Bengal showed the way for women’s empowerment in India: WB CM

Bengal showed the way for women’s empowerment in India: WB CM

Posted on July 16, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee today inaugurated the Government General Degree College at Alipore and the P R Thakur Government College at Thakur Nagar in Gaighata, North 24 Parganas at Hastings House in Alipore.

The West Bengal Chief Minister also inaugurated the newly constructed building of the State Health Transport Organisation (SHTO), the Swasthya Paribahan Bhavan and lay the foundation stone for Soujanya, the new West Bengal Government Guest House, from the same venue.

Education is a key focus area of the present Government under Trinamool Congress.The present Government had set up 31 new colleges in 3 years. There were only 34 colleges in Bengal till 2011.It has set up eight new universities in 3 years, while the past Government had instituted only three universities in 34 years.

In her modest address, the West Bengal Chief Minister inaugurated the Government General Degree College for Girls and named the college after Sister Nivedita. Bengal has been the seat of women’s emancipation with Vidyasagar and Rammohan Roy, the Chief Minister said. She said that education and culture go hand in hand and that develops a beautiful societyand there is no alternative to education.

The Chief Minister said that the Government is setting up ‘Soujanya’ to host diplomatic meeting of national and international importance and the work for it is already progressing. She also inaugurated the new building for the State Health Transport Organisation from the same venue.

The Chief Minister said that the present Government has created infrastructure for many new educational institutions. She said that Bengal will become an educational hub as various international universities are tying up with educational institutes of Bengal. She informed that a women’s university has come up at Diamond Harbour new universities in Bankura, Coochbehar, Asansol has been started. The Nazrul University in Asansol to collaborate with Dhaka for Kazi Nazrul research, she informed. A chair in the name of Bangabandhu Sk Mujibur Rahman at Calcutta University, she informed.

The Chief Minister said that she will showcase Bengal as a educational destination during the forthcoming London trip.

100th administrative meeting – Extract of BBC story

Posted on July 16, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Chief Minister of the state of West Bengal and one of India’s leading politicians, Mamata Banerjee achieved an unusual distinction today by attending her one hundredth ‘administrative review meeting’ outside of her designated office.

Her office claims that she is the first leader ever to have addressed one hundred formal review meetings during her tenure – and emphasises that she has accomplished this away from the administrative headquarters.

”This is ‘century’ of a different sort, where all the runs were collected in ‘away’ matches”, says MP Derek O’Brien, Parliamentary leader of Ms Banerjee’s party Trinamool Congress.

The state of West Bengal has traditionally been governed from the iconic Writers’ Building in Calcutta, which was built for writers or clerks of the British East India Company in 1977. The red-brick heritage building is reminiscent of when Calcutta was in its heydey as the capital of British India.

Mamata Banerjee’s government moved out of the historic building two years ago to allow for the much-needed renovation of the 238-year-old building. Her new secretariat, ‘Nabanna’, is a mere high-rise building across the river Ganges.

However, Ms Banerjee has shown that she prefers to conduct meetings away from either the Writers’ Building or Nabanna – to the point where she has now reached a milestone by presiding over the one hundredth meeting in Burdwan, a district town 100 kilometerss away from Calcutta.

The Chief Minister’s office claims that she has touched upon every single district of West Bengal in this process and that this is a remarkable achievement in allowing the ‘devolution of power’ to grassroots movements.

100th administrative meeting – A celebration of governance at Burdwan

Posted on July 15, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

West Bengal Chief Minister today conducted her 100th administrative review meeting at Sanskriti Lokmancha at Burdwan. The meeting, which was attended by officials of state government from CMO to BDO, also saw the presence of dignitaries from various walks of life.

WB CM conducted the whole meeting like a freewheeling chat with her officials. Inquiring about each sector, she took stock of various projects in the district. She reviewed the performance of different departments of the state government during the meeting.

WB CM said that by conducting these meetings, the government has been able to reach out to the grassroots. She said that the administration prepares a report card for the district ahead of such meetings. “We have developed an Administrative Calendar. We introduced Right to Public Services,” she added.

Citing that the government has spent Rs 76000 crore only for paying instalments for the debt incurred by previous government, WB CM said she was working for the people despite financial crunch.

