Author: AITC

The West Bengal government is on its way tointegrate its various departments into a web-enabled framework to offer asmooth delivery of services to citizens. A West Bengal State Wide Area Network(WBSWAN), offering a dedicated, secure, closed user group with data encryptioncapabilities, has been created to provide a minimum 2 Mbps bandwidth up to theblock level. With 346 points of presence, the WBSWAN connects more than 500offices of various departments in the state level up to the block level.

“Thisgovernment looks at the grassroots. We should be able to have videoconferencing (VC) from our centres across the state. The VC facility in highdefinition was made available to 14 important state government buildings and 10urban development offices. This involves hardware, software, maintenance andbusiness for some people,” state IT minister Dr Amit Mitra said at ICT East2014 organised by CII.

Besides,a state data centre, serving as a repository of all state government databases,infrastructure, applications and services, has been initiated. An e-Districtpilot project has also been started in Bankura and Jalpaiguri. Sixteen servicesunder six categories such as certificates, pensions, social welfare, grievanceredressal, industrial services and licenses will be made available, with thestate's nodal agency Webel acting as the facilitator. Online tests andinterviews for e-District project managers are already being conducted.

DrMitra said the rollout of this project across 16 districts under five optionaland five mandatory categories will draw a lot of spin-off businesses.

Trinamool MP Ratna De Nag today urged the society to change its attitude towards women and come forward to protect the rights of women and children in India. She highlighted the gory statistics of sexual violence against women and also mentioned the ways West Bengal is tackling this issue.

Transcript of her speech:

Gender based violence not only violates human rights butalso restricts economic growth and undermines development. It can only beeliminated by addressing discrimination and promoting women's equalities andempowerment. Here I would like to mention something about my state. West BengalChief Minister Mamata Banerjee is trying to empower women with limitedresources. For example she had introduced the Kanyashree Scheme to help girl children to study, she established womenpolice stations in different districts, made hostels for girls, and executed 30%reservation of women in Lok sabha.

The possible gender equalities of women rights are enshrinedin our Constitution. The Constitution grants equality to women. Womenconstitute nearly half of the country's total population as per the 2011census. Delhi's gang rape on 16^th December, 2012 outraged thenations. What irks me the most is that the people behind this in a crime areyet to get punishment. Justice delayed is justice denied.

We had to see the fast-track courts are really fastt indispensing justice. There is a need to plug all the loopholes so that we canpunish the culprit as early as possible. Since then unfortunately more and moreatrocities against women are reported from the different parts of the country,recent being Meerut gang rape. What is stopping the Central Government fromsetting up more special courts or fast-track court to try the cases ofatrocities against the women? It is interesting to know that fast-track courtswere first thought of by the 11th Finance Commission 2000-2005 as an ad-hocinstitution to address the urgent problem of backlog.

There is an urgent need to address the problems being facedby the women and girls who are subject to physical and sexual abuse,psychological and economic abuse and all sorts of assault. Also widespreadharmful additional practices including early and forced marriages within thecommunity should be stopped. I say so because these developments in their life atsuch an early stage would leave an endurable impact as the growth and attitudetoward their life itself changes.

It is disturbing for any right thinking person to know thatin India every 26 minutes a woman is molested, every 30 minutes a rape takesplace, every 42 minutes a sexual incident occurs, every 43 minutes a woman iskidnapped, every 93 minutes a woman is burned to death over dowry. But last butnot the least, one quartet of reported rape cases involve girls under the ageof sixteen.

India has the largest young population; 42% are below 18years of age. Of late, sexual harassment of school children has come as a greatshock. The incident of sexual harassment at a Bangalore school was a greatshock but this is not an isolated incident. We often come across theexploitation of children in juvenile homes and orphanages. These orphanages andjuvenile homes should be monitored with the intention of ensuring safety andsecurity of children. The homes should not become a den of sexual harassment ofchildren. There is no dearth of laws, Acts, procedures, rules and regulationsbut the problem is about the implementation. Proper measure should be put inplace to see that all the laws and Acts related to women and children should beimplemented in letter and spirit and justice is delivered to them in time.

