Four-fold jump in infrastructure development budget since 2011: Bengal CM

Four-fold jump in infrastructure development budget since 2011: Bengal CM

Posted on June 11, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

In a bid to ensure overall development of the state, the Mamata Banerjee government has increased the expenditure for developing physical infrastructure “four-fold”, since 2011.

The Chief Minister tweeted on Sunday: “Infrastructure development is going on in a rapid pace in Bengal. In fact, expenditure on physical infrastructure in the state has increased almost 4-fold since 2011.”

Giving detailed information on the expenditure carried out by her government, the Chief Minister stated in the tweet: “Recently, new infrastructure projects including flyovers, rural and urban drinking water, roads and bridges, power, affordable housing, irrigation etc worth Rs 18,000 crore, have been sanctioned by our government.”

She also tweeted: “This is in addition to the Rs 25,755 crore budgetary allocation for capital expenditure, for the current financial year. These will open up huge investment opportunities and generate employment in the state.”

After coming to power, Mamata Banerjee had given equal stress on the development of both the rural and urban parts of the state. Development of roads and bridges has ensured better connectivity between different parts of the state.

7 years: Chronicles of Bengal’s progress

Posted on June 10, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

In May 2011, the Hon’ble Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, established efficient governance in West Bengal, with the Government of Maa, Mati, Manush. On May 27, 2016, through a historic verdict, the government was sworn in for the second time in a row.

On the seventh anniversary of that historic day, the State Government came out with a book enlisting all the work done by various departments in the last seven years. The book was released by the Chief Minister during the administrative review meeting at Howrah on June 7, 2018.

In the last seven years, Bengal has witnessed phenomenal growth in development and prosperity. Nearly 90% of the State’s population has benefited from various public services. 90% of the State’s population is provided with food grains at a subsidised rate, under the ‘Khadya Sathi’ scheme. Apart from this, the Government has also taken initiatives such as ‘Sabujshree’, ‘Kanyashree’, ‘Sikshashree’, ‘Sabuj Sathi’, ‘Sishu Sathi’, ‘Yuvashree’, ‘Rupashree’, ‘Manabik’, and ‘Samabyathi’, to name just a few.

These schemes have made available a plethora of services to all citizens, including members of scheduled castes, tribes, minorities, and OBCs.

Click here to read the book.

Capacity building under Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) for both officers and inmates

Posted on June 9, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Over the last financial year (2017-18), the State Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Department has done a lot of work in the area of capacity building regarding the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS). The ICPS has played a key role in strengthening the child protection regime in Bengal.

Capacity building of child care officers:

217 Child Welfare Police Officers trained on TrackChild portal in collaboration with National Informatics Centre (NIC)
Two sensitisation programmes organised for district judges and principal magistrates on Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 (JJ Act) in collaboration with West Bengal Judicial Academy
Training of ICPS functionaries on the implementation of JJ Act, covering all the districts
Workshop on rehabilitation of children with special need (CWSN) for district social welfare officers (DSWO), Home superintendents and district child protection officers (DCPO) from November 16 to 17
Outreach programmes on alternative care and child protection committees (CPC) in Sandeshkhali-1 and Sandeshkhali-2 blocks in the district of North 24 Parganas by officers of State Child Protection Society (SCPS), State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA) and District Child Protection Unit (DCPU)
Phase-wise training on minimum standards of care for superintendents, probation officers, child welfare officers, House mothers and House fathers of Child Care Institutions (CCI) across Bengal

Capacity building plan for FY 2018-19:

Operationalising block-level child protection committees (BLCPC), ward-level child protection committees (WLCPC) and village-level child protection committees (VLCPC) through sustained capacity building
Creating information, education and communication (IEC) material on trafficking, adoption, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act), etc.
Developing advocacy strategy on child protection issues
Rehabilitating and mainstreaming children through capacity building
Developing State guidelines on POCSO Act
Implementing State Plan of Action to combat human trafficking
Capacity building of ICPS functionaries

The State Government is also providing vocational training of various types to the inmates of the various Homes

Vocational training for inmates of Juvenile Justice Homes (JJ Homes) in painting of car bodies in collaboration an industrial training institute (ITI) and Maruti Udyog
Training inmates of CCIs in retail management (leading to placement), hair cutting, tailoring, etc.
Training female inmates of SMM Home in Liluah in weaving and designing in collaboration with internationally renowned fashion designer, Bibi Russel
Training female inmates of SMM Home in the peeling, scaling and packaging of fish, and cutting of fish fillets, on stipend basis

Thus, through a comprehensive exercise of training child care officers as well as Home inmates, the State Government is bringing about all-round improvement in the child care scenario in Bengal.