Highlights of WB CM’s speech at the meeting:

We have set up 5 new police commissionerates, 77 new police stations, 88 fast track courts.

We have advanced by leaps and bounds in developing the districts directly.

We have won Krishi Karman award for three years in a row. We have received several global recognition.

Jangalmahal is smiling. There is peace in Darjeeling. Over 40 multi super speciality hospitals are coming up.

WB CM interacting with officials at Burdwan

We have made beds and medicines at govt hospitals free at block/sub-divisional hospitals.

There were only 6 SNCUs in Bengal. We have increased the number to 55. We set up 285 SNSUs.

Over 22 lakh girls have been registered under Kanyashree scheme. 2 lakh girls will be registered on 14 August.

There were only 30 colleges in Bengal till 2011.We set up 31 new colleges. 9 new medical colleges have been set up.

We give monthly grants to folk artists. They perform at government functions. We are preserving our culture.

3 crore people in the State are receiving rice at Rs 2 per kg. Bengal is a model for the rest of the country.

Our land use policy is transparent. We are against forcible acquisition. We have developed a land bank, land map. We have allotted 14000 acres of land from land bank for several industrial parks.

A packed auditorium during the administrative meeting

We are happy that Bengal is being showcased as a model at various world forums. Our schemes like Kanyashree are being recognised by UN.

We have heard of Look East Policy. But we need implementation. We are exploring the idea of a business corridor involving Bengal and neighbouring countries. We have proposal of Rs 2000 Cr for infrastructure development at Petropole border. It will boost Indo-Bangla trade. We have heard of dedicated freight corridor. We are now talking of dedicated business corridor.

We are working towards mobile banking to extend the benefits of the direct benefit transfer.

Burdwan district has achieved 100% coverage of mid-day meal scheme and building of toilets at girls’ schools. Bengal has achieved 99% coverage of toilets in girls’ schools. We will soon reach 100% mark. Three districts from Bengal are among the Top 4 performers in Cleanliness Mission.

The venue of the administrative review meeting

We are setting “Patha Sathi” motels at an interval of 30 km on highways for the benefit of tourists.

We are setting up 500 Karma Tirtha marketing hubs across the state. 271 are already in process.

We will not tolerate illegal mining. District administration must ensure. Govt loses revenue due to illegal mining.

Several dignitaries are present here today for the 100th Admin Meeting. We welcome them all.

We are starting “Tanti Sathi” scheme under which we will provide weaving machinery to weavers.

Loss of mandays due to strikes, bandhs has come down from 78 lakhs to zero in Bengal.

An MSME facilitation centre is coming up in Burdwan.

Law and order situation in Bengal is better than most other States. Any incident of violence is unwarranted.

Eastern India’s first Paediatric Cath Lab comes up in Kolkata

Posted on July 14, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the first Paediatric Cath Lab unit and the first Sleep Lab Unit at the Institute of Psychiatry, in a Government hospital in eastern India, at SSKM Hospital.

The Chief Minister also inaugurated the newly constructed building for the Institute of Psychiatry (IPO).

In her brief speech at the inaugural ceremony, the Chief Minister said that a Sleep Lab and Cath lab for children has been inaugurated today and these are great initiatives.

She said that the Government has started Sishu Sathi scheme for children so that they can receive free cardiac surgeries in hospitals. “The Government is also upgrading health infrastructure in hospitals without causing inconvenience to patients,” she said.

“For the benefit of the poor people, the Government has started fair price medicine shops and diagnostic centres,” the Chief Minister said. New SNSU and SNCUs have been set up. Beds at hospitals have been made free and medicines are given to poor people for free, she said.

WB CM also said that over 40 multi super speciality hospitals are coming up in the State and the Health Department has added 25000 beds to government hospitals in last four years. The Chief Minister also added that a cord blood bank is coming up in Bengal, which is a great initiative that will benefit a lot of patients.

100 schemes inaugurated at WB Govt’s 100th administrative meeting

Posted on July 14, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The West Bengal Government today conducted the 100^th Administrative Review Meeting of the districts in a big way with the launch of 100 schemes.

