Author: AITC

After repeated talks and intervention bythe government, the Sahaganj factory of Dunlop India reopened on September 25.The factory had been shut down since October 2011. More than 555 workers arefinally going to spend a happy puja and the workers will be handed over acheque of Rs 5000 from their dues.

The factory had been decorated withflowers, cleaned with disinfectants and lit up as well. The reopening ceremonywas graced by the presence of state Labour Minister Mr Moloy Ghatak, theparliamentary secretary Mr Tapan Dasgupta and the workers including INTTUCleaders.

The workers henceforth will be paid Rs 5000every month as a part of their past dues. After the opening of the unit,technical workers will take over for turning the machinery into a workingcondition at the quickest possible time. Production will start in a few days.

The Mamata Banerjee led West Bengal governmenthas decided to organise a three-day film festival in January on wildlife atJalpaiguri with the idea to expose sons of the soil to films like 'Living withthe Giants'.

Great movies to spread the message

The festival promises not to confine greatmovies by the likes of Austen Stevens and Bedi Brothers to air-conditionedtheatres in a thoroughly urbane ambience only but to take it to the grassroots.

State forest minister Benoy Barman told reporterson Wednesday: “Since wildlife exists intensely in north Bengal, we havedecided to hold the wildlife film festival at the Jalpaiguri Art Gallery. Theidea is to spread awareness among the locals in north Bengal – especially thosefrom Gen Y – about wildlife conservation.” The state information andcultural affairs department will help in the screening.

Elephants at Gorumara National Park

Connecting with the youth

The forest department will rope inschoolchildren for the film festival which will be held on January 16, 17 and18. “Youngsters in the Dooars must develop a sense of pride for thewildlife so as to avoid man-animal conflict.

Through the films, we would try to makethem aware of the different natures of different animals. For example it isimportant to know about the local animals like elephants and bison – theirspecies and characteristics.”

The minister said from January 2015onwards, such film festivals will be held every year. The forest department hasinvolved NGOs like SNEHA (Society for Nature Education and Health Awareness)for the film festival.

A bison at Gorumara National Park

Showcasing the wildlife

The wildlife division of the department hasstarted enlisting films like Living with Giants, a film on elephants, directedby Ashish Chandola, Land of the Tiger, The Great Indian Rhino, The lastMan-eater Killer Tigers of India and Crocodiles, The Living Dinosaurs.

At the end of the shows, the forestdepartment will organise interactive sessions with students and their parents.The topics will include man-animal conflict, eco-tourism and conservation ofwildlife.

The minister said, “The films willcreate awareness among the sons of the soil where man-animal conflict is veryhigh. These people are largely ignorant of wildlife behaviour. It makes everysense to expose them to the cinematic extravaganza which has so far been withinthe reach of the urbanised audience only.”

A rhinoceros at Gorumara National Park

A star-studded affair

The forest department intends giving thefilm fest a dash of colour by having representatives for Tollywood – especiallyDev, whose adventurous Chander Pahar has won hearts – to flag off theextravaganza.

This Mahalaya was special for both artist Mr Santan Dinda and Puja organisers at Chetla Agrani Club.

West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee kindly accepted a request sent by Mr Sanatan Dinda. The letter, addressed to artist Ms Mamata Banerjee, requested the Chief Minister to perform the Chokkhu Daan (painting the eyes of the Goddess Durga) for the idol he is making at Chetla Agrani Club.

The Chief Minister visited the artist’s studio at Chetla and performed the Chokkhu Daan on the auspicious occasion of Mahalaya.

Incidentally, the team of artists, who are working with Mr Dinda at Chetla comprises people from Nandigram and Khejuri,who have seen the firebrand leader’s fight for their rights from very close quarters.

The West Bengal Chief Minister has been a prolific painter and her works have been displayed at several exhibitions. She has even created the logos for the internationally acclaimed Kanyashree scheme and the Biswa Bangla Brand.

The National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) today hailed the West Bengal government's order making accreditation mandatory for warehouses where it would keep agricultural products.  NABARD said that the order would do good to the farmers as well as the bank.
 
The West Bengal government has issued an order that all the warehouses where it proposes to keep its agricultural produces have to be accredited.
 
