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Bangla CM Mamata Banerjee today slammed the politics of hate and division practiced by the BJP. She said, “I will do everything for the welfare of people. But I will never allow riots. I will never support politics of division. I do not discriminate between people belonging to separate caste or religion.”

She said that she believes in true Hinduism, not the ideology of hate as spread by the BJP and RSS. “Those who beat up other people can never be real Hindus,” she added.

The CM said, “I also belong to a Hindu family. We do not support hooligans. We also light a lamp in front of the tulsi plant every evening and blow conch shells. My parents never taught me to hate someone else. We have not been taught to discriminate.”

“In Bengal we have never discriminated against any religion. We have renovated temples, we have constructed a skywalk at Dakshineshwar. We have also renoavted dargahs and mazaars. We do not believe in destructive politics,” added Mamata Banerjee.

She asked the BJP and RSS to learn about Hinduism from Ramakrishna Mission or Bharat Sevasram Sangha. “Their saffron robes stand for sacrifice. We are inspired by Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda. We believe in working for the society,” added the chief minister.

She also came down heavily on the BJP on the issue of violence. “In the name of gau-raksha, they are spreading rumours. They are playing politics over the death of over 40 jawans. Rumours of child-kidnappers is being spread and they are targeting people, creating divisions. All this, for political mileage,” the CM said.

She added: “Complain to the police if you come across any propaganda. Do not believe in rumours. Do not believe these seasonal birds. They only come here for votes and then forget about their promises.”

A true leader is one who takes everyone along, not someone who divides people, the CM commented.

The annual festival, Maati Utsav began as an initiative of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. It is celebrated to endorse farmers for their achievements as well as for promoting agriculture in the State.

This year, the chief minister inaugurated the two-day-long festival from Tarakeswar in Hooghly.

She also laid the foundation stone for a light hub at Chandannagar, Rani Rashmoni Green University and also inaugurated working hostels for women, named Karmanjali.

Highlights of the Chief Minister’s speech:

Till 2011, sixty years after independence, Bangla had only 12 universities. In the last seven years, we have set up 28 new universities. 10 more are in the pipeline.

Setting up ‘Mati Tirtha’ was our idea. We started celebrating Mati Utsav in 2013. United Nations started observing International Day of the Soil later. I have even penned a poem on ‘Mati’.

I am proud that I have returned the land to the farmers of Singur. I had sat on a hunger strike for 26 days in Kolkata to fight for the right of farmers. I also remember the days when I was on a dharna at Singur for 14 days.

We have fulfilled our promises. We give Rs 2,500 to every family who lost their land in Singur. We also have a special food package for them. That apart, we have given them financial assistance worth Rs 10,000 to carry out agricultural work.

Today, we have laid the foundation stone for a memorial at Singur, apart from a university in Hooghly district.

Our government is always with the farmers. We have waived off khajna tax on agricultural land. Mutation fees on agricultural land have also been waived off. Yesterday, we have taken a decision to waive off mutation fees on inherited land.

Farmers do not have to pay the premium of crop insurance. State Government bears the entire cost. Last year, we allocated Rs 625 crore for this purpose. This year, we will pay Rs 700 crore.

Centre is sending letters with the pictures of their leaders. Theirs is a useless scheme. They only want to take credit. We don’t want alms from the Centre, we want our dues.

We have started Krishak Bandhu scheme. Farmers with one acre of land will get Rs 5,000 per year in two instalments. If a farmer between the age of 18-60 passes away, their family will get Rs 2 lakh. We are spending Rs 5,000 crore for this project.

We are providing rice at Rs 2 per kg to 8.5 crore people. We buy the rice but give it to people at Rs 2/kg. For this we have to pay an additional Rs 5,000 as subsidy. We are doing this for the people.

The Centre was taking the credit for Ayushmaan Bharat scheme, although states bear half the cost. So, we have withdrawn from that scheme. We have our own scheme Swasthya Sathi. We are spending additional Rs 925 crore for the scheme. Earlier, 95 lakh people were covered under this scheme. Now Swasthya Sathi has been extended to 1.5 crore families (7.5 crore people).

