 acres of land for each of the 11 Key Location Plan (KLP) battalions of the BSF to set up camps.

The stand Mamata took at the Eastern Zonal Council meeting convened by Shah at Nabanna suggested that the Bengal government would not succumb to pressure from the Centre on issues involving the state’s interests.

A bureaucrat said the Union home minister told the meeting that the matter had been pending for 10-11 years, with the Union home ministry having given to the state the money needed to acquire land for most of the KLP battalions as far back as 2011, but there had been no progress.

The KLP battalions are supposed to come up in areas like Behrampore, Barasat, Halisahar, Mahatpur, Buniyadpur, Balurghat, Falakata and Alipurduar. For each of the battalions, the Union home ministry sent requisitions for 30 to 95 acres.

“When the Union home minister raised the issue, the chief minister made it clear that Bengal is a land-critical state and the state cannot provide more than 5 acres for each of the battalions. The chief minister also said the home ministry should tweak its plan and set up KLPs on smaller land parcels,” the bureaucrat said.

Sources said that even though Shah pointed out that the plan for a battalion cannot be changed for a state, he declared the issue unresolved till the next meeting, to be held in Bihar in 2024.

Mamata was also firm on her stand that the state government was doing its bit to prevent illegal smuggling of cattle and coal. “The chief minister said in no uncertain terms that the BSF has to play the most important role. The state is doing its bit, but until the BSF acts properly, smuggling of cattle cannot be stopped,” the bureaucrat said.

This issue also remained unresolved till the next meeting in Bihar.

Mamata also held her ground on other issues such as sharing of Mahananda waters with Bihar and refusing to evict people for railway projects in Bengal.

The chief minister said the state did not get required assistance from the Centre whenever a natural calamity struck. She mentioned that the Centre owes the state Rs 43,299 crore on account of compensation for Amphan, Yaas and Bulbul. Mamata said 500 unbanked villages have to be brought under the brickand-mortar banking service.

Jharkhand demand

Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren raised concern over the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022, besides urging the Centre to form a separate Adivasi Regiment in the Indian Army.

At a meeting, Soren said: “The way in which the rights of gram sabhas have been abolished in the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022, on use of forestland, there would be a gross encroachment on the rights of nearly 20 crore tribals residing in forests for generations across the country.”