Last week, a group of 10-12 jawans from the Border Security Force, lined up at the fence along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Kadipur village of district Nadia in West Bengal, to attend an important briefing. Covered head to toe in a mesh suit, these commandos were all armed, not with weapons but hive frames.
They were learning how to be apiarists (beekeepers), for, the BSF unit deployed at this border has come up with an innovative solution to prevent cross-border intrusions from Bangladesh into India.
An apiary is a box-type structure where collected beehives and honeybees are kept. It consists of several frames in which the bees build a hive.
The 32nd battalion of the Border Security Force (BSF) that secures a 46-kilometre stretch has hung apiaries on the fence along the International Border between India and Bangladesh. Fearing that any intrusion through this stretch will not spare them the honeybees’ fury, the smugglers and infiltrators have been maintaining a safe distance, bringing such incidents, the officials said, to almost zero, which once were a daily affair.
Sujeet Kumar, commandant, who heads the 32 battalion, said, “We started bee keeping less than a year ago in November 2023 under the banner of government’s Vibrant Village initiative. However, the idea of hanging these to the fence clicked to me while looking for a solution in order to keep smugglers and intruders at bay. We often had cases of Bangladeshis cutting our fence and infiltrating into India illegally. Incidents of smuggling of cattle and other items was also very common. To our surprise, since we have installed apiaries on the fence, these incidents that were a daily affair, have gone to almost zero,” the commandant said.
Commenting on the ongoing training of BSF men in bee keeping, Kumar said, “Now we have members from other units who will learn bee keeping and will replicate this model in their units. We are happy that the initiative that was a brainchild of our unit has successfully worked as a deterrent against cross-border illegal activities,” the officer said, adding that once these jawans retire from the force, they always will have this choice of taking bee keeping up as a source of earning.
Local residents also said that with this, incidents of crime along the border have also seen a dip. Jyoti Mandal, a resident of Kadipur village said, “Many criminals used to linger around the fence and cross over to steal valuables and rob locals and then flee to their own territory. With activities of crossing border going down, petty crimes have also seen a dip,” he said.
Another resident from Huda Digambarpur, Sukumar Biswas, said, knowing that people from the other side cannot come to this side also instills a sense of safety in the minds of the local residents. “Our women feel safe and we let our children go out without worrying,” Biswas said.
BSF Training Women in Border Villages
Further, to strengthen the vibrant village project, the BSF has also been training groups of women from the border villages in stitching, tailoring, baking, cooking and making incense sticks.
The BSF, near its Kadipur outpost, has also opened a bakery, run by the women and girls from the village. Stitching workshops are also organised and run in batches of 10-12 women every 10 days, the officers said.
The trainer is also a BSF tailor.
Sulekha Biswas, a 30-year-old attendee at the tailoring camp said she believes once she learns tailoring she will be able to start a shop of her own. “This will help me contribute to our family earnings,” Biswas said, who lives with her two kids and husband in Huda Digambarpur village close by.
Her batch mate, Shamoli, 40, whose husband works as a farmer, said she wishes to start his own family business. “Once we master this art we will be independent. Right now, my family is dependent on farming and an additional source of income will bring financial security,” the woman said.
Sujeet Kumar said they aimed to train as many women as possible, from the villages that fall under his unit. “The earnings from the bakery go to the women who run it. We have also started flower cultivation and fish farming. We also intend to begin mushroom farming and eventually include it in the diet of our jawans. We are providing all help to these villagers in order to make them financial independent. This will not only keep them away from being lured by smugglers to earn quick money but also make them self-sufficient,” the officer said.
The commandant added that they have recently built a series of open gyms, which is very popular among the locals and youth aspiring to join the forces. “We are also building covered bathrooms for local women. They have been named Naari Samman Snangrah,” Kumar said.
Collectively, these initiatives by the 32nd battalion are referred to as ‘model of 32’ and have proved to be instrumental in helping the force gain confidence of the local villagers and develop a border security framework through public participatory approach.
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