Author: AITC

West Bengal State Handicrafts Fair, 2014 – one of the largest handicraft fairs in India – was inaugurated by the Minister for Industry, Finance and Commerce, Dr Amit Mitra. Minister for Small and Medium Enterprises, Mr Swapan Debnath was also present on the occasion.

More than 3000 handicraft artists participate in this annual fair organised by the Department of Small and Medium Enterprises, West Bengal Government. The fair will be held till December 14.

While inaugurating the fair Dr Amit Mitra said that the handicraft artists will be given credit cards, modelled after Kisan Credit Cards.

Skill development training will be provided to them by the Federation of India Export Organization so that the manufactured products may be of export quality.

Through the credit cards, the artisans can take a maximum loan of Rs 50,000 and once they repay the loan, more amounts will be approved.

This year, the government has also decided to pay Rs 75 daily to every artisan participating in the fair.

Trinamool Chairperson Ms Mamata Banerjee will chair a meeting today with party's MPs in Rajya Sabaha and Lok Sabha.

The strategy to be adopted by the party for the upcoming Winter Session of the Parliament – which starts from November 24 – will be decided in the meeting.

The party is expected to be vocal on the floor of the Parliament regarding issues like curtailment of 100 Days' Work Scheme, weakening of federal structure of the country, due funds for various projects, among other things.

Mamata Banerjee has been vocal about the Centre's negligence towards Bengal. 

The West Bengal assembly Thursday adopted a motion moved by the ruling Trinamool Congress to oppose curtailment of MGNREGA projects by the Centre. All Opposition parties, except the BJP, supported the motion moved by Education Minister Dr Partha Chatterjee.

While speaking on the issue, Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said, as the saffron party could not reap substantial electoral benefits in the polls in West Bengal, the BJP led central government has stopped sanctioning funds for several projects under JNNURM.

Partha Chatterjee too condemned the move and said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee always favoured the 100-day work scheme and had said if the state had money it would have increased it to 200 days of work.

West Bengal Education Minister, Dr Partha Chatterjee Thursday accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of imparting arms training, without directly taking any name.

“The administration has definite information that behind the route march and drill by people clad in khaki shorts, arms training is being given. We have also heard Durga Vahinis (of women) are being formed. Communal forces are being encouraged,” Partha Chatterjee, Minister for Education and Parliamentary Affairs said in the Assembly.

He was speaking at a debate on a resolution that his party along with CPM and Congress had moved in the House. The resolution expressed concern over attempts made by communal forces to create disturbances in the state.

Partha Chatterjee, also the secretary general of the TMC, alleged that various organisations are indulging in spreading communalism but the government knows how to tackle them.

“We will not allow any such move. We are dealing with incidents like Burdwan blast in a fair manner. Even NIA said that the state government was moving in the right direction in this regard,” Chatterjee said.

Participating in the debate on the resolution, Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said: “Not all Muslims are terrorists. There has been a growing tendency to dub Muslims as terrorists. I am a Muslim and now I think when I go out in the streets, I will have to carry a placard which says 'My name is Firhad Hakim and I am not a terrorist',” he said.

He blamed a particular party aided by a media company for the character assassination. “One party has come to power whose hands are tainted with blood (spilled in) Gujarat and Muzaffarnagar riots,” Hakim said. The House passed the resolution.

Soon after West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee's visit to Singapore and the showcasing of business opportunities in West Bengal, newer alleys are opening up in the state's business arena, especially in South East Asia.

The Governor of Yunnan province of China has extended an invitation to West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee. The invitation will strengthen the relation between Kolkata and Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province. The Chinese Consul General in Kolkata formally handed over the official invitation to the Chief Minister's Office.

The West Bengal Government is also taking steps to enter into a framework agreement for business cooperation with China at the Kunming Forum in June 2015. 

The Principal Secretary, MSME and Textiles, Govt of West Bengal, has proposed talks with the Chinese counterpart for such an agreement. A high profile Chinese delegation will participate in the Bengal Global Business Summit in January when contours of such cooperation agreement could be shaped up.

