Author: AITC

Private and mini-bus operators Sundaypostponed their three-day strike after the state transport minister, Mr MadanMitra, assured them an all-party committee would be formed by 23 June to reviewthe bus fare hike issue.

The state Government has already formed acommittee to oversee the need to raise bus fares. The committee constitutesmembers of different political parties among other people. The committee willsubmit the report within a month and place it before Chief Minister Ms. MamataBanerjee by 23 July, the Transport Minister said.

Mr Mitra held a meeting at Netaji IndoorStadium with members of private bus operators association regarding the busstrike. “We are looking into the matter. The decision to hike the price ofdiesel was taken by the Centre and state has nothing to do with it,” hesaid.

Mr Mitra requested the six bus ownersassociations that attended the meeting to call off the bus strike and wait forthe all-party committee report to examine the issue. Representatives of six busunions called off the strike following the minister`s assurance.

Mr Madan Mitra assured the bus owners thatan all-party committee will review bus fares and initiatives taken by otherstates to combat the diesel price hike. The minister promised that he wouldarrange a meeting between private bus owners and the chief minister as soon aspossible.

In a month`s time from now, all consumers of the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) can pay their electricity bills through online payment mode, sitting at home. The consumers paying their bills online will also avail 1% discount ontheir bills.

A number of customer care centres arealready in place in all parts of the state. Now the online payment system will be available in all the 479 centresof the state. It is estimated that the WBSEDCL has 1.3 crore consumers. Out ofthem 6-7 lakh consumers are already availing the online payment service.

The online payment mode started off inaround October 2012. 90% customer care centres of WBSEDCL have the facility. Therest will be completed by the end of next month. It has been noticed that theconsumers in town areas mostly avail the online payment mode. The StateElectricity Board will also take up drive to popularize the e-payment system.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjeeon Monday demanded roll-back of the “unprecedented, anti-people” railfare hike considering the problems faced by common people.

Making a statement in the Assembly, theChief Minister said that the decision to hike rail fare and freight rates hadcreated problems for the masses.

When a democratic government comes topower, it comes to power on the basis of some promises. What lacks in today`spolitics is that what the political parties preach before elections, they don`tfollow that after coming to power, she said.

Ms. Banerjee said political parties intheir manifestos talk about `Acche Din`,but after coming to power decisions were being taken which were anti-people.

She said if the political parties had plansto take such harsh decisions, they should tell the masses that they would takesuch decisions.

Ms. Banerjee noted that during her tenureas Railway Minister, she had not touched the freight and railway fares becauseit would have adversely affected the day-to-day life of the common man.

She also said that she had information thatthe Centre might withdraw the present subsidy on LPG cylinders.

The increase in rail fare means increase inprices of all commodities. The decision will have an impact on the pocketswhich in turn will affect the kitchen of common man, she said.

A new government should be given time, butif it took unpopular decisions right from the first day, they cannot keepquiet, suggesting that the new government should be polite, soft and takedecision in favour of people.

Ms. Banerjee, however, pointed out thattheir opposition to fare hike did not mean that they were being anti-Centre. Itwas just a reminder to the central government that the decision should be withdrawnfor the sake of people.

The West Bengal Government is set to ropein global brands such as Samsung and domestic companies such as CESC and BergerPaints to train young people in latest skills required for getting qualityjobs.

Speaking at the Skill Conclave organised bythe Confederation of Indian Industry (Eastern Region) in Kolkata today, thestate minister for technical education & training Mr Ujjal Biswas said:”West Bengal is known for its rich pool of superior intellect. The stategovernment wants to transform our intellectual wealth into top class skillresources. The vision is to make West Bengal the Skill Capital of the World.”

West Bengal, Mr Biswas said, has emerged asthe `Best State` in the recent 50th All India Skill Competition 2014 organisedin Delhi by the Union ministry of labour & employment. This is the secondsuccessive year when West Bengal topped the chart, the minister added.

Training in CAD/CAM has been launched in 62Vocational Training Centres with technical assistance from Siemens and plus-twostudents are receiving training with assured opportunities for internships andjobs, he said.