Under the Swasthya Sathi scheme, a woman has been considered as a head of the family. The smart card will be in her name, and her parents will also be eligible for this insurance.

Like we have K1 (Kanyashree 1) scheme for school students, K2 for college students, we have started K3 scheme for girls studying in universities.

We have distributed one crore cycles under Sabooj Sathi scheme.

We have instituted several scholarship schemes – from Swami Vivekananda Merit scholarship to Sikshashree.

We have started insurance and pension schemes for journalists also.

What stopped the other parties from carrying out developmental works when they were in power? Why did they not renovate Tarakeshwar, Tarapith? Why did they not set up a light hub in Chandannagar?

Five new hostels for working women have been inaugurated today. We have named them Karmanjali.

We give a sapling to parents when a baby is born. When a person dies in a poor family, we give them financial assistance worth Rs 2,000 for cremation/burial.

Two of our schemes have been declared as ‘Champion Projects’ by UN – Utkarsh Bangla and Sabooj Sathi. They are among top 5 schemes, selected from among thousands of schemes from across the world. No other State from India has been selected.

Potato farmers are in distress because of excess production. The State Government is with the farmers. We will buy 10 lakh metric tonnes of potatoes from the farmers for various schemes like ICDS and mid-day meal.

We have given compensation of Rs 1,200 crore to farmers affected by natural disasters.

Our irrigation department has started a new project in Damodar Valley basin worth Rs 3,000 crore for flood prevention. This was supposed to be done by the Centre, but they did not. So, we have taken up the project. Nearly 30 lakh people will be benefitted.

A separate flood prevention plan worth Rs 40 crore has been taken up for Arambagh.

Nearly two crore people have lost their jobs across the country. In Bangla, we have reduced unemployment by forty per cent.

The developments in Bangla’s tourism sector have helped the State emerge as one of the favourite destinations among domestic as well as international tourists, said the State Tourism Minister recently. He made the statement while addressing a gathering at the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

He said, another comprehensive project for the development of tourism will be taken up soon at an estimated budget of Rs 500 crore.

The Bagdogra Airport has recorded the highest growth rate of traffic in India, he said, adding that the State Government is providing 136 acres for its expansion. Of this, 26 acres has already been provided to the Airports Authority of India.

Several other airports are coming up, in Balurghat, Cooch Behar, Burnpur and other places, which would help in both tourism and business.

Three new projects in public-private partnership (PPP) are being taken up by the government – Bhorer Alo Gajoldoba, at Jharkhali in the Sundarbans and at Sabujdwip in Balagarh, on the western bank of the Hooghly River. They are worth Rs 2,500 crore.

In Gajoldoba, the Tourism Department is setting up a centre for hospitality training. Such centres will also set up in other places.

Then, the Bengal Safari Park, the showpiece project of north Bengal, is undergoing more additions. A 1.5-km walkthrough tunnel aquarium has been planned there, with the initial phase being of 400 to 500 metres. More elephants and exotic birds are also being brought here. This park is clocking heavy profits.

A similar safari park is being planned in a remote forest area in Darjeeling district known as Chamukdangi.

In addition to these, the government has earmarked a total of 89 trekking routes till now where it is building trekking camps. Places such as Tiger Hill and Sandakphu see a lot of trekkers throughout the years.

Tourism projects have also been taken up in Kalimpong, Chalsa, Fulbari and Sevoke.

The Tourism Department has 43 resorts, which it plans to increase to 100. They are being upgraded to three-star properties. Wherever space is available, said the minister, skywalks, nature interpretation centres, museums, kitchen gardens where organic farming could be done and several other facilities would be set up.

The State Homestay Policy is ready and the government is moving at a fast pace in registering homestays, with a strict eye on ensuring that these follow the norms laid down in the policy.

At the same time, six houseboats of the Tourism Department will soon become operational. Private operators too will operate some of the routes.

Moreover, Kolkata in particular has the potential to become the hub of MICE (meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions) tourism due to its low cost of operations, rich culture, heritage, lineage of art and poetry and proximity to South East Asia.

All these, and more, are aimed at making Bangla the supreme state for tourist attractions, the minister said.