We have 62 women MPs in the 16th Lok Sabha. According to the73^rd and 74^th Amendments to the Constitution of Indiawomen have reservations in the local bodies in panchayat and municipalities.And we are demanding 30% reservation for women in Parliament. India is surgingahead in every sphere yet we come across the incidents of atrocities againstwomen. This is really a tragedy of the worst kind.

Violence against women is comprehensive and involves allstake holders. Men have a role specially in preventing the violence and therole needs to be further explored and strengthened. Work to end violenceagainst women requires not only a clear demonstration of political commitment,but also systemic and sustained action backed by dedicated and permanentinstitution of mechanism. Government should take responsibility for thesystemic collection and publication of data supporting NGOs, academics andothers. Only legislation of laws and agencies cannot prevent the incidents ofviolence against women. There is an urgent need for social awareness andchanging attitude of this society to give due respect and equal status towomen.

In this regard all stake holders should come forward to defendthe right of women and children. And at last I live in hope of seeing that awoman is living in dignity and honour in this great country without facing anytype of atrocities whatsoever, and very child enjoy their life to the fullestby playing, learning, living with all love and affections showered on them. Itwill become a reality provided we all stride together, everyone out there inthe society contribute to this cherished goal towards our women and children.    

West Bengal Chief Minister Ms MamataBanerjee has once again urged the traders' forum to see to it that potatoes arenot sold outside the state. At present, the state has a stock of 32 lakh metricton of potatoes and the stock will be able to last for the next six months ifthe state government manages to stop sale outside the state.

Ms Banerjee has also asked the EnforcementBranch to take necessary measures. It has been asked to intensify vigil in themarkets in Kolkata and the adjoining areas so as to ensure that potatoes arenot sold at higher prices and that traders are not hoarding the vegetable.

Enforcement Branch (EB) has asked police tointensify vigil in inter-state border areas to restrict transport of potato.

A meeting was held at Nabanna on ways tocontrol the skyrocketing price of potatoes. A senior official of theAgriculture Department said police stations of several districts were asked tocheck the challan of lorries that aretransporting potatoes.

It may be recalled that the stategovernment has imposed a ban on sale of potatoes outside West Bengal. It hasrecently been reported that potatoes from the state were being sold to UttarPradesh from where stocks were exported to Pakistan.

Another meeting of the task force will beheld at Nabanna on 11 August to ensure that potato prices do not go up. Earlieran emergency task force meeting was held at Nabanna.

West Bengal Chief Minster Ms MamataBanerjee will be visiting Singapore from August 17 – 21 to attract investmentsfor the State. The officials from departments like Education, Health,Infrastructure, Municipal Development, Industry and Food Processing havecompleted their respective presentation that will be showcased to theSingapore-based business houses, who will meet the Bengal delegation.

The presentations have been created withutmost care, made crisp and to-the-point, providing all the important detailsregarding the West Bengal Government and the investment-friendly environment inthe State.

The delegation headed by the West BengalChief Minister is expected to include the State Industry Minister, PowerMinister and Education Minister. Senior Officials from different departmentsincluding the Chief Secretary and the Industry Secretary will join thedelegation.

The State Government has already written tobodies like FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM and other such Chambers seeking their help andsuggestion regarding the visit to Singapore. It is expected that two teams, oneconsisting of government officials and another consisting of business househeads from the State, will accompany the Chief Minister.

Trinamool MP Saugata Roy today raised theissue of non-payment of funds for 100 Days Work Scheme by the Centre in LokSabha. Speaking on the issue he highlighted that Bengal ranked No.1 in thecountry in terms of expenditure under MNREGS in 2013-14 and recorded highest-everexpenditure of more than Rs 5600 crore.

He said that the Centre was yet to releasepending funds for this scheme to the tune of Rs 885 crore as a result of whichpoor people were not getting their wages.

He also slammed the proposed move of theGovt to restrict the MNREGS scheme to select Blocks in the country. He demandedto know why poor people from other districts would be deprived of the benefitsof the scheme.

Transcript of his full speech:

The Mahatma Gandhi National RuralEmployment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) was introduced in this country to giveminimum 100 Days Work to the rural poor. First, it started with certain numberof blocks, then, it was made effective in all rural blocks of this country.

West Bengal was one of the States whichimplemented the scheme effectively, especially during the present government.In 2013-14, West Bengal had spent Rs 5600 crore on the scheme, which was an allIndia record. But, the Central Government is not paying its share in thescheme. Till now, Rs 885 crore is due from the Centre to West Bengal onMGNREGS. The West Bengal Chief Minister has protested against this non-paymentand she has demanded that this amount be paid immediately. Otherwise, the poorpeople in rural areas cannot be paid their wages due to the Hundred Days Work.

Now again, the Central Government isproposing to keep MGNREGS alive in only a few selected blocks in this country.This will be an anti-people step, because question will arise, what will thepoor do in other blocks of the country?

I demand that West Bengal be immediatelypaid its dues so that wages to rural poor may be paid and the scheme be keptalive in all the rural blocks of the country.

WB Minister for Industry and Commerce DrAmit Mitra today expressed his dismay over the comments made by Ratan Tata regardingBengal. He opined that Mr Tata has not been briefed properly by his officeabout the industrial growth in West Bengal. Dr Mitra told reporters, “Onar matibhrom hoyche…” (He haslost his plot). The minister also said that he was surprised to see that Tatawasn't updated about Bengal' economic growth.

The Industry Minister said that even companiesunder the Tata Group – like TCS and Tata Metaliks – are expanding theiroperations in the State. “The list of industries eager to set up shop herein Bengal is long and I need a whole day to read it out,” Dr Mitra saidduring a seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

The minister said that TCS is going togenerate 20000 additional jobs at a new campus in the State. Tata Metaliks has appliedfor expansion recently, he added. The minister also highlighted therecently-cleared investments in cement plants by Anil Ambani and Emami group(both at Raghunathpur) while talking about industrial growth in Bengal. TataHitachi is keen to invest in West Bengal Industrial park in Kharagpur, theminister added.

Trinamool MP Dinesh Trivedi today raisedthe issue of deteriorating jute mills in West Bengal in the Lok Sabha. Speakingon the issue, he said that the jute industry employs two lakh fifteen thousandpeople and accounts for nearly 79.57% of production in the country.

“The Ministry of Textiles states that itprovides MSP to encourage jute farming. However the fact is, for the last 12years beginning 2001 to 2012-13, the production of jute in West Bengal has gonedown nearly 7%” he said.

The present price system does not supportthe jute farmers, he said. “Under the Jute Packaging Materials (Compulsory Useof Packing Commodities) Act 1987, the Government of India has consistentlyreduced the mandatory provisions from 100% for food grains and sugar in 2011-12to 90% and 20% respectively in 2013-14 citing inadequate supply” Mr Trivedicomplained.

He requested theGovt to change the provisions under JPM Act, 1987 for mandatory jute packagingfor food grains and sugar to 100%.

Full Transcript of his speech:

Sir, I wouldlike to draw your kind attention of the Government through you towards thedeteriorating conditions of Jute Industry in West Bengal.  Importance of Jute Industry in my statecannot be stressed enough Sir as it employs two lakh fifteen thousand peopleand accounts for nearly 79.57% of production in the country. 

The Ministry ofTextiles states that it provides MSP to encourage jute farming. However thefact is, for the last 12 years beginning 2001 to 2012-13, the production of jutein West Bengal has gone down nearly 7%, Sir. 

The presentprice system does not support the jute farmers. The jute mills in West Bengal are in dire state. 5 units of NationalJute Corporation Ltd and others had been declared sick during the last 10 yearsthough three of them are now part of the revival scheme.  They continue to function with a lot oflosses. 

Under the Jute PackagingMaterials (Compulsory Use of Packing Commodities) Act 1987, the Government ofIndia has consistently reduced the mandatory provisions from 100% for foodgrains and sugar in 2011-12 to 90% and 20% respectively in 2013-14 citinginadequate supply. 10 mills have shut down in West Bengal beginning 2010-11 to2012-13 and newspapers report that six more mills have shut in the last twomonths. 

I request theGovernment to urgently look into this matter in order to support jute farmers,jute mills and prevent large scale unemployment.  For this I request you to change theprovisions under JPM Act, 1987 for mandatory jute packaging for food grains andsugar to 100%.