Bengal Govt invites applications for second phase of Bonyopran Sathi scheme

Bengal Govt invites applications for second phase of Bonyopran Sathi scheme

Posted on June 24, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The Bengal Government is ready with the second phase of its highly successful scheme, Bonyo22pran Sathi (Honorary Wildlife Volunteer Service Programme), which offers wildlife enthusiasts the opportunity to venture into core areas of forests, especially in north Bengal and the Sundarbans, to get real-life experiences on how to deal with animals and in the process, learn about them through hands-on experience.

Interested participants for this study-cum-adventure programme of the Forest Department have to submit a form, the last date for which is June 30.

Those who will go into the forests will go as conservationists and not merely as tourists, said the Forest Minister while announcing the dates and other details. He said that this is one-of-a-kind scheme in the country.

After the completion of the programme, the enthusiasts will be expected to spread the message of wildlife protection and environmental conservation in their localities.

As part of the programme, visitors will stay with forest guards in camps, which will also give them the experience of keeping guard in a forest. Before a tour starts, the visitors will be provided a day-long training on how to behave if they come close to animals like tigers, elephants, leopards, deer, etc. during their adventure. A team will be accompanied by two Forest Department officials, who will be experts in handling wild animals.

The first phase drew applications from a lot of enthusiasts, and so has the second phase. Applications have already come from a diverse range of people like school teachers, professors, retired Army personnel and businessmen.

There are six national parks and 15 wildlife sanctuaries in Bengal.

Click here to download the form and details about the scheme.

Source: Aajkaal

Bengal Govt to introduce integrated project monitoring system

Posted on June 24, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

To ensure better execution of projects, the State Government is planning to introduce an integrated online platform for monitoring projects undertaken by its departments.

This was decided at a recent meeting of senior officials of some of the crucial departments of the State Government, including Finance Department, Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department and Public Works Department. The preliminary tasks for introducing the integrated project monitoring system have already been carried out.

It may be mentioned that, after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee came to power in 2011, Bengal has witnessed a lot of developmental work. Moreover, in a bid to ensure that all projects are implemented properly and in a time-bound manner, the Chief Minister visits every district to hold administrative review meetings with concerned officials.

The Trinamool Congress Government has also introduced the Integrated Finance Management System (IFMS) and it has simplified the system of managing all finance-related issues.

Source: Millennium Post

State Govt to tie up with State univs for large-scale aromatic rice production

Posted on June 20, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The State Agriculture Department has decided to tie up with two State universities to develop methods for increasing the productivity of the varieties of aromatic rice indigenous to Bengal.

Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya and Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya will provide assistance to the department.

After getting geographical indication (GI) tags for gobindobhog and tulaipanji rice, which, to a large extent, was the result of the active encouragement of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Government has been exploring a variety of ways for commercial exploitation of the varieties. Other indigenous varieties like kalonunia are also being considered.

Tulaipanji and kalonunia are mostly cultivated in the northern districts of the State while 70 per cent of gobindobhog is produced in Raina in Purba Bardhaman.

Research will be conducted on whether the varieties of rice can be grown in newer regions, to increase total productivity and to benefit local economies. These varieties are already being exported in moderate amounts. Large-scale production would also increase exports manifold. Cheaper methods of cultivation would also be researched.

Source: Millennium Post

Rs 25,000 crore export dues still pending: Amit Mitra

Posted on June 19, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

GST refunds to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore are still pending for exporters, the West Bengal Finance Minister, Dr Amit Mitra, has said.

Nearly 3,00,000 refund applications have been received since the roll-out of the GST regime on July 1. Around 35-40 per cent of these applications have to be physically verified since the GST Network (or GSTN) is not in place, Dr Mitra alleged.

Auto verification would have ensured faster clearance of documents and quicker refunds.

“GSTN is still not in place and delay in auto verification of documents has delayed refunds for exporters,” the Finance Minister said during a press conference organised by WBIDC in Kolkata on Monday.

