Home
The Home Department of the "Government of Bengal" was instituted in the year 1843. The Functions of this Department from the very beginning were heterogeneous in character.The outline of the main activities of the Department is as follows: 

• According administrative sanction to schemes to be implemented by field agencies
• Preparing annual budget for home department and field offices, seeking approval and monitoring expenditure
• Liaison with Government of India for funds relating to the Border Area Development Programme
• Framing policy decisions pertaining to law and order, excise, entertainment, crime against women etc.
• Dealing with appeals against externment, cinema, hotel, bar, arms licenses etc.
• Processing applications pertaining to Domicile Certificates, Visa, Citizenship etc.
• Ensuring human resource development through refresher training, orientation courses, training on specialized disciplines viz., handling of arms, ammunitions, explosives etc. in respect of the police force of the State.
• License to Private Security Agencies
• Election to Legislative Assembly & Parliament (Lok Sabha) etc.
• Census
• Protection of human rights
• Political Sufferers' Pension, etc.

Hill Affairs Department
The Hill Affairs Department, now merged with the Home Department in terms of Notification No. 1006-Home (Cons)/R2R (Cons)-08/2016 dated 19-12-2016 and called as Hill Affairs Branch of Home & Hill Affairs Department, was instituted to look after the matters of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), an autonomous body set up under the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Act, 2011, within Darjeeling district comprising 03 (Three) Hill Sub-Divisions viz. (i) Darjeeling (ii) Kalimpong (iii) Kurseong and 18 (Eighteen) mouzas of Siliguri Sub-Divisions (Kalimpong is now declared as a separate district of the West Bengal vide Notification No. 36-PAR(AR)/O/2R-2/16 dated 07-02-2017). 

The main objective of the Hill Affairs Branch is to promote social, economic, educational and cultural advancement of the people residing in the Hill areas of both the districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong.It also regulates finance of the GTA in association with all concerned Administrative Departments of the State Government by co-ordinating all development schemes and projects in the Hill areas.