The Chief Minister inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of 100 projects and will distributed benefits to 100 people from the stage.

The projects are from the departments like Education, Health, Irrigation, MSME, SHG, Agriculture, PWD (flyovers and bridges), Women and Child Development, Urban Development.

The 100th administrative review meeting today was attended by all Cabinet Ministers, MPs and MLAs, secretaries and officials of all the departments, panchayat heads and district level officials.

The State Government had invited a galaxy of dignitaries, heads of different Banks, vice chancellors of all the State Universities and other distinguished personalities.

The hundred projects are as follows:

Inauguration

• Drinking water supply project at Gourbazar-Ichhapur, Jagara-Jagannathpur and at Ward No 4 of Guskura Municipality

• Pipelined drinking water supply project at Kulti on Kalnai II block, Madhabpur and at adjacent mouzas of Jamalpur block

• 33/11 KV power station at Kalikapur in Durgapur-Faridpur Block and at Ramnagar in Aushgram-ll Block

• Pather Sathi (Motel) at Guskura

• Concrete bridge over Damodar main canal at Belgram in Galsi-ll Block and over No 1 branch of the Eden canal in Memari-I Block

• Power administrative building at Kalna

• Desiltation of G-2 canal at Memari Block

• Construction of Metalled road from Jamtala Bus stop to Amirpur Village

• New office buildings for the block land & Land Reform Officers of Raina-I & ll, Khandaghosh, Memari-ll, Manteshwar and Kanksa Block

• Agricultural implements hiring centre of Belari Co-operative Agricultural Development Society Ltd.

• Construction of Maathnullah at the mouzas of Chandul, Jhinguti, Kashimpur, Amar in Bardhaman I Block

• Construction of Maathnullah at the mouzas of Paraj, Pursa, Bhasapur, Khuraj, Potna Jagulipara in Galsi I Block

• Construction of Maathnullah at the mouzas of Aligram and Diyasa in Aushgram I Block

• Construction of Maathnullah at the mouzas of Jalalpur, Dariyapur, Panduk, Gopalpur, Maliyara, Ramnagar, Chandipur, Bahadurpur and Eral, in Aushgram II Bloc

• Construction of Maathnullah at the at the Bashishtapur mouza in Jamalpur Block

• Construction of Jorebandh at Jeetpur in Salanpur Block

• Major river water irrigation project at Siyali-Ill in Jamalpur Block and at Subaldaha in Raina-ll Block

• Medium riverwater irrigation project at Kamalnagar in Purbasthali-II Block

• Flood relief camp at Jamalpur Block

• Food & Supplies Godown at Galsi-ll, Kalna-I, Mangalkot, Manteshwar, Bardhaman-I Katoa-I, Ketugram-ll, Purbasthali-I, Bhatar, Memari-I and Aushgram-I Block

• Extension of Library Building of Durgapur Government College

• Boys’ Hostel of Sehara Bazar Rahmania Welfare Trust

• Minorities Girls’ Hostel of Asansol Municipal Corporation and in Kadampukur & Mangalkot High Madrasa

• Agricultural College at Susunia in Bankura

Laying of Foundation Stone

• Multi Super speciality Hospital at Kalna

• Development of the infrastructure including roads in the Industrial Hub of Panagarh

• Court building and Bungalow at Asansol

• New building in Bardhaman Municipality

• Renovation of the bridge over Banka river at Birhata

• 33/11 K.V. Power Sub-Station at the Industrial Hub of Panagarh

• Bus Stands renovation at Maldanga and Kusumgram in Monteswar Block

• Construction of the roads from Chhora MSK to Chhora colony in Aushgram-ll Block, from National Highway-ll to Andal Police Station in Andal Block, from Laskarbandh to Bangram at Durgapur-Faridpur Blcok and from Morgram Statehighway to Amindanga in Kanksa Block

• Construction of metalled roads from Suri to National Highway-ll atJhinguti in Bardhaman—I Block and from Khanpukur Bankmore to Rayan village

• Construction of cement concrete roads from Senraleigh Crossing to Kapatia Scheduled Tribe village in Asansolo Construction of concrete roads at Sukantapally in Belkash Gram Panchayet in Bardhaman-I Block and from Shantipara Mandirtala in Saraitikar village to Bhasapara Children Education Centre 0 Strengthening of roads from Nutanhat to Phutisanko crossing