Dr Mitra pointed out that physical verification of documents are now being done by officials and this can give rise to a set of “inspector-raaj”.

“We will take up the matter with the GST council. Moreover, I have been saying this for quite some time that GSTN is not at all ready. And the result is this Rs 25,000 crore export dues,” he said.

Bengal Police overhauling its cyber-policing administration

Posted on June 19, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The State Police wants to introduce more modern policing methods. Towards that end, it has planned to completely re-do its website as well as remodel its social media approach.

The website is being completely overhauled. The various district police administrations as well as the State’s railway police administrations will be linked to the website. All information will be updated, including important cases solved and the list of most wanted criminals.

As for social media (Facebook and Twitter especially), the plan is to regularly post updates regarding various activities and fight fake news actively. The latter is becoming increasingly important in the field of cyber-policing.

The idea is also to examine the ways Kolkata Police has successfully built up a large following on its social media accounts and implement certain relevant ideas.

Source: Ei Samay

New vessels, jetties and special water police in Bengal

Posted on June 19, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Recently, the State Government introduced 11 modern vessels for traversing various stretches of the Hooghly and other rivers. These vessels have been built following the latest guidelines issued by the Government under the Jaladhara Scheme.

The State Transport Minister inaugurated the vessels. He also inaugurated two modernised jetties on the Hooghly – the 120m-long Telenipara Jetty in Hooghly district and the 50m-long Shyamnagar Jetty in North 24 Parganas.

The 11 vessels are MV Motibag, MV Rupashree, MV Bibek, MV Kalyaneswari, MV Sampriti, MV Motijheel-3, MV Chandeswari, MV Baitarini, MV Bhorsagar-2, MV Samabathi and the 400-passenger capacity MV Sikshashree.

Over the last seven years, the State Government has completed renovation of 47 jetties and completing another 27, built 27 permanent jetties replacing temporary ones and completing another 36, and launched 55 modern vessels of various categories and completing work on another 199.

The new guidelines for building vessels under the Jaladhara Scheme has resulting in the setting up of 37 minor enterprises for building motor boats, launches and other motorized vessels.

Under Jaladhara, the Government is also providing training to those drivers who used to pilot non-motorised vehicles to navigate the new motorised vessels.

The Government is also introducing a cadre of water police called Jalasathi. These Jalasathis would be deployed at the jetties to ensure that the vessels are following the rules passenger capacity, availability of life jackets, etc. a total of 626 Jalasathis would be deployed; 236 are undergoing training at Swami Vivekananda Police Academy in Barrackpore, who would be deployed soon.

As part of the Jaladhara Scheme, the Government has also created a standard operating procedure (SOP) to be followed by the passengers boarding vessels at all the 471 jetties along the Hooghly.

No central funds for Ghatal Master Plan, Bengal Govt livid

Posted on June 17, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

After coming to power, Mamata Banerjee had instructed the Irrigation Department to draw up a plan to provide relief to the people of Ghatal from recurrent floods every year. This ‘master plan’ was drawn up by the department and sent to the Centre for clearance in 2014. Although the Centre has finally given its nod to Ghatal Master Plan, but they have not allocated any fund for the Rs 1238 crore project.

The Chief Secretary of the Union Minister of Water Resources communicated the same to state government officials last week. The Bengal Government is livid as the Centre has refused to bear the cost of the project. The officials have decided to write to the Centre seeking funds for Ghatal Master Plan.

As per the officials, this is yet another example of the neglect shown by Centre towards the State. In the past, for irrigation projects, the Centre and State used to share the cost at a ratio of 75-25. After Narendra Modi led government came to power, the share of Centre was reduced to 50 per cent. But in case of Ghatal Master Plan, the Centre has not even allocated funds for its share of 50 per cent.

What is Ghatal Master Plan?