West Bengal did not have sufficient cold storage and warehousing and the gap between total requirement and the existing one was huge. The new government decided to set up cold storage in every block. The total requirement is 53 lakh MT and the gap is of 12 lakh MT in warehousing excluding the cold storage.
 
Now the new criteria is any warehouse with a capacity of 1000 MT and that has availed government subsidy should get themselves accredited and It has been made compulsory.
 
Farmers, on keeping their agricultural products in an accredited warehouse would get a negotiable warehouse receipt, that would help them get loans from banks.

The Bengal Government once again showed howto lead from the front. It has now added another feather to its cap by baggingthe top honour for e-governance in NREGA under World Bank's assistance. Theawards, currently in the 37^th year, were given out by theDelhi-based think tank Skoch group.

The state was awarded the Order of Merit infour distinct areas. Besides MGNREGA, the project for 'Sanitation Units foreverybody' in Nadia was duly awarded for its successful implementation. Web-basedMonitoring System of Gram Panchayats for ISGP and e-Governance was alsohonoured. The state received Gold and Platinum Award for the NREGA ande-Governance.

Despite non-release of funds by the centralGovernment, the state's performance in NREGA is incredible. The new Governmenthad given special focus on e-Governance since 2011 and within a span of thelast three and half years, most of the accounting and monitoring system arebeing done online. The process has brought a great deal of accountability andtransparency at each level of governance.

West Bengal Chief Minister Ms MamataBanerjee inaugurated a slew of new health initiatives for the common peoplethrough remote control from a programme at Nazrul Mancha.

West Bengal government organised Agomoni programmetoday, on the eve of Mahalaya. Veteran artists performed at the function which saw a musical performance of Mahisasurmardini.

Several health initiatives

WB CM inaugurated several projects, initiated through privatepublic partnership (PPP). At today's programme, the West Bengal Chief Minister also inaugurate a digital X-Ray unit at Howrah District Hospital, a CITI scan unit at Sagar Dutta Medical College and Hospital at Kamarhati, North 24 Parganas, and the fifty-bed SNSU unit at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital. The SNSU unit at R G Kar Hospital will soon have thirty more beds added to it in near future.

At the moment, eleven dialysis units, six CITIscan units and 2 MRI units are already functional. Also, there are forty twoSNSU units functional in different state hospitals. Here children less than ayear old are treated free of cost.

Impetus to ferry services

The Chief Minister also inaugurateferry services between Dakkhineshwar and Belur, an initiative taken up by thestate transport department; six new ferries were also flagged offtoday.

The inauguration of vehiclecrossing facility from Nebukhali to Dulduli in Sunderbans was inaugurated by the Chief Minister. She also ceremonially flagged off the new jetties at Ramkrishnapur, Shibpur and Chandpal-II.

West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee reviewed the performance of various departments of the government and assessed funds released and capital expenditure incurred at a two-hour-long administrative meeting.

State Industries Minister Dr Amit Mitra briefing on the meeting said that during the first half of the current financial year (2014-15), the state government had released Rs 20,606.43 crore from the state plan outlay, representing a hike of 109 per cent over the corresponding period last year.

Dr Mitra said that the Chief Minister had advised her cabinet colleagues and departmental secretaries for further improvement in the performance during the next six months of the current financial year.

The Chief Minister appealed for better performance of departments like Fire Service, Food Processing, Agriculture Marketing, Law, North Bengal Development, Sports and Transport, and Self Help Group and praised the departments like Panchayat, Education, Higher Education, Women and Child Development, Municipal Affairs and Urban Development.

Going through a comparative study of the last two financial years, Dr Mitra said that in 2012-13 state government recorded a growth of 34.94 per cent in releasing funds from state plan outlay along with some central projects. However, growth in the capital expenditure incurred by the state government during 2012-13 was 63.55 per cent, he said.

Similarly, in 2013-14 state government recorded a growth of 38.65 per cent in releasing funds from state plan outlay along with some central projects. However, growth in the capital expenditure incurred by the state government during 2013-14 was 43.66 per cent, he observed.

The West Bengal Chief Minister began reviewing meetings, both at the state and grassroots levels, soon after her government came to power. She had already conducted 72 block-level review meetings covering all the districts in the state.