• Strengthening and expansion of the roads from Kumarpurto Chakta, from Guskara to Kasemnagar, from Asansol to Barakar (GT. Road] and from Chhora to Bhatkunda to Mankaro Development ofthe roads from Rasulpur to Khandaghosh to Chalkpurohit, Palsit Nabasta in Memari-I Block, from Baharan to Salar in Ketugram—II Block, from Shreebati to Terrakota Temple in Katwa—II Block and the Siladhaora road adjacent to the old B.D.0. Office in Barabani Block

• Development of the Metalled roads from Panchgachhia Bank crossing to Kamala Girls High school and from Panchgachhia Hindi School to Manoharbahal village via P.M.V.V. High School

• Illumination of the roads from Nababhat to Go|apbag—Purbasha Bus Stand — Po|iceline—Parabirhata crossing

• Piped lined drinking water supply project at Pubar and adjacent in Aushgram -ll Block

• New office buildings for the block Land & Land Reforms Officers in Bardhaman-I, Ketugram-I, Purbasth-ll and Durgapur-Faridpur Block 0Krishi Bhawan in Bardhaman Sadar Block

• Embankment of the left sided main canal in Galsi—I Block, at the left bank of the Damodar in between Amarpur Ghat and Nabokhando Ghat, at the right bank of the Damodar near Aamrul village in Khandoghosh Block and at the left sided main canal i Durgapur-Faridpur & Kanksa Block

• Reconstruction of concrete Bridges overthe panagarh branch canal in Galsi — I block and the left sided main canal at Adrahati village in Golsi — ll Block

• Upgradation ofthe Primary Health Centre at Kanchannagar in Bardhaman Municipal area and of Municipal Maternity Home in Jhurjhurpul, Alamgunge

• Rural Haat (Karmothirtho) at Haatgachha, Kalyanpur Gram Panchayat in Kalna-II Block

• Dwelling House for the Homeless people at Asansol Municipal Corporation area and installation of compactor Machine

• Construction of concrete roads and sewerage system at Subhash Palli in Durgapur Municipal Corporation area and at Saptarshi Park in Durgapur-Faridpur Block

• Renovation & Reconstruction of Silampur Primary Health Centre in Kanksa B|ock

• Boys’ Hostel (2nd Phase) for Hazrat Manikpir Samaj Vikash Kendra

• Katwa Modern Multi Disciplinary Veterinary Hospital

• Office of the Block Animal Resources Development Officer and Veterinary Health Centre in Purbasthali-I Block.

Providing Services

• Kanyashri

• Shikshashri

• Geetanjali

• Loan under Swami Vivekananda Swanirvar Prokalpo

• Gatidhara

• Nijo Griho Nijo Bhumi

• Aamar Fasal, Aamar Gari

• Aamar Fasal Aamar Gola

• Parivar Suraksha Prakalpo

• Ex—gracia Grant

• Assistance to the farmers affected by hailstorm

• Subsidy for construction of centres for hiring agricultural implements

• One time grant for electrification of the pumpsets to be used in irrigation for agriculture

• Distribution of agricultural implements on subsidy

• Assistance for harvesting flowers and vegetables in protected manner in the polygreen house

• Distribution of sports equipments

• Mahila Samriddhi Yojona

• Loan to scheduled caste finance and development project

• Identity cards for artisans

• Financial assistance to educational institutions for purchasing of sports equipments

• Distribution of hygienic thermo-insulated boxes, cycles fitted with hygienic thermo-insulated boxes and vehicles for carrying fish to the fish sellers

• Assistance to the workers in unorganised sectors under Provident Fund scheme

• Assistance to the construction and transport workers under social security scheme

• Financial Assistance to the folk artistes

• Equipments for handlooms

• Distribution of cycles

• Term Loan

• Indira Abas Yojona

Alipore Zoo set to have a nature interpretation centre

Posted on July 13, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The Alipore zoo, in order to enrich its visitors with information on different reptiles, birds and mammals, is all set to come up with a Nature Interpretation Centre (NIC) at the end of July 2015.

