June 19, 2011
CM upholds Bengal Model at meet with industrialists
Kolkata, July 19: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made it very clear to the industrialist that she would follow the homegrown Bengal Model for the industrial growth of the state during the Industrialist Meet on Saturday. The Chief Minister stressed on the need of industrial zones in the state. She urged the industrialists not to delay their proposed projects and asked them to start working immediately. She reminded them of the availability of 49000 hectares of land in the state for industrialization. She asked the industrialists to work as a family for the industrial betterment of the state.
The Chief Minister announced a 25-member team that will look at refurbishing the state's industry. This `core` team comprises 17 members from the industry and six key departmental secretaries, State Finance Minister Amit Mitra and State Industries Minister Partha Chaterjee and the Chief Minister herself. This Group will meet every 15 days and discuss the development of various issues.
`I want you to join us in re-building West Bengal` Ms. Banerjee told at the outset. `We will have to introduce a do-it-now culture for work. The core committee will therefore meet, thrash out problems and take decisions with speed,` she said.
Ms. Banerjee made it very clear that the IT sector in the state needs expansion. She also pointed out sectors e.g. health and tourism where industrialists can invest profitably and which would also provide betterment for the general mass as well. The most important point that the Chief Minister mentioned during the session is that her Government would not tolerate bandhs and strikes for the sake of industrial growth and rejuvenate the lost work culture in the state. She also welcomed the idea of working with private sector in improving the deployed health sector of the state in PPP model.
`We won't follow Gujarat's model. We shall have our own policy to revive Bengal. There is a lot of scope for you in West Bengal. Several sectors have remained untouched. In our vision document, we have announced several clusters where industrialists can invest. Tea tourism is one area that can be explored. I am also keen on developing health cities. However, the poor can't be ignored.
Whoever wants to invest in the health sector will have to take care of poor patients as well. Do you realize how many people come to Kolkata for treatment from the rural areas? We are ready to participate with the private sector in setting up multi-specialty hospitals. You can do business but the poor should also receive treatment,` Ms. Banerjee said.
The Chief Minister said that there are invitations to the state from countries like Japan and USA for industrialization. She came up with ideas to set up offices abroad to show case what our state Bengal has to offer in the industrial field. On a nutshell, the Chief Minister wants full utilization of the industrial land available in Bengal.
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