Image is representative

World’s 2nd largest coal mine allocated to Bengal, CM elated

Posted on June 8, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today announced through a Facebook post that Deocha-Pachami and Harinsingha-Dewanganj coal blocks in Birbhum district have been allocated to Bengal.

This is a major gain for the State as the two coal blocks combined form the world’s second largest, and India’s largest coal mine, having an estimated reserve of 2,102 million tonnes.

Mamata Banerjee shared her happiness with all regarding the allocation of these major coal mines to the State. She said, “I am very happy to share with all of you that after a long wait of 3 years, West Bengal has got the allocation of the Deocha Pachami Harinsingha Dewanganj Coal Mines in Birbhum district”.

In her post, she further said that the mining project has huge potential for generating nearly a lakh of direct and indirect employment opportunities in Birbhum and neighbouring districts. The project will also involve investments worth Rs 12,000 crore.

All these aspects of the project, the Chief Minister said, will enable “huge socio-economic development of Birbhum, the neighbouring districts and the entire State”.

Necessary administrative infrastructure has already been set up to start the project immediately.

To read the Facebook post, click here

Bengal Govt to open 50 tourist information centres across Bengal

Posted on June 7, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

To make information to tourists easily available, the Bengal Government has decided to open as many as 50 tourist information centres across the State.

Though aimed primarily at tourists from other parts of the country as well as from across the world, the information centres would cater to tourists from the State as well. All information related to a particular area would be available at each centre. These would be run by the Tourism Department.

These tourist centres would play a major role in making Bengal more tourist-friendly. As it is, it is one of the top States in terms of tourist arrivals, both nationally and internationally. This project would take Bengal significantly higher in the rankings.

Where to stay, what to do, what to eat, what to buy, what are the specialities of a particular place or area – information of every kind would be available at these centres. Guide books would be available in English, Hindi and Bengali. They would contain detailed information about the history, geography and culture of a place.

These centres are already running at the airports in Kolkata and Bagdogra. Soon they would come up in four other places in Kolkata (Kolkata and Sealdah railway stations, Rabindra Sadan and Madhusadan Mancha), Howrah and Santragachi railway stations, Kakdwip and Diamond Harbour railway stations (South 24 Parganas district), Murshidabad, Malda, Bankura, Birbhum district, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Siliguri and other places to cover all the districts.

The information available at the centres would also help tourists to decide how and where to go next. All in all, the tourist information centres would act as one-stop centres for all tourists visiting Bengal.

Source: Sangbad Pratidin

Bengal Govt to prepare database of steps taken to end bonded labour

Posted on June 7, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The State Labour Department has taken up an initiative to prepare a database containing detailed information about the steps taken to abolish bonded labour in the state. It will also contain information related to the initiatives taken to extend total support to such labourers who were rescued at different times.

According to a departmental official, data from all the districts will be compiled at the department’s headquarters. A day-long workshop will also be held, in collaboration with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), on elimination of bonded labour. It will be attended by senior representatives of NHRC and all concerned officials of the State Government, including those involved in the work of abolishing bonded labour in districts.

There is one vigilance committee in every district headed by district magistrate to carry out the work of abolishing bonded labour and maintain strict vigil. Initiatives including helping them to get proper rehabilitation and at the same time, getting them enrolled with employment schemes and opening of bank accounts are taken.

Source: Millennium Post

West Bengal Pollution Control Board: Setting higher standards for a better environment

Posted on June 5, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) is a statutory regulatory authority of the Bengal Government. It is responsible for setting standards and monitoring pollution levels and taking steps as and when required.

Among its responsibilities, functions and activities are:

Monitoring and control of industrial effluents and emissions
Management of wastes in coordination with urban local bodies
Installation of online effluent quality monitoring system at 42 grossly polluting industrial units
Control of vehicular tail pipe permission, especially in Kolkata, by working in collaboration with the State Transport Department and Kolkata Traffic Police
Provision of e-rickshaws in rural areas
Installation of rainwater harvesting structures in 32 schools and solar panels on the roofs of 200 schools
Creation of environmental awareness programmes on World Environment Day, organising rallies, cultural programmes and training programmes, reclamation and beautification of waterbodies and parks, distribution of non-toxic colours to idol-makers participating in various fairs, etc.
Effective use of the fly ash generated in thermal power plants
Provision of solid waste management units in rural areas

These and other measures being taken by WBPCB are resulting in the improvement of all aspects of the environment of the State.

