No national leader should create divisions and distrust: Mamata Banerjee

No national leader should create divisions and distrust: Mamata Banerjee

Posted on October 2, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Gandhi Jayanti this year is special, being the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation. Inevitably, the day was celebrated with fervour, splendour and respect across the State.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led the special celebrations. First, she garlanded the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on Mayo Road. She then opened to the public a museum at the renovated and refurbished Gandhi Bhavan in Beleghata. In her speech, she exhorted everyone to follow the ideals of the Mahatma.

Highlights of her speech:

The holy day of Chaturthi has coincided with the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

We are inspired by the thoughts and deeds of the great leaders of our country. We remember them every moment of our lives. They may have spoken different languages, but their outlook was the same.

We are celebrating Gandhi Jayanti today across Bangla.

The day India gained Independence, Gandhiji chose to spend the historic occasion at Gandhi Bhavan in Beleghata instead of in Delhi. He had sat there appealing to people of every religion, caste and creed in the country to stop rioting and bring peace.

We have renovated Gandhi Bhavan and set up a museum in his memory there.

We are also setting up a university named after Mahatma Gandhi in Purba Medinipur district.

The area surrounding Gandhi Ghat in Barrackpore is being built as a tourist spot, and will be named ‘Utsadhara’.

Our State Government has published a book ‘Jatir Janak’ (‘Father of the Nation’) to spread the ideals of Gandhiji among students.

His ideals are also being spread among the people through various schemes for the backward classes of the State.

Today, we strengthen our pledge to move ahead in step with the three core beliefs of Gandhiji – non-violence, peace and brotherhood. We don’t need anyone else in India to lecture us on what to do for the good of the country. Such advice could only be given by someone who had the capability to become the ‘Father of the Nation’.

People like Netaji and Gandhiji are the true leaders of the nation because they led people irrespective of religion or caste. Dividing people, instigating fighting, creating trouble, shedding blood cannot be the aim of any leader of the country. These are the evils Gandhiji used to propagate against all through his life.

Gandhiji is famous and respected across the world for his non-violent and humanistic approach.

He was a great leader of the nation. His principles and vision have taught us to think of newer ways to strengthen our democracy and develop our country while taking everyone along.

Communal harmony, peace and prosperity come up again and again in Gandhiji’s teachings. It is only when we follow them and imbibe his ideals in our day-to-day lives that we would be able to pay him due respect.

Let there be more research on Mahatma Gandhi. Let more people be inspired by him. We have to move ahead in our lives following his great ideals.

‘Vertical city’ for start-ups at Fintech Hub

Posted on September 16, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

West Bengal Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) is coming up with a ‘vertical city’ in the Fintech Hub at New Town. The tall iconic tower will have space reserved for fintech start-ups.

According to a senior HIDCO official, this will create a perfect ecosystem with the other financial institutions as they come up gradually at the Fintech Hub.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wants Bangla to play a leading role in the field in the future. Towards that end the Fintech Hub was inaugurated by her last year. So far, 25 financial institutions, both banking and non-banking, have taken up space in the Fintech Hub, including the State Bank Institute of Leadership, National Insurance Corporation, National Green Tribunal and Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.

According to a report by McKinsey Global Institute, Kolkata will be one of the three metros that will emerge as the epicentre of global financial activities by 2030, and so the State Government is leaving no stone unturned to project itself as one of the major players in the financial world.

Source: Millennium Post

Centre not funding Bangla’s flood control, irrigation projects despite assurances

Posted on September 9, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Despite repeated assurances, the Centre is not funding or has stopped funding several projects in Bangla related to flood control and irrigation, said the Irrigation Minister in the Assembly recently.

He said the State Government had given its approval for the Ghatal Master Plan way back in 2015. It was supposed to be funded to the tune of 75 per cent by the Central Government; in fact, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had written to the Centre in 2017, reminding it of its obligation. However, till date, the Centre has failed to provide the funds, with the result that the State Government has had to start the project on its own.

Not just that, the Centre has reduced its funding for several other projects from 75 per cent of the cost to just 50 per cent. The projects include the repairing of river bunds in the Sundarbans damaged by Cyclone Aila, building of canals in the Keleghai-Kalpeswari river basin, Kandi Master Plan, and a few others.

He also said that despite assurance, the Centre has not done anything regarding the project of preventing riverbank erosion along the Ganga and Bhagirathi.

