4 more border haats - bdnews24.com
4 more border haats
India correspondent, bdnews24.com
Published: 22 Sep 2013 10:09 BdST Updated: 22 Sep 2013 11:09 BdST
Four 'border haats' will come on West Bengal's frontier with Bangladesh after they have been a roaring success elsewhere.
West Bengal chief secretary Sanjay Mitra told bdnews24.com that the state government has agreed on principle to set up the four 'haats' after Meghalaya state set 2 such 'haats' on its border with Bangladesh in 2011.
"The haats on Meghalaya-Bangladesh border have been a great success, so why not try these on our border with Bangladesh," Mitra said.
But the four locations on the Bangladesh-West Bengal border are yet to be finalised.
Meghalaya has now asked Delhi for clearance to set up 20 more such haats along the border with Bangladesh.
Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma say the border populations have found the 'haats' most useful and are pushing his administration for more.
Border haats are free trade zones where local traders from both countries come to sell their local products.
They are set up right on the border as enclosed zones, half of the market in Bangladesh and the other half in Indian territory.
They existed on East Pakistan's borders with India before the 1971 war but it took India and Bangladesh forty years to revive them.
The push came from the Border Security Force and its Additional Director General (East) BD Sharma, who is now likely to take over as Director General of West Bengal police.
As the BSF's chief for Eastern region, Sharma wrote to chief secretaries of all states bordering Bangladesh to consider setting up such haats.
"To the West Bengal government alone, we submitted a list of 32 possible locations for border haats. It is good that four have now been approved. A good start will be made," Sharma told bdnews24.com.
He said this was discussed at the recent BSF-BGB conference in Dhaka.
Sharma said the two border forces will provide protection to the haats, which will have all infrastructures like banks. Transport from both sides will be allowed to help traders transport their products.
4 more border haats
India correspondent, bdnews24.com
Published: 22 Sep 2013 10:09 BdST Updated: 22 Sep 2013 11:09 BdST
Four 'border haats' will come on West Bengal's frontier with Bangladesh after they have been a roaring success elsewhere.
West Bengal chief secretary Sanjay Mitra told bdnews24.com that the state government has agreed on principle to set up the four 'haats' after Meghalaya state set 2 such 'haats' on its border with Bangladesh in 2011.
"The haats on Meghalaya-Bangladesh border have been a great success, so why not try these on our border with Bangladesh," Mitra said.
But the four locations on the Bangladesh-West Bengal border are yet to be finalised.
Meghalaya has now asked Delhi for clearance to set up 20 more such haats along the border with Bangladesh.
Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma say the border populations have found the 'haats' most useful and are pushing his administration for more.
Border haats are free trade zones where local traders from both countries come to sell their local products.
They are set up right on the border as enclosed zones, half of the market in Bangladesh and the other half in Indian territory.
They existed on East Pakistan's borders with India before the 1971 war but it took India and Bangladesh forty years to revive them.
The push came from the Border Security Force and its Additional Director General (East) BD Sharma, who is now likely to take over as Director General of West Bengal police.
As the BSF's chief for Eastern region, Sharma wrote to chief secretaries of all states bordering Bangladesh to consider setting up such haats.
"To the West Bengal government alone, we submitted a list of 32 possible locations for border haats. It is good that four have now been approved. A good start will be made," Sharma told bdnews24.com.
He said this was discussed at the recent BSF-BGB conference in Dhaka.
Sharma said the two border forces will provide protection to the haats, which will have all infrastructures like banks. Transport from both sides will be allowed to help traders transport their products.