Source: Departmental Budget

Environment Department: Working towards a more livable future

Posted on June 5, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The scope of work of the Environment Department is very wide, exhaustive and challenging. The wings of the department work in close coordination to fulfil the commitment of the Bengal Government towards its people for a clean and more livable environment – be it in terms of air, water, noise or several other aspects.

For effective control of pollution, a number of steps, measures and policies have been initiated by the Environment Department which include stringent regulations, development and periodical revision of environment standards, control of vehicular pollution, control of air and water pollution, abatement and prevention of noise pollution, revisiting and revision of the list of critically polluted areas and their environment improvement plans, etc.

The department has been funding research projects through grants-in-aid both to its parastatals like West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB), West Bengal Biodiversity Board (WBBB), East Kolkata Wetlands Management Authority (EKWMA) and Institute of Environmental Studies and Wetland Management (IES&WM), and also to some research institutions.

Some of the salient points regarding the working of the Environment Department:

WBPCB is constantly monitoring and taking suitable measures for improving air quality and reducing water body pollution.
An online system of WBPCB’s consent administration has been developed for transparency. All monitoring data can now be accessed from the board’s website. The consent administration has also been simplified.
The ‘consent to operate’ periods have been increased: from two years to five years for Red Category Industries, from three years to five years for Orange Category Industries and from five years to seven years for Green Category Industries. A new White Category has been introduced which only requires the relevant industries to give information to the WBPCB and is exempt from ‘consent’ administration.
The State Action Plan for climate change is being amended to strengthen the plan, introduce mitigation measures in addition to adaptation measures and bring it in line with the latest developments in various fields.
Actions on conservation of biodiversity, preparing a comprehensive register and promoting conservation have been accelerated.
A lot of work has been done for restoration and beautification of many waterbodies.
More emphasis has been laid on organising awareness activities to spread environment education among all sections of society and mobilising people’s participation for preservation and conservation of environment.

Source: Departmental Budget

Sabuj Sathi – Symbol of empowerment of students in Bengal

Posted on June 3, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

During one of her district tours in 2015, a young boy had asked West Bengal Chief Mamata Banerjee: “I study in school; you have started the Kanyashree scholarship for girls, why is there no scheme for boys?”

This had planted a seed in her head. The thought has at last led to a happy conclusion: ‘Sabuj Sathi’ – a project wherein students of classes IX to XII are given bicycles by the State Government.

This beautiful name for the project came to the Chief Minister’s mind while on her way from Darjeeling to Bagdogra Airport. The rain-drenched sylvan mountains piqued her creativity; she began penning poems for children. Thus was born the name ‘Sabuj Sathi’ – ‘Sabuj’, the word for ‘green’ or environment-friendly and ‘Sathi’ means ‘companion’, hence ‘Sabuj Sathi’ or ‘environemnt-friendly companion.’

The Chief Minister has created the logo for the project as well. It consists of a young boy running, with two spinning bicycle wheels alongside his legs. 70 lakh cycles have been distributed so far. The scheme also bagged an award for e-governance from the Centre.

For more details, visit the website for the scheme.

Bengal CM slams Centre over LPG price hike

Posted on June 3, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Coming down heavily on the BJP, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said the soaring prices of essential commodities will result in the middle-class being badly hit which will, in turn, become a question of their basic sustenance.

“The hike in fuel price will affect the kitchen while the rise in the price of petrol and diesel will hit the transport sector badly,” she told newsmen on Saturday. The Chief Minister also said that the price of cooking gas has skyrocketed without any rhyme or reason.

“Things are going beyond the reach of the middle-class. How can they make their both ends meet? How can they sustain,” she said and added: “But the Centre is not taking any measure to bring down the prices of petrol and diesel and that of the cooking gas.”

Mamata Banerjee has said over and again that the hike in the prices of petrol and diesel are affecting the transport sector badly. “The Centre is totally indifferent towards this problem faced by the common people,” she maintained.