Tag: Damodar Valley Corporation

WB CM Bengal Global Summit

Floods in Bengal ‘man-made’ due to release of water by DVC: WB CM

Posted on | by admin2 | Leave a Comment on Floods in Bengal ‘man-made’ due to release of water by DVC: WB CM

West Bengal Chief Minister today accused the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) of releasing water as per its own wishes, thus causing ‘man-made’ floods in parts of Bengal. She said, DVC should not release water without consulting the State or else the government would have to look for legal recourse.

WB CM was addressing the press after an administrative review meeting for the districts in north Bengal. West Bengal is the only State to regularly conduct administrative review meetings at block level, she said. Review meetings for only four districts are pending, of which the one in Hooghly will be held in September.

The Chief Minister inaugurated several projects today and took stock of the progress of various schemes and programmes. She announced that a court of the Labour Department in Siliguri and Malda. She added that beginning 29 August, 2016, a week-long cleanliness drive will be undertaken in every block.

Accusing the Centre of discriminating against States on financial matters, the Chief Minister said that her government had created a special fund of Rs 100 Crore for the welfare of tea garden workers and set up a separate directorate for tea gardens in north Bengal. She also registered her protest against the attempts to shift Tea Board HQ outside Bengal.

 

ডিভিসি খুশিমতো জল ছাড়ছে বলে বাংলায় ম্যান-মেড বন্যাঃ মুখ্যমন্ত্রী 

নিজেদের খুশিমতো জল ছাড়া নিয়ে আজ দামোদর ভ্যালি কর্পোরেশনকে দুষলেন মুখ্যমন্ত্রী মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়। ডিভিসি খুশিমতো জল ছাড়ছে বলেই বাংলার বিভিন্ন অংশে ম্যান-মেড বন্যা হয়েছে। তিনি বলেন, রাজ্যের সঙ্গে কথা না বলে ডিভিসির জল ছাড়া উচিত নয়।

উত্তরবঙ্গে প্রশাসনিক বৈঠকের পর সাংবাদিকদের মুখোমুখি হন মুখ্যমন্ত্রী। তিনি বলেন, পশ্চিমবঙ্গ একমাত্র রাজ্য যারা নিয়মিত ব্লক স্তরে প্রশাসনিক বৈঠক করে। আর ৪টি জেলার প্রশাসনিক বৈঠক বাকি রয়েছে, সেপ্টেম্বর মাসে হুগলিতে প্রশাসনিক বৈঠক হবে।

আজ বিভিন্ন প্রকল্পের উদ্বোধন করার পাশাপাশি চলতি প্রকল্পগুলির অগ্রগতি নিয়েও খবর নেনে তিনি। শিলিগুড়ি ও মালদায় জন্য শ্রম দপ্তরের আলাদা কোর্ট গঠন করার কথা ঘোষণা করেন। তিনি আরও বলেন, ২৯ অগাস্ট থেকে এক সপ্তাহব্যাপী ‘ক্লিনলিনেস ড্রাইভ’ হবে ব্লকে ব্লকে।

রাজ্যের কাজে কেন্দ্র হস্তক্ষেপ করছে বলেও তিনি অভিযোগ করেন। তিনি বলেন, “চা বাগানের শ্রমিকদের জন্য আমরা ১০০ কোটি টাকার একটি তহবিল গঠন করেছি। চা বাগানগুলির জন্য উত্তরবঙ্গে আমরা আলাদা ডিরেক্টোরেট গঠন করেছি। টি বোর্ডের হেডকোয়ার্টার কলকাতা থেকে সরিয়ে নিয়ে যাওয়ার চক্রান্ত চলছে। আমরা এর তীব্র প্রতিবাদ করছি”।

 

Vivek Gupta speaks during Zero Hour about the alleged move to shift the Tea Board HQ from Kolkata to Guwahati

Posted on | by aitc | Leave a Comment on Vivek Gupta speaks during Zero Hour about the alleged move to shift the Tea Board HQ from Kolkata to Guwahati

Sir, through you, I would like to raise an important issue, the alleged move by the Central Government of trying to shift the Tea Board headquarters from Kolkata to Guwahati.

Sir, as you know, tea is a traditional crop of Bengal. Tea is one of the industries which, by an Act of Parliament, came under the Indian Government. The genesis of the Tea Board of India dates back to 1903 when the Indian Tea Cess Bill was passed. The Tea Board, passed under Section 4 of the Tea Act, 1953, was constituted on April 1, 1954.

But recently we are witnessing, Sir, that the employees are being harassed; they are being shifted to other offices in batches, they are being made to wait compulsorily. There is an alleged move, because a new political party has come to power in Assam, to shift the Tea Board headquarters from Kolkata to Guwahati.

Sir, I have full sympathies with Guwahati, our heart goes out to Guwahati, but this should not be done at the cost of Kolkata; we should not be made to suffer. Tea, with respect to Bengal, is as good as our hand is to our body. So, if you are taking the Tea Board headquarters away from Kolkata, it means you are chopping away our hands.

Sir, another point is, whether this is a part of a bigger design? It can be seen from the fact that the Chairman of Kolkata Port Trust and that of Damodar Valley Corporation are people who are not from Bengal. All such big decisions, whether it is appointing of chairmen or shifting of the Tea Board, are done without consulting the State Government, without taking into account the immense hardship the State Government and other employees will face.

Sir, I would also like to say that Bengal is not only the headquarters of the Tea Board, the Kolkata Port is there, auction houses have been there for centuries, warehouses are there; in fact, a lot of infrastructure is there, hence, a lot of jobs are there. Sir, the shifting of the Tea Board headquarters might be a symbolic shift but the problems as a consequence of it would be tremendous on industries and on everybody else.  

Thank you, Sir.