On October 28, the South Korean Ambassador to India Joon Gyu Lee called on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat Nabanna.  Mr Lee was at the head of a three-member delegation to the chief minister. Issues relating to possible South Korean investment and their cooperation in related areas was said to have discussed, among other things, in the hour-long meeting.

In the last week of August 2014, Mr Datuk Naimun Ashakli Mohammad, High Commissioner of Malaysia to India with his high level team and the Honorary Consul of Malaysia met the West Bengal Chief Minister at state secretariat Nabanna and discussed business propositions.

The West Bengal Land Reforms (Amendment) Bill 2014 was passed in the Assembly. The Bill amends the West Bengal Land Reforms Act 1955 to bring fisheries, townships, transportation terminals, logistic hubs, medical institutions, oil and gas products, piped transportation, mining and allied activities in the list of industries which are eligible to hold land in excess of the applicable land ceiling.

It also allows industrialists to hold for two more years, unused land held in excess of the ceiling.

The amendment adds the rider 'subject to government clearance'.

In the absence of the chief minister, state parliamentary affairs minister Mr Partha Chatterjee replied in the Assembly. He said that with the new amendments in the West Bengal Land Reforms (Amendment) Bill 2014, investment will come in Bengal whatever hurdles may come in the way.

Mr Partha Chatterjee said that the work of the land bank is almost complete and it will help the industrialists to identify the land.

With the amendment in Section 14Y of the land reforms act, and land bank, several projects, will be expedited, he added.

The appreciation towards the landmark Kanyashree scheme, instituted by the West Bengal Government had already reached far and wide. After international accolades, recognition by UNICEF and invitation to the Girl Summit 2014 in London, the scheme has now been portrayed in a short-film made by an Oscar-winning director.

A short film on a young girl's fight to stave off marriage and help her family make ends meet drew appreciation at the KIFF on Sunday.

Made by Oscar winning American short filmmaker Megan Mylan, the film is about a beneficiary of the West Bengal Government's Kanyashree and Sabala schemes that are aimed at empowering the women of rural Bengal.

State Minister for the Women & Child Development and Social Welfare department, Dr Sashi Panja introduced the film.

Titled 'After My Garden Grows', the ten-minute film is more like a clip that conveys a strong message. The documentary, shot in Coochbehar district of West Bengal, is about empowerment of rural girls and tells the story of Monika, a rural teenager empowered by the Kanyashree, growing a tiny garden in her home to feed her family, and sow the seeds of her own independence, going back to school and delay the fatalistic early marriage.

Dr Panja, while introducing the film said, “Monika is one among the many rural girls who are participating in the Kanyashree and SABLA programme implemented by our government. The state government is ensuring land ownership to thousands of landless women through Nijo Griha Nijo Bhumi a flagship programme launched by the Hon'ble Chief Minister.

Monika is a beneficiary like hundreds of girls who are accessing a patch of parental land for productive use as a part of the empowerment process enabling them to take actions to continue their education and delay their marriages. 

Monika's sister Kanika, who never had opportunity to participate in such programme and was married off by her parents at the age of 16 years is an example that shows the effectiveness of this collaboration programme. 

Today Monika has her garden that helps her having control over the productive asset which supports her with self-determination and plan for a better future.”

The film could be used by the State government to project its rural schemes, Dr Panja said. “We are exploring the possibilities of using the film to create awareness on our programmes and motivate the girls to join the programme and start their journey towards a life with better education, marriage at proper age and above all to realize their rights including that on land,” she said.

Recently at a state level meet 'Rehabilitation and Welfare of Transgender Community' to discuss if the tag 'third gender' is acceptable to them State Minister for Women and Social Welfare, Dr Shashi Panja said that the Government is drawing up a plan with the help of NGOs working on the issue to protect the rights of the transgenders. 

She also added that they were going to set up a separate welfare board for transgenders under her department. “We will begin by ascertaining the number of people belonging to the third gender and will then provide them with the required health facilities,” the Minister had said. It is estimated that the transgender population in West Bengal is around five to six lakhs.