Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], May 28 (ANI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that infiltrators should return to their countries on their own, adding that those who voluntarily go back will not face any legal action in India. Shah also praised West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari for the handover of 600 hectares of land to the Border Security Force (BSF) within seven days.

He said the government had promised during the elections to speed up fencing work along the Bangladesh border and is now moving ahead with it.

Addressing the public in Gandhinagar, Shah said, 'We have said during the elections that we will start the fencing work along the Bangladesh border once we come to power. Now, I would like to congratulate West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari for handing over 600 hectares of land of the BSF within seven days.'

He also mentioned that 121 hectares of land in the 'Chicken Neck' area have been handed over to the Indian government.

'The 121-hectare land of Chicken Neck has also been entrusted to the Indian government... Now, the infiltrators are going back on their own. The West Bengal BJP government has built Detention Centres, but we all want the infiltrators to go back on their own... Our government has taken the pledge to identify and expel every intruder from the country,' he further said.

A day earlier, West Bengal Chief Minister Adhikari stated that the government has initiated intensified measures to strengthen border security by facilitating the construction of BSF outposts and barbed-wire fencing.

Adhikari said additional land has now been handed over to the Border Security Force, taking the total tally to 142.79 acres.

According to the data shared by Adhikari, Murshidabad accounts for the highest allocation at 38.805 acres, followed by Jalpaiguri with 35.165 acres and Cooch Behar with 22.95 acres.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a 'resolution' to constitute a High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes (HLCDC) to address challenges arising from demographic shifts observed across the country.

MHA's Foreigners-I Division issued the resolution late on Tuesday, hours after Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced the formation of the committee on his official X handle.

As per the resolution, 'extensive challenges have emerged due to demographic changes, including those linked to illegal immigration.'

These changes, it says, observed in certain regions, are not attributable to normal fertility or mortality trends but are instead caused by external abnormal factors such as illegal immigration, irregular population mobility, and administrative laxity.

The resolution notes that although such changes are most visible in border districts, their impact has extended to urban centres, industrial corridors, tribal regions, and other socially and economically sensitive areas. (ANI)