The Minister gave the following data on State funding of flood and irrigation projects:

Ghatal Master Plan
State has spent Rs 73.03 crore till date, another Rs 116 crore after the rainy season

Kandi Master Plan
Instead of Rs 437.94 crore, Centre has given only Rs 57.45 crore
As a result, State Government has had to provide an additional Rs 166 crore, its total spend being Rs 209 crore
In FY 2016-17, Rs 150.40 crore asked for, only Rs 12.61 crore given
In FY 2017-18, Rs 150.61 crore asked for, only Rs 56 crore given

Repairing of Cyclone Aila-damaged embankments in the Sundarbans
In FY 2018-19, Rs 120 crore asked for, only Rs 23.65 crore given
In May, Rs 130 crore asked for, Rs 117.12 crore given

Keleghai-Kalpeswari River Basin Project
No funds provided in FY 2015-16 and 2016-17
In FY 2017-18, Rs 55.47 crore asked for, only Rs 8.08 crore given

Preventing riverbank erosion along Ganga and Bhagirathi
Work on 100.22km to be done, at a cost of Rs 793.93 crore
Of this, State spent Rs 156 crore in Nadia and Murshidabad districts
The rest was to be spent by the Centre, being part of national waterways.
State spent its part, but the Centre did not

Source: Bartaman

Bangla Govt setting examples in nutritional intervention

Posted on September 2, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

National Nutrition Week begins from today. The Trinamool Congress-run Bangla Government has introduced several initiatives to improve the health of children through large-scale nutritional intervention programmes and improving healthcare facilities. It is an ongoing process, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee leading the efforts, being the Health Minister as well. As a result of these efforts, both infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate have come down considerably. Eradication of under-nutrition and malnutrition has also been made one of the primary aims of the internationally-recognised Kanyashree Scheme.

HIGHLIGHTS

Largest child nutrition intervention programme: Bangla has the largest child nutrition intervention under the ICDS programme, reaching out to 76 lakh children below 6 years and 14 lakh pregnant and lactating women spread across 23 districts. Energy-dense protein-rich ready-to-eat food has been introduced for all severely malnourished children. Hot cooked meals are provided to all children and pregnant and lactating mothers.

Special food provisions under Khadya Sathi: As part of the Khadya Sathi Scheme, the Food and Supplies Department has introduced a special coupon for all mothers and babies admitted in Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres, and babies who have been admitted because they are malnourished. Each baby and mother together get 5kg of rice, 2.5kg of fortified atta, 1kg masoor dal and 1kg of Bengal gram against this coupon.

IMR and MMR going down, institutional delivery going up: Both infant mortality rate (IMR) and maternal mortality rates (MMR) across the State have gone down considerably in the past seven-and-half-years. The MMR has reduced from 113 per 1 lakh mothers in 2011 to 101 in 2018, which is much lower than the national average of 130. The IMR has reduced to 25 per 1,000 live births, which is also much lower than the national average of 34. What is also significant is that the State Government has increased institutional delivery from 65 per cent in 2010 to 97.5 per cent in 2018-19.

Mother and Child Hubs: The Health Department has also initiated the process to setting up 14 Mother and Child Hubs (MCH) at different facilities across the State for ensuring qualitative and quantitative improvement in maternal and child services at various hospitals. Out of the 14, nine are operational.

Upgrading of healthcare facilities: The Government has taken up a comprehensive scheme of upgrading maternal, newborn and paediatric services at 68 tertiary and secondary healthcare facilities (that conduct more than 3,000 deliveries in a year) with the aim of providing better treatment to expectant mothers and infants.

Kanyashree: Two of the internationally-recognised Kanyashree Scheme’s six primary objectives deal with nutrition: improving the IMR and MMR by delaying the age of marriage and consequently increasing the age of first birth, and eradicating under-nutrition and malnutrition of female children.

Govt to construct budget hospitals across the State

Posted on September 2, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has recently announced plans to set up budget hospitals across the State. A similar service was opened more than a year back at the Woodburn Ward of SSKM Hospital, where a set of cabins charging rates lower than top-quality private hospitals were made available.

The State Health Department has written to the district magistrates to look for land at their district headquarters for the proposed budget hospitals.

The project would follow three models. First, cabins that already exist at district hospitals would be remodelled after Woodburn Ward. Second, new cabins would be built where building space is available. And third, new hospitals would be constructed where there are neither cabins nor building space, and these would be full-fledged budget hospitals, that is, paid services but at reasonable rates.

Since they would be located in the districts, the cost per cabin would be less than the costs at Woodburn Ward.