“A skill programme on hospitality has beeninitiated at Kalimpong. About 770 trainees are placed in well-known chainrestaurants such as Cafe Coffee Day with reasonable wages and servicebenefits,” he said.

The minister said as part of its mission toenhance employability and produce quality workforce, the state government willwork closely with the National Skill Development Corporation for job-linkedprogrammes.

“We have decided to set up 37 polytechnicsand 92 Government it is. We call upon the private sector companies to join usin this mission,” said Mr Biswas.

Mr Viresh Oberoi, chairman, CII (EasternRegion) said: “The government and corporate must come together to train a vastnumber of young people waiting to join the workforce.”

West Bengal Chief Minister Ms. MamataBanerjee directed the administration of North 24-Parganas district to speed uppending and ongoing development projects in a meeting with the districtofficials. The Chief Minister conducted 54 such meetings across the districtsbefore the General Elections.

After the Lok Sabha polls, the ChiefMinister resumed her district tours, conducting the 55thadministrative review meeting at Uttarkanya. It was followed by a reviewmeeting in Howrah. The 57th administrative meeting was held onFriday at Barasat in North 24 Parganas.

The Chief Minister said that the work on repairingthe highways passing through the district has begun in close coordination withthe district administration. Works for repairing embankment, breached in thecyclone Aila, is also in progress, she said.

The Chief Minister said that the process ofmerging small municipalities into a municipal corporation in the district wasgoing on. This would ensure faster disposal of administrative services. Shesaid the district will get 140 new buses before Durga Puja. Ferry services willalso be boosted, she said.

“The police have also been asked totackle the law and order situation sternly and maintain peace and harmony amongpeople representing various communities in the district,” the ChiefMinister added.

Mr Sukhendu Shekhar Roy, Trinamool`s RajyaSabha MP who headed a five-member Trinamool Congress team to Khandwa in MadhyaPradesh where a tribal woman was brutally gang-raped by her husband and 10others, Friday submitted a report to Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee at thestate Assembly.

He later told reporters that the Chief Ministerhas asked him to submit the report to the National Commission for ScheduledCaste and Scheduled Tribe. She has also asked him to raise this issue on thefloor of the House in the next Parliament session.

Mr Roy later told the reporters in theAssembly lobby that they met the victim in the district hospital but she wasstill in a traumatised state.

The victim has four daughters and herhusband along with others once allegedly tried to sell his daughter inRajasthan but an NGO rescued her.

Since them the victim had been livingseparately. However, a few days ago her husband and others barged into herhouse and allegedly raped her when she tried to prevent them from taking awayher daughter.

Mr Roy said the victim was too traumatisedto speak but the team members spoke to local media and NGOs who said that suchincidents were a common event in Madhya Pradesh but police hush up theseissues.

The five-member team comprised Mr Roy, MrNadimul Haque, another Rajya Sabh MP and three women MPs from Lok Sabha -Arpita Ghosh, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Dr Uma Soren.

Asserting that there was nothing `political`in the team`s visit, Mr Roy had said: “We are here to provide moral support andstrength to the victim and her parents. There is absolutely no need topoliticise our visit in any way, as that is not our purpose at all.”

The West Bengal Government has ventured toproduce bottled drinking water Pran Dharawith 8 bottling plants across the state. The Public Health & EngineeringDepartment, responsible for supplying safe drinking water to all the people ofthe state has done a record amount of work though it had to create properinfrastructure.

During the period from May, 2011 tillMarch, 2013, 271 piped water supply schemes have been sanctioned to cover apopulation of 62,75,993. During the same period, coverage of Rural Populationthrough Piped Water facility has enhanced from 37.95% to 42%. Further,approximately 19,500 spot sources for water supply have been created during theperiod.

Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the eightsuch Water Bottling Plants in South 24 Paraganas, Siliguri, Coochbehar, Malda,Murshidabad, Purbasthali, Haringhata and Barrackpore with an estimated cost ofRs 42.82 crore had been prepared. In the first phase, the work in South 24Paraganas has been completed and three plants at Haringhata, Nadia,Purbasthali, Bardhaman, Lalbag and Murshidabad are being implemented.

