August 1, 2014
Make less excuses, work more: WB CM at Bankura
West Bengal Chief Minister Ms MamataBanerjee inaugurated 166 projects and laid the foundation stones for another110 projects for the Bankura district today at a public meeting.
Thewave of development in Jangalmahal – thanks to the initiatives of the WestBengal Chief Minister – has not only resulted in the return of peace in theseareas, once synonymous with terrorism activities by left-wing extremists, butalso spread the light of development in these backward regions.
Thenumerous projects the Chief Minister inaugurated today include severalpolytechnic colleges, girls' schools, girls' hostels, bridges and roads underPMGSY, a model school, a laboratory, a pipelined drinking water supply project,an irrigation project, several Karma Tirthahubs across South Bengal among others.
TheChief Minister also laid the foundation stones for several projects like Krishak Bazars, ITIs, minority hubs, Pather Sathis (motels), SkillDevelopment Centres, youth hostels, road projects under PMGSY and several otherprojects. The Chief Minister also distributed grants and aids like Kanyashree, land pattas, pensions to folk artistes, farm machineries and a host ofother such benefits.
TheChief Minister will wrap up this leg of district tours by the end of August.Her next visit will be to Uttar and Dakshin Dinajpur districts in North Bengal.
Excerpts from the Chief Minister's speech:
Small and medium scale industries areprogressing. Many unemployed youths will get employment. We have inaugurated Karma Tirtha marketing centres today. Weare in the process of 500 marketing hubs. 48 have been inaugurated today. Wewill generate employment. 166 projects have been inaugurated and foundationstones for 110 projects have been laid today.
Bankura is a land of talented students.They are the best among all districts. I ask all of you to enrol for Kanyashree scheme. We are going toobserve 14th August as Kanyashree Dibas.We have started Sikkhashreescholarships for SC/ST students.
We have also started Yuvashree scheme to give employment to unemployed youth. We aretying up with Samsung/Raymonds to provide skill development training. UN hasdecided to set up a Centre of Excellence for skill development in Bengal.
The Left incurred debts and now the Centreis taking our revenue in the name of instalments. We have conducted 65administrative review meeting at block level. Bankura is No. 1 district in 100Days Work Scheme. We are No. 1 in 100 Days Work and MSME sector. We mustprovide more employment opportunities to the self-help groups.
We have started onion cultivation in thedry lands of Bankura to become self-sufficient in onion production. Even thefish in Bengal comes from other States. We have to increase our fish production.Hard work always pays. You must work hard.
We are focussing on home tourism. This ispopular in Darjeeling. It will also boost the economy. Our local folk artistesare very talented. We are giving them allowance and making them perform in Govtfunctions.
We have supported the youth in Jangalmahal.We have distributed land pattas tothe homeless. The Left set up only 2 universities in 34 years. We have set up 8new universities in 3 years. Bengal had only 1300 medical seats till 2011. Wehave raised that to 2700. We are setting up 34 new multi super-specialityhospitals.
We have started a project worth Rs 1200crore for drinking water supply. Bankura will become the best district inBengal. Law and order is really good here. If you have any good suggestion, doshare with us. I am always welcome to new ideas. From baluchari saris to terracotta, Bankura district has a lot ofpotential for handicrafts. Bankura is a great tourism destination.
A leader must work with everyone,irrespective of caste, creed, religion. We are all humans. We must notdiscriminate. Icons like Ramakrishna, Vivekananda and Rabindranath have taughtus to respect the plurality of culture. The Maa,Mati, Manush of Bengal are my pride. They are my assets. Service of peopleis my duty. Our culture teaches us about renunciation and realisation. We mustnot look down upon others.
Lifestyle has changed. There is a lot oftension. We must spread more love. The youth today is very impatient. You mustunderstand that several opportunities will come up despite failure one time. Ialways pray for the well-being of my people. I visited Tripureshwari Mandir fewmonths back. The priest asked me my gotra.I replied, Maa, Mati, Manush gotra.
Some people believe in the politics ofmoney power and divisive politics of religion. No. Politics means service ofpeople. You have heard “kotha komkaj beshi“. Now I tell you, follow “faki kom, kaj beshi“. Life is a mix of sadness and happiness.We must tide over sadness. Only then we will succeed in life. Today's younggeneration will become the leaders of tomorrow.