The NIC will be located in a hall at the building which is known as the old reptile house. The hall is 70 feet long and 20 feet wide and the NIC will be housed there.

Visitors to the zoo, especially children, will be able to learn about the history of Alipore zoo. In addition, the visitors will also be able to learn a brief life history about various reptiles, birds and mammals in captivity. The information will also be accompanied by pictures of the animals.

Initially, the kiosks will provide information and visuals only. There are plans to add audio later.

The NIC will have five touchscreen kiosks which will provide all the information and life history about the captive animals in the zoo. It is hoped that this will be of use to children since generally kids take a lot of interest in animals and birds.

The zoo has 105 species of animals (reptiles, birds and mammals) and the total number of animals is 1,400. Out of the total 105 species, about 60 different species of animals will be featured in the kiosks to start with.

In addition, the zoo authorities plan to hang around 24 photos of different animals on the walls of the NIC. The pictures of these animals will basically be paintings of the animals. All paintings will have track light focussed on them for enabling visitors to have a good look at the pictures. The projected cost of setting up the NIC is around R1 crore.

Kolkata zoo is India’s oldest zoological park and at present houses around 106 species of animals. Recently, the zoo got a pair of giant Aldabra tortoises from the government of Seychelles as a gift from there. The Seychelles government had decided to gift the zoo a pair of Aldabra tortoises after the death Adwaita, the tortoise, which was brought to India by the East India Company as a gift for Lord Robert Clive. It was brought to the zoo in 1875.

Bengal to present theme towns to investors in the UK

Posted on July 8, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The West Bengal government is planning to project six theme townships in the state as potential destinations for British investment to back West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee’s visit to the UK later this month to woo investors.

Each of these theme townships will focus on specific sectors like healthcare, industry and culture. While Siliguri in North Bengal has been picked as healthcare and education hub, Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district will have geriatrics care as its theme.

Dumurjola in Howrah district has been identified for sports, Kalyani in Nadia district for analytics, Asansol in Burdwan district for industry and Santiniketan in Birbhum district, famous for the Tagore connection, for culture. With less than 20 days left for the WB CM’s flight to take off, state officials are busy giving final touches to the projects.

The theme townships will create a welcome opportunity for smooth investment in a state where land acquisition has been a major obstacle for industrialisation. The officials said the land in these townships belongs to the state government and there is no need for acquisition. Since the major obstacle of land has been resolved, we hope for a positive response.

The theme townships will be urban clusters with a concentration of projects woven around a central theme. To make things easy, all necessary infrastructures will come up at the specified locations.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is also expected to present a video of the six proposed theme-based smart cities in West Bengal when she goes to London at the end of July. The video will be part of a documentary the State team will showcase at various business events in the UK. State government officials are busy finalising the project details to showcase the theme cities.

Last month, the state government had cleared the decks to set up six modern townships based on different themes. The concept of developing theme-based cities is new in this country. A theme city is an urban cluster with a concentration of projects woven round the central theme.

The theme townships provide an excellent opportunity to businessmen for making smooth investments since no land is needed to be acquired. The land for these townships is owned by the State Government.

To make the projects successful, the State Government plans to give non-monetary incentives, such as single-window clearance and relaxation norms for floor area ratio. A global invitation will be floated and the e-auction process will take place before Durga Puja.

The London visit is Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s most crucial initiative this year to attract investments. In August last year, she had visited Singapore with a business delegation, that has resulted in a lot of positive interest in the State.

With Trinamool Congress in driver’s seat, State on a development path

Posted on July 6, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

By Avirup Sarkar

No one will deny that West Bengal’s ride over the last four years, with TMC in the driver’s seat, has been bumpy in patches. About the pleasantness of the rest of the journey, opinions might differ though.

The ponzi scams, the occasional unrest in colleges and universities, the sporadic violence in the countryside have all been picked up too eagerly by a section of the media and projected as major failings of the government. The episodes have gained some popularity in certain quarters. So much so that TMC bashing has become a favorite drawing room pastime in the snooty Bengali upper-class. Yet the ruling party has been maintaining its winning streak and is expected to do so in the foreseeable future.

One may call this a puzzle.If we were to interpret the negative reports in the media as total collapse of the administrative process, how do we explain the ruling party’s electoral success? If we take the electoral success as a signal of good governance, how are we to interpret the negative reports projected in the media?

The most canvassed answer to this puzzle is that the political achievement of TMC is the fallout of rigged elections supported by brute force of hooligans and institutional patronage from the police. The answer seems untenable. One must remember that even the all powerful CPM with all its might and ploy could not withstand public anger when it got into the land-grab game.If the present rulers were really as bad as they are made out to be, one would have witnessed similar public anger which no amount of hooliganism or police support could withstand. Moreover, a number of field studies reveal that in West Bengal election results cannot be explained by malpractices alone.

The truth is indeed straight forward. Despite the bad patches, TMC’s performance has been quite satisfactory, especially in the villages, and its electoral victory reflects this simple ground reality. After coming to power, the TMC introduced a deep administrative reform which is seldom advertized. Governance at the grass-root level was taken away from political entities and handed over to officials like BDOs, SDOs and DMs who could be directly controlled and made answerable by the top administration.

Compared to the earlier system practised by the CPM, where the party boss at the local level had the ultimate say, and where the government official had to wait for his nod before making the slightest move, the new system entailed a fundamental change. In the new system, the bureaucrat has more power and responsibilities but at the same time he is always under the scanner of the Chief Minister who with an inexorable energy travels from district to district to assess the ground reality with her own eyes. No other Chief Minister of West Bengal had taken so much pain and work-load.

Her hard work has paid off in a number of ways. For one thing, conditions of roads in rural Bengal have immensely improved. The habitual traveler in the countryside will vouch for this. The improvement is not limited to relatively important passages like the Kalyani Expressway or the state highway connecting Jalpaiguri with Siliguri, but extends to obscure village roads as well. Second, there has been a remarkable improvement in the implementation of welfare schemes, both old, like MGNREGA, and new, like Kanyashree. The latter, being an example of Conditional Cash Transfer to which the whole developing world is gradually switching, reflects the alert and aware mind of the person at the top who designed it.Third, there has been a serious drive to buy food grains directly from the farmers. On the one hand, this is destined to provide support to the tillers of the soil, and fuel the public distribution system on the other.

Procurement had reached a nadir during the Left Front rule, despite its tall claims of upholding the farmers’ interest. The list of achievements could go on and on mentioning the execution of fair price shops, fulfillment of rural electrification targets, giving a very pretty look to the city of Kolkata, removal of militant trade unionism from the state, accomplishing spectacular growth in the number of new schools, colleges and universities, reduction in red-tapes and so on and so forth.

The fabulous development efforts have been supported by an impressive growth in the government’s own tax revenue which in turn has been made possible by far reaching structural and administrative reforms of the finance ministry. Compared to the previous regime, the growth rate of government’s own tax revenue has almost doubled over the past four years.

Finally , political unrest has subsided in Jangalmahal and Darjeeling, thanks to the frequent visits of the Chief Minister. In short, the state of West Bengal is on a path of development which is endorsed and rewarded by the voters.

The author is a professor of economics at Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata

(Published on Times of India, dated 6 July, 2015)

Job boom in Bengal infotech industry

Posted on July 4, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The infotech sector in Bengal is on a recruitment drive. As many as 50,000 jobs will be created in 15 IT parks being set up in the state and as part of hiring plans of industry majors such as Wipro, Cognizant and TCS.

Bengal finance and industries minister Dr Amit Mitra, who is also in charge of information technology department, said at least eight of the 15 IT parks will be ready by the end of July or early August. These include the IT hubs in Rajarhat, Asansol, Durgapur Phase-II, Barjora, Purulia, Bolpur, Kharagpur and Siliguri Phase-II.

In the private sector, Wipro has assured the recruitment of 2,400 employees by this fiscal, he said. “The Wipro CEO told me that they are in the process of expanding their Saltlake facility for an additional 2,400 employees,” Dr Mitra said.

He added that Cognizant had promised to hire 5,000 employees this fiscal and has already recruited 1,500. “The vice-president of Cognizant has said he would take the total number of employees to 18,000 here.”