As per the irrigation department officials, during monsoon, areas of Ghatal get inundated by the waters of Shilabati river. This causes a lot of trouble to the people of the region. Even areas like Chetua, Daspur 1 and 2 blocks are affected. The master plan was drawn up to provide relief to the people. The plan includes construction of a 6 meter dam over Shilabati river and installation of a pump (with 5000 cusec capacity) in Ghatal. This apart, desiltation work will be carried out at Old Kosi, New Kosi, Durgachoti and other rivers to increase navigability. Repair work would be carried out for several canals.

By not allotting funds for Ghatal Master Plan, the Centre has yet again dealt a several blow to the federal structure of the country.

Bengal CM writes to Centre, saying it’s extremely wrong to sell off Bengal Chemicals

Posted on June 17, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written a strong letter to the Union Commerce & Industry Ministry regarding the Central Government’s decision to sell off Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a company with a long and illustrious history.

Though it was not doing well for some time, in the last few years it has turned around quite a bit. The company earned profits during the 2016-17 fiscal, which almost doubled during the 2017-18 fiscal (an increase of 97.5 per cent). In this state of things, what is needed is more help from the Centre rather than selling it off.

Hence, the Chief Minister has written in the letter that the decision to sell it off should be immediately taken back. She has also written that the Bengal Government would provide all manner of help to build Bengal Chemicals up into a Maharatna company.

The company also has units in Mumbai and Kanpur. The Centre had previously too tried to sell the company. It was mainly Mamata Banerjee’s efforts which prevented that from happening.

Another point raised by the Chief Minister in her letter is the fact that the Kolkata High Court is yet to decide on the case filed by the workers and unions of the company against the Centre’s decision to sell it off.

Then, the company is engaged in manufacturing fair-priced essential goods for the common people. Hence, it can never be termed a ‘low-priority enterprise’, as the Centre has signified it.

Mamata Banerjee in her letter has also written about the illustrious history of the company and its crucial role in the movement for Indian-made goods during the colonial period.

All in all, the Chief Minister, through coherent arguments, has clearly indicated in the letter that it is an absolutely wrong decision to sell off Bengal Chemicals, as it is a profitable company now.

Paternity leave – Bengal shows the way

Posted on June 17, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Children have been an area of special focus for the Trinamool Congress Government. Under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bengal has been among the best performers in terms of infant mortality rate, and under-5 mortality rate, and in institutional delivery too.

The State Government has a comprehensive maternal leave structure. However, the importance of fathers during the phase of the birth of a child and during the period following that has been recognised too by the Government.

Following the initiative of Mamata Banerjee, the Bengal Government has shown the way to other States by instituting paternity-cum-child care leave in 2016. A cumulative period of 30 days is granted for the purpose for all State Government employees, Panchayat & other Local Bodies, Boards, sponsored/non-Govt aided Schools and Colleges, State-aided Universities & Companies, Corporations, Undertakings, etc.

The image is representative (Source)

Necessary to have wider debate and discussion: Mamata Banerjee on lateral entries into senior govt positions

Posted on June 12, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today reacted to the recent media reports suggesting that the Government of India has invited applications for appointment to the post of Joint Secretary of 10 important ministries of Government of India through lateral entries.

She said that in her view, there is no objection if talented persons join the Central Government to improve its professional competence and efficiency. But she had a few concerns about the issue involving various implications.

“The officers from All India Services/Central Services presently hold positions of Joint Secretary and equivalent levels in the Government of India. These officers are inducted in government services through transparent recruitment processes by Constitutional bodies like the UPSC. The officers are expected to be politically neutral while discharging their duties. Any shift from such standard will not be good for the nation,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

Presently, the officers of All India/Central Services have been working in the government with sincerity and accountability and maintaining secrecy, where the paramount interest of the nation remains supreme. In view of it, I feel that any deviation from the system, particularly by inducting professionals from non-governmental sector, notwithstanding their talent may dilute the sensitivity attached to the functioning of the government,” the Chief Minister wrote.

Mamata Banerjee said that it is necessary to have wider debate and discussion with different stake-holders, including representatives of the All India Services/Central Services, before implementing the proposed induction of lateral entries into senior positions of the government.