October 20, 2011
CM asks BDOs to be more accountable; monitor development in North 24 Parganas
Barasat, October 19: Paschimbanga Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee was in North 24 Parganas on Wednesday under the third leg of her district tours and interacted with the people in the district. She held various meeting with administrative heads and made it clear that she will not tolerate any inconvenience to people. Her visit was part of plan to know the situation prevailing across the district in the state as she said `I don’t think it is possible to monitor development sitting at the Writers’ Building in Kolkata`.
`I want you to more accountable. I will hold you responsible if any death takes place due to malnutrition. Don’t run away from your responsibility trying to pass on the buck on others, I will expect a report on the development and you will have to reply`, were the clear words of instruction from Chief Minister to the administrative officials during her visit to North 24 Parganas on Wednesday. She took stock of the development projects under way in a three-hour closed-door meeting at the Barasat zilla parishad office. Twelve ministers and the state chief and home secretaries also attended the meeting. `Some projects are facing problems; others are progressing smoothly`, she added.
The Chief Minister was told that health units and water transport had been the worst affected by Aila. Bad roads were another headache. An aggrieved Ms. Banerjee spoke to the officials and expressed her concern over the pace of repair of embankments affected by Aila, the Chief Minister advised the District Magistrate to speed up identification of areas affected by floods. She announced a 263-km concrete embankment from Hingalgunj to Hasnabad was announced, for which the foundation stone will be laid on October 30. The project will cost Rs 1,032 crore.
Ms. Banerjee asked the DM to explore additional options, including engaging people on short-term basis when they cited a shortage of funds and manpower and said was the major hindrance in development.
