The Union home ministry has told all central armed and allied forces to copy a beekeeping model called “beehives on border fence” that was started by a BSF unit in West Bengal. The goal is to create jobs for locals and build trust with them so that security can be improved. In April, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla led a meeting on “scientific beekeeping and honey mission” at his office in North Block here. That’s where the choice was made.
An important CAPF officer said that the model created and used by the 32nd battalion of the Border Security Force (BSF) to guard the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal’s Nadia district was “lauded” at the meeting, and all central armed police forces (CAPFs) were told to use it in their own areas of responsibility.
The Sashastra Seema Bal (Nepal and Bhutan borders) and the Indo Tibetan Border Police (China LAC) are two other border guarding forces. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), as well as the Assam Rifles, the National Security Guard (NSG), and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), do not have fences to guard, but the model can be used by them based on their jobs, the officer said.
About 12 lakh people are in these forces, which are used for a wide range of internal security jobs, such as protecting India’s borders with other countries, fighting Naxals, and fighting terrorism and insurgencies.
If the BSF West Bengal beekeeping model is copied, it will create jobs in remote areas and earn the support and friendship of the people who live there. These people are the “eyes and ears” for security in these areas, according to a top BSF officer.
Since it began in November of last year, the BSF unit in Nadia has put up nearly 200 beehives on the India-Bangaldesh alloy-made border fence. The goal is to stop border crimes like cattle, gold, and drug smuggling, as well as fence cutting, and to give the local people work that pays.
According to Commandant Sujeet Kumar, the commanding officer (CO) of this BSF battalion, the project was started because it was found that trans-border crimes were linked to a lack of jobs in the area, which made people turn to crime as a way to make money.
He said that the goal of the “beehives on fence” project is to get locals involved in making honey to sell and planting flowering and fruit-bearing plants for the bees. The project is also meant to encourage trade and shallow water fishing through the new ditches being dug along the border to store water.
The Ayush ministry has been asked by the BSF to get aromatic and herbal plants for this project. It is part of the Union government’s vibrant village program (VVP), which aims to get people living near the border involved in productive activities so that they don’t leave these areas, which are strategically and vitally important for maintaining internal security.
The “scientific beekeeping and honey mission” has been going on for a while under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). However, the CAPF officer quoted above said that the BSF West Bengal model should be used to improve the current program and get better results for the people and the forces involved.
Hundreds of locals, BSF officers, and people from the Ayush ministry have helped plant more than 1 lakh saplings along the border of Nadia since the “beehives on border fence” model began in late 2018.