Last but not the least, seeing the potential, he called for more and more private investment in the tourism sector. He said the State Government is ready to provide land at suitable places.

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With Bengal now among the top States in mind of both domestic and international tourists, the State Government is giving a lot of stress creating manpower for the hospitality sector.

The Tourism Department already runs 43 properties, which it plans to increase to 100, and make all of them three-star equivalent.

With such plans being implemented, there is a need for more and more manpower in the hospitality industry.

Towards satisfying this need, the government has decided to set up hospitality training institutes across the State, the first of which is coming up at the eco-tourism resort, Bhorer Alo in Gajoldoba in Jalpaiguri district.

All these, and more, are aimed at making Bangla the best State for tourists.

Source: Bartaman

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In a letter to the prime minister, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has expressed major concern over the largest lending institution of the country for industrial infrastructure, Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS), going under a huge debt. IL&FS is involved in a debt of almost Rs 91,000 crore.

In the letter, she has also communicated her distress over the woes of the common people as a result of this debt.

Companies such as HIDCO, IDBI, SBI, SIDCO and MMTC, and the power boards of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, had invested their employees’ money belonging to provident funds and pension funds in IL&FS, in the form of bonds. This money is now blocked.

Thus employees belonging to many government and semi-government organisations are not sure now whether they would get back their money.

Concerned over this suffering of the common people, Mamata Banerjee in her letter has asked the prime minister to intervene in this matter.

The situation at IL&FS started deteriorating from last September, and has been on the downswing since then.

Source: Aajkal

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On the occasion of International Mother Language Day today, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee paid tribute at the Bhasha Shahid Stambha at Desapriya Park. She said, “This day is very auspicious. This is a historic day. Today we pay homage to those who gave their lives for Bhasha Andolan in Dhaka in 1952.”

The CM said, “On this day, we pay our homage to everyone who sacrificed their lives for their mother language across the world. Their sacrifice has not gone in vain. United Nations declared this day as International Mother Language Day in 1999. Bengali language has played a big part in this. Bengali is the fifth most spoken language in the world and the second most spoken language in Asia.”

Mamata Banerjee also spoke strongly against hate in her speech. She said, “We have been taught in our childhood not to hate anyone. We have been taught not to spread rumours. We must not indulge in spreading canards. We must love everyone equally.”

She added, “We want India to be united. We want India to prosper. We cannot let fundamentalism take over India. India cannot become a nation of closed minds. India cannot become a nation of half-baked education. India has always been known as the land of wisdom and knowledge.”

“We will love all religions, languages, people of all faiths and beliefs equally. We do not support the politics of discrimination and division. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Tripura to Dwarka – we want everybody to be happy,” she said.

Regarding the recent incidents of violence the CM commented, “We cannot turn away a Kashmiri shawl seller just because an incident happened. No one can take law into their hands. If someone thinks only they have the right to live here, and not other, sorry, we do not support such a theory.”

She added, “How can someone dare to threaten a Kashmiri doctor who is living in Bengal for 20 years? Such arrogance. Leaders of a political party, with their agenda of hate, are trying to sow the seeds of division. My language has not taught me to hate anyone.”

She also came down heavily against political groups spreading hate. She said, “If you raise your voice, you are branded pro-Pakistan. They think they are the only nationalists, and rest of us are anti-nationals. Who are they to lecture us? People of Bangla must unitedly fight against fundamentalism with conviction and strength.”

“They are distorting history. The ideology they espouse is not part of our culture. Their brand of religion is inhumane. Who are they to decide what a person can wear, what a person can eat, what language they will speak or which State they will live in?” she added.

She also said: “We were born in this land we will die here too. We will never betray this nation, this country, our language or unity of the country. We want united India. Let us think with unity. Let us work for unity. Let us speak for unity. We must defeat the politics of divide-and-rule”.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will soon issue directives to all shopping malls in the city to set up breastfeeding facilities, bringing relief for new mothers.

The decision was sanctioned at the mayors-in-council meeting on February 13 headed by the mayor.

As per the decision, all existing malls will have to set up facilities where mothers can feed their babies. Malls that are going to be set up in the future will mandatorily need to have such facilities.

Source: Millennium Post

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