West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari accorded Guard of Honour at Nabanna after assuming office, in Howrah on May 11, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI
After taking oath as West Bengal Chief Minister on May 9, 2026, Suvendu Adhikari chaired his first Cabinet meeting on Monday (May 11, 2026) and said his government has granted transfer of land to the BSF for erecting a fence along the Bangladesh border and approved immediate implementation of the Census exercise in the State.
After the Cabinet meeting, Mr. Adhikari said “We held the first meeting of Cabinet today, five Ministers who took oath with me participated in the meeting. Along with that, on the invitation of Chief Secretary, several government officials participated in the meeting. This government will do away with the practice for the party by the party and ensure the Constitutional principles of government for the people by the people.”
The Chief Minister said, “We took six decisions at the Cabinet [meeting]. We are committed towards well-being of 321 families of martyrs who laid their lives as BJP supporters. We have started land transfer to the BSF for securing borders. The Chief Secretary and the secretary of the State’s land and land revenue department have been asked to complete the process of land transfer within the next 45 days.”
The meeting also decided to induct Bengal into multiple Central government schemes, including the Ayushman Bharat health coverage programme.
“The West Bengal government will implement all the schemes which the earlier government did not implement. Schemes like PM Viswakarma Yojana, PM Shri Ujjwala Yojana 3 will be implemented in the State. West Bengal will also implement Ayushman Bharat Scheme,” Mr. Adhikari noted,
The Ayushman Bharat aims to provide cashless hospitalisation coverage of ₹5,00,000 per family per year to poor and vulnerable families for secondary and tertiary healthcare services.
After the Cabinet meeting, Mr. Adhikari said, “West government officials will participate in training provided by the central government. The previous government did not allow officials to participate in the scheme.”
“The West Bengal government allows an extension of five years in the age limit for candidates appearing for government jobs,” he said.
Mr. Adhikari alleged that the previous Mamata Banerjee-led TMC dispensation had ignored a circular, dated June 16, 2025, that was sent to the West Bengal government from the Office of the Registrar General of India under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, intimating about the impending Census exercise in the State.
“A letter was sent by the Ministry of Home Affairs on June 16, 2025, regarding the carrying out of the Census as per the directive of the Government of India. The previous government kept sitting on the file; we are starting the census in West Bengal,” said Mr. Adhikari.
“The TMC government betrayed the Constitution and the people and deliberately kept the Census exercise on hold in Bengal so that women’s reservation could be stopped. The Cabinet has granted immediate sanction for the circular to take effect in the state,” Mr. Adhikari added
The Chief Minister also alleged that the new criminal law of Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), replacing the erstwhile IPC and CrPC, wasn’t officially implemented by the TMC government in the State and said the first Cabinet meeting has granted official sanction to the new law to come into force..
(With inputs from PTI)
Published – May 11, 2026 01:17 pm IST