The bottled water is already available in500 ml and 1000 ml containers. While the 500 ml bottles are priced at Rs 7, the1000 ml bottles are priced at Rs 12 per unit. All state government departments,government undertakings, urban and local bodies have been asked to place theirrequirement orders for this cheap but good quality product.

The West Bengal Government issued anotification revising the list of VIPs who can use red beacons on theirvehicles following a Supreme Court verdict last December.

Accordingto the notification issued by the state transport department, only sevencategories of VIPs – the Governor, Chief Minister, Chief Justice of CalcuttaHigh Court, Assembly Speaker, Cabinet Ministers, Leader of Opposition and theJudges of the High Court,  are entitledto use the red light with a flasher. Earlier, there were 13 such categories.

Thethree categories of constitutional authorities who cannot use flashers but canuse the red light are the deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Ministers of Stateand the state Chief Secretary.

Thenotification stated that officials entrusted with law and order and otheremergency services would use blue lights on their vehicles while on duty. Othersecretaries and police officers of the ranks of director-general andinspector-general and corporation mayors have been entitled to use a blue lightwith a flasher.

TheChairman of the state Human Rights Commission and Vice-Chancellors ofuniversities can use the blue light atop their vehicle but without a flasher.This is the first time Bengal will be witnessing the use of blue lights byofficials. Earlier, 49 categories of VIPs used red beacons on their vehicles onduty.

WhileBharat Ratnas, deputy chiefministers, deputy speakers and deputy ministers of state could use a red beaconwith a flasher, the director-general of police, police commissioners,divisional commissioners, district magistrates, municipality chairperson,deputy mayor and chairpersons of the state council of higher education and the Wakf board could use a red light withouta flasher.

Incidentally,the West Bengal Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee does not use any light orflasher in her car. Following her steps, several Cabinet Ministers, includingthe Transport Minister do not use such lights and travel as commoners.

The Marwari Federation which represents theMarwari society of the State has sent a letter to the Bengal Chief Minister Ms.Mamata Banerjee, praising her for the quick and decisive action after the NorthBrook Jute Mill incident. The Marwari people, who mostly represent the businesscommunity, have promised their support to uphold the values of fraternity inBengal.

Theletter thanks the West Bengal Chief Minister for letting a senior Minister,that too of the stature of the Industry Minister Amit Mitra, handle thesituation. The members of the Marwari Federation have praised the ChiefMinister for her relentless efforts to bring a surge of development in Bengaland keep the state free from communal issues. She has been praised for her workon the development of the backward classes, something Bengal has never seen insuch a large scale.

Theletter to the Chief Minister stresses upon the initiatives taken by thisgovernment to bring in new investments. It states in spite of efforts beingmade to stop the development bandwagon, by no means the pace of the works goingon should be slowed down. 

Perhaps for the first time in West Bengal,the students` union of the University of Calcutta is organizing an EducationFair. Inspired by the vision of the Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee, theEdu-Fair 2K14 is being organized at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, from June 20-22,from 11 AM to 7 PM. Incidentally, the students` union is controlled by the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad.

 Theinnovative education Fair will see the participation of Dhaka University,Jawaharlal Nehru University, Bombay University, IIT Kanpur, Bose Institute,IICB, Hyderabad University, Aliah University, West Bengal Technical University,University of Calcutta, Jadavpur University, Presidency University, IISWBM,Rabindra Bharati University, Kalyani University, Gour Banga University, VidyasagarUniversity, West Bengal State University, Sidhu-Kanhu-Birsa University, BidhanChandra Agriculture University, North Bengal University, North BengalAgriculture University, IIST, NIT and 450 other Educational Institutions, 20Universities and 10 Institutes.

Two thousand five hundred meritoriousstudents will be handed over Chhatra Bandhuscholarships at the education fair. Several heads of various educationalinstitutes will speak at seminars to be organised at the fair.