It has been decided that 75 per cent of the earnings of a hospital would be ploughed back for the development of that hospital and 25 per cent would be distributed as incentive among the doctors employed there.

The State Government has to spend Rs 925 crore every year for the Swasthya Sathi group medical insurance scheme. If those who can pay for services pay, then that would lessen the load on the Government, which would then be able to provide better services for the poor.

Source: Bartaman

Mother Dairy Calcutta launches vitamin A & D-enriched milk

Posted on September 2, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Mother Dairy Calcutta has started selling milk fortified with vitamins A and D. The milk is being sold under the ‘Maa Shakti’ brand. Till date, the Maa Shakti brand of milk was fortified with vitamin A only.

Besides general health benefits, vitamin A and D can specifically lead to eradication of night-blindness (nyctalopia) and malnutrition, respectively.

The project was launched recently by the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and Textiles Departments at the company’s Dankuni unit (near Kolkata). Mother Dairy Calcutta is a State Government-owned company. It was at the behest of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that the Government had taken over the company.

At present, Mother Dairy Calcutta sells around 2.15 lakh litres of milk and 6,000kg of milk products (including buttermilk, yoghurt, paneer, mango pudding and ice-cream) per day, manufactured at its units across Bangla. To cater to the people of north Bengal, Mother Dairy Calcutta had started production and distribution of milk at its Matigara unit in Siliguri.

Source: Millennium Post

Bangla CM announces irrigation scheme, Jalashree, along with other projects

Posted on August 27, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced a new scheme for irrigation called Jalashree, while reviewing projects of Purba Bardhaman district during the administrative review meeting held there on August 26.

The idea behind Jalashree is to coordinate irrigation projects involving canals, wetlands and rivers so as to give effective relief to people during periods of drought.

Flood relief, combating lightning, preventing dengue, improving housing

At the meeting, the Chief Minister also announced several other projects for the district.

A State-wide World Bank-aided scheme worth Rs 2,800 crore is being implemented for building canals and check dams, in order to help in agriculture and irrigation, and also fight floods. Work worth Rs 560 crore has begun in Purba Bardhaman.

The Chief Minister advised the administration to plant coconut trees to deal with lighting, involving workers under the 100 Days’ Work Scheme, right from harvesting seeds in nurseries to planting and maintaining the trees.

She also asked the district administration to culture more guppy fish to combat dengue as the latter can eat up the larvae of dengue-causing mosquitoes. Awareness about dengue must also be increased, she said.

Another announcement that the chief minister made was that 8.30 lakh houses would be built all over the State under the Bangla Awas Yojana.

Biswa Bangla Convention Centre to be inaugurated in New Digha

Posted on August 20, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will inaugurate the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre in New Digha, adjacent to Digha, today.

The convention centre is the only of its kind in the coastal area and has been built so that international conventions and exhibitions, along with business meets can be held at the coastal town to promote tourism, commerce and industry. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 350 crore.

The four-storey building will house an exhibition centre covering an area of 1,000 square metres (sq m), a seminar hall with a capacity of 300 persons, a conference room and a modern auditorium with a seating capacity for 1,000 people. Each floor covers an area of 1,722 sq m.

Source: Millennium Post

KMC to make rainwater harvesting mandatory in big housing complexes

Posted on August 19, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is set to make rainwater harvesting mandatory in big housing complexes, in a bid to conserve water.

The civic authorities will change the Building Rules of the KMC and incorporate the new provision, the mayor said recently.

He said rainwater harvesting in big housing complexes will be done as part of a move to save groundwater. The rainwater will be used for cleaning, flushing and gardening.

The groundwater level has fallen in several parts of the city. The KMC had earlier proposed to set up special zones to wash vehicles in order to save wastage of drinking water.

The State Government has taken several special measures to save water. July 12 was recently declared by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to be celebrated as Save Water day in Bangla every year.

The State Panchayats and Rural Development Department has also instructed all the gram panchayats to not rampantly lift groundwater and prepare schemes for rainwater harvesting in their respective areas.

Source: Millennium Post

Bangla CM’s Purba Medinipur administrative tour begins today

Posted on August 19, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will reach Digha today to begin her administrative tour of Purba Medinipur district. This will be her first tour of the district after the Lok Sabha election.

She will be holding meetings with senior officials to get first-hand information about the various schemes and projects happening in the district, and also about the plans for the upcoming works.

Tomorrow, August 20, she will inaugurate the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre at Digha, which has been constructed by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA).