Jalpaiguri circuit bench a new feather in Bangla’s crown: Mamata Banerjee

Jalpaiguri circuit bench a new feather in Bangla’s crown: Mamata Banerjee

Posted on March 9, 2019 | by aitc

Today Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the Jalpaiguri circuit bench of the Calcutta High Court. Through this, a long-standing dream of the people of north Bengal has been fulfilled.

Highlights of the chief minister’s speech:

This new circuit is a historic landmark; it was planned in 1988 and has come to fruition today.

I had laid the foundation stone in 2012; it might have been completed much earlier, but I don’t want to go into any controversy; I am happy that it has at last started functioning.

Justice must be dispensed on time, and for that new courts, more judges and better-informed judges are the necessity.

Therefore I ask all in the legal fraternity to continue to sharpen their legal skills.

I would also request judges and lawyers to try and do at least 10 per cent of their work for the poor.

There are 88 fast-track courts in Bangla, of these 55 are for women only.

These fast-track courts are all run by the State Govt, as the Centre had stopped its funding.

Democracy must be strengthened and the media must be more responsible to save the Constitution.

Another important thing I want to say is that judges and lawyers should be allowed to speak in regional languages too in court, and not just in English; the regional sentiment must be respected.

Knowing regional languages – be it for officials or judges – is very important as communication with local people happens more smoothly in local languages.

Theft of Rafale files – Mamata Banerjee calls it ‘tamasha’

Posted on March 7, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on March 7 said the theft of Rafale files from the Union Ministry of Defence was a matter of concern and demanded an enquiry into it.

She also sought the central government’s version about the theft and asked who was the ‘chhuppa rustam’ (hidden person) behind this act.

In a tweet in Hindi, Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress Chairperson, described the entire matter as ‘tamasha’ (farce) and hinted that its fallout would be known after the Lok Sabha elections.

“What farce is going on in the country? Documents are being stolen from the Ministry of Defence itself. This is a very dangerous situation for the country,” she tweeted.

“What would the government say on this? Who is the hidden person behind this? There must be an enquiry into it,” she added.

The chief minister asked the people to “wait for some time as general election results would come out soon”.

Yuvashree Arpan – Bangla CM announces new scheme for employment of youths

Posted on March 6, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Bangla CM Mamata Banerjee today announced a new scheme ‘Yuvashree Arpan’ for the youth. Under this scheme 50,000 youths in the State will receive financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh for setting up an enterprise. The MSME department will be funding this scheme.

The CM said, “When demonetisation was announced, I was the first to call it a disaster. More than 2 crore people have lost their jobs since then. More than 12,000 farmers have committed suicide in the country.”

She also said, “We have reduced unemployment by 40%. It is on record in Parliament. Bangla is No. 1 in generating employment under MGNREGA. We are No. 1 in skill development training through Utkarsh Bangla.”

She also slammed the Centre in her speech: “Charity begins at home. Modi babu knows only how to manipulate data. Five years are over. This government’s expiry date is over. Will taking expired medicines treat the ailment?”

The CM also laid the foundation stone for the State’s first Hindi University at today’s function.

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State Govt creates mega-plans for sustainable solar power

Posted on March 1, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

To increase the share of sustainable energy in its total energy production, the Bangla Government has set up plans to produce a total of 120 megawatt (MW) of solar energy per year.

The work for building the solar power plants would start from the financial year 2019-20. They would be spread all across the State.

Spreading out the locations of the power plants would also help in bringing solar power to the remotest regions of the State.

Each power plant would produce 6 to 10 MW, and would cost of at least Rs 50 crore to build. All of them would be set up on land belonging to the State Government, with each occupying 30 to 40 acres.

All these solar power plants would be run by the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Corporation Limited (WBSEDDCL).

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State Govt launches Silpa Disha app for MSME sector

Posted on March 1, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The State Government has launched an app, Silpa Disha to enable communication between small investors and the State Government. The app is run by the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises and Textiles (MSME&T) Department.

Importantly, communication here includes the conveying of any grievances that micro, small and medium enterprises might have. Through the app, the issues are submitted to the department and the MSME Directorate. The status of the issue submitted can be tracked with the help of a docket number.

The government has always been open about solving industry-related issues promptly, and this app is another example of that approach.

Grievances related to land, power, infrastructure, pollution certification and several more aspects can be submitted through Silpa Disha.

It is significant to note that around 100 questions, mostly related to land, have come through the app from across the State, which officials of the department and directorate have answered through the app.

As of now, questions are answered during working hours. However, soon officials would be appointed for a 24-hour query-solving system.

The app can be downloaded by clicking here

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Bangla declared leading State in family planning

Posted on March 1, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Bangla has been declared as the leading state for adopting effective family planning methods at the 5th National Summit in Guwahati.

The infant mortality rate has dropped to 25 per 1,000 births while the institutional delivery rate has increased to 97 per cent due to a number of initiatives taken up by the Trinamool Congress Government.

As per an economic review published by the State Government’s Department of Planning and Statistics, in 2018-19, the state leads in postpartum intrauterine contraceptive device (PPIUCD) acceptance rate in the country, with an achievement of 40 per cent.

With continued emphasis on family planning, the couple protection rate (CPR) of Bangla has improved from 49.9 per cent to 57 per cent, one of the highest in the country.

The review also mentions that the teenage fertility rate has dropped from 25.3 per cent to 18 per cent and the occurrence of low birth weight has also declined from 22.9 per cent to 16.7 per cent.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has laid great emphasis on health infrastructure in the rural areas and on mother and child care. Various Waiting Huts or ‘pre-delivery huts’ have been constructed by the Health Department to provide free healthcare facilities to pregnant women in remote areas.

It may also be mentioned that the Bangla Government has achieved another significant milestone – immunisation of 99 per cent of its children.

Source: Millennium Post

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Bangla Govt to develop ‘theme cities’ under PPP model

Posted on March 1, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Bangla is set to develop six ‘theme cities’, covering approximately 50 acres of land in total, on a public-private partnership (PPP) model. Bids from private investors are being seeked.

This was announced by the chairman of the development agency, Hidco (who is also the additional principal secretary to the Information Technology and Electronics Department) at a seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Kolkata.

It may be mentioned that New Town near Kolkata, under the stewardship of Hidco, has been developed as the first smart city of the State, and is considered a model worth emulating in the country.

In addition to this, he also said that the construction of the hardware parks in Naihati, Falta and Sonarpur are going on in full swing, and on completion, these would add a new dimension to the IT infrastructure of the State.

Source: Ei Samay

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72 lakh farmer families to get cheques under Krishak Bandhu Scheme

Posted on March 1, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The State Government has aimed for a target of 72 lakh farmer families for paying the grants under the Krishak Bandhu Scheme, announced by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on December 31.

The handing over of the cheques had begun on January 30 at a programme in Rampurhat in Birbhum district, which the Agriculture Minister presided over.

For now, the Agriculture Department has listed the names of 15 lakh farmers as beneficiaries, with the rest of the names to be finalised soon. The Finance Department has allotted Rs 4,500 crore to the Agriculture Department for the purpose in the first week of February.

The grant for each farmer amounts to Rs 5,000 for an acre of land, to be paid through cheques. The amount would be handed over in two instalments of Rs 2,500 each.

Those owning less than an acre would received a proportional amount. However, in the first phase, each farmer would get a minimum amount of Rs 2,000. The first instalment would be given now and the next, six months later.

The beneficiaries are being selected only after showing proper documents for the plots in question. For those who do not have the documents, special camps have been opened in every panchayat office for making them. Officers of the Land and Land Reforms Department are also present in these camps.

Valid documents include property deeds for owned plots and lease deeds for leased plots. Sharecroppers or bargadars and owners of pattas are also eligible to receive payment under Krishak Bangla Scheme, the relevant ownership documents for them being record of rights (ROR) document and patta record, respectively.

Source: Ei Samay

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Swasthya Sathi: Bangla beats Centre’s target by 28 lakh families

Posted on February 22, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

When the memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Bangla Government and the Central Government for family health insurance, for combining Swasthya Sathi and Ayushmaan Bharat, the target set was to enlist 1.12 crore families.

However, when the scheme started to be implemented, the Centre started sending letters to the families with the prime minister’s photo on the letters, despite the State’s Swasthya Sathi playing a crucial role in building up the number of beneficiaries.

This rightly prompted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to withdraw from the agreement and make the Bangla Government entirely responsible for the health insurance scheme. In terms of department, the scheme is run by the Health and Family Welfare Department.

Not only is the State entirely responsible for the scheme now, it has also increased the total number of beneficiary families to 1.5 crore, thus beating the Centre-set target by 28 lakh. There were already 54.76 lakh Swasthya Sathi beneficiary families in Bangla.

This has made the Bangla Government the first State Government to have so many families enlisted under a government health insurance scheme.

With the number of families increasing to 1.5 crore, the number of individual beneficiaries has now increased to about 7.5 crore. To pay the entire premium for these new families, the State Government would be spending more than Rs 850 crore additionally.

The benefits of Swasthya Sathi are available at 1,300 hospitals (including 745 private ones) registered under the scheme.

Another facility under the scheme, as part of the State Government’s efforts for the empowerment of women, is the providing of Swasthya Sathi smart cards to female members of the beneficiary families.

To know all the details regarding Swasthya Sathi, including how to get the smart cards, contact the nearest BDO or municipality office, or call the toll-free number, 1800 345 5384, or visit the website, swasthyasathi.gov.in.

Source: Bartaman

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Equal respect to all languages by Bangla Govt

Posted on February 21, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The Trinamool Congress-led Bangla Government, as a policy, gives equal respect to all languages. The government has given several languages the status of official language to give them credibility and make people aware of them.

Last year, the West Bengal Official Language (Second Amendment) Bill, 2018 was passed to make Kamtapuri, Rajbongshi and Kurmali official State languages. Earlier, Kurukh had achieved the status through the West Bengal Official Language (Amendment) Bill, 2018.

The Ol-Chiki script is widely promoted by the government as the medium for writing the Santhali language. Santhali-speaking students can now write their State board secondary and higher secondary exams in the Ol-Chiki script.

Both Santhali and Urdu were introduced as subjects in the State Eligibility Test (SET) conducted by the WBCSC in 2015.

At the undergraduate level, Arabic is being taught in 42 colleges, Nepali in 10 colleges, Persian in three colleges (under the University of Calcutta), Tibetan in one college (Darjeeling Government College, under North Bengal University).

Hindi-medium general degree colleges have been set up in Banarhat (Jalpaiguri district), Asansol (Paschim Bardhaman) and Hatighisha (Darjeeling district).

At the postgraduate level, Arabic is being taught in 10 universities, Nepali at North Bengal University and Tamil at the University of Calcutta.

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