The minister added that TCS will be ready with its second campus soon. The campus will have an employment capacity of about 20,000.

Big numbers

The state government aims to create at least 20,000 jobs in 15 IT parks. Nasscom has come forward to promote the hubs in Kalyani, Durgapur and Siliguri.

“Work is proceeding at a fast pace in seven other locations as well (other than the eight almost ready),” said Mitra. These include Kalyani, Howrah, Haldia, Taratala, Bantola, Malda and Krishnanagar.

Mitra also spoke of a hardware hub in Sonarpur that will be operational in two months and will house small and medium enterprises. Additionally, Naihati and Palta will soon have one electronic manufacturing hub each.

Unprecedented success in information technology in Bengal

Posted on July 2, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

With a view to playing a leading role in information technology and electronics in India, the Mamata Banerjee Government put out the West Bengal Policy on Information and Communication Technology, 2012 and the West Bengal ICT Intensive Scheme, 2012. Special emphasis has been placed in the fields of hardware, gaming and animation.

The various aspects stressed upon as part of the policy include setting up information technology centres in the districts, proliferating the hardware and electronics industries, setting up national centres of education, setting up centres of excellence in information technology, taking up new e-governance initiatives, taking up e-district projects through which, among other things, all villages would be getting the benefits of Government schemes vis e-kiosks, turning all State Government offices into e-offices, digitising all Government information in order to enable the Document Management System, setting up state-wide wide area networks (WANs), setting up a State data centre, setting up a full-fledged State portal and a State Service Delivery Gateway, creation special computer education kits for all State Government schools, etc.

In 2012, the State Government was awarded the Data Quest E-Readiness Award.

Huge increase in budgetary allocation

The yearly Budget allotment for the information technology and electronics sector by the Trinamool Congress Government has been much more when compared to the previous Left Front Government, which points to the serious intent of the present Government to develop this sector.

The Left Front Government, in its last four years, spent a total of Rs 16,39,41,000 whereas the Trinamool Government, in its first four years (2011-12 to 2014-15) has spent a total of Rs 299,48,64,000 (Rs 29,58,14,000, Rs 43,09,60,000, Rs 100,10,90,000 and Rs 126,70,00,000, respectively). This is a massive increase of 1,726.79% over the previous four-year period. The plan outlay for the present financial year (2015-16) is even more.

Information technology parks in eight districts

The State Government is setting up information technology (IT) parks in eight districts in 2015-16. In the last three years, 15 IT parks have been announced of which eight are on their way to completion. The eight are located in Siliguri, Durgapur, Asansol, Barjora, Rajarhat (near Kolkata), Kharagpur, Bolpur and Purulia. These eight would create employment opportunities for 20,000 people.

The other seven would be located in Malda, Howrah, Haldia, Kalyani, Krishnanagar, Taratala and Bantala (the last two are in Kolkata).

E-governance

Transparency in service, speed of service, efficiency of service – to ensure the implementation of these three aspects in all State Government work, the Trinamool Government has decided on e-governance as a backbone for implementation of all services and schemes.

E-office schemes have been implemented in North and South 24-Parganas districts.
E-office schemes have been implemented in North and South 24-Parganas districts.
Staff Selection Commission and the Depart of Information and Technology have been converted into e-offices.
As per the latest report, in 2013-14, Document Management Systems (DMS) have been implemented in 13 district magistrate offices.
The same for the rest of the districts is going to be completed soon. For this purpose, 114 lakh documents would have to be scanned and stored digitally, 90% of which work is over.
The departments of Urban Development, School Education, and Commerce and Industries have already had electronic file tracking systems implemented in 2013-14, and Home and Higher Education in 2014-15.
Integrated Finance Management System (IFMS) has been implemented.
Tracking of taxis through radio frequency identification (RFID) tags has been implemented.
Information technology has been successfully used in the implementation of the Kanyashree project.
For this creating and maintaining this IT backbone, about 500 departmental staff are working relentlessly.

E-districts

The e-district project is being implemented through the digitization of 36 services.
Of these 36, 16 have already been implemented as part of Phase-I.
As part of Phase-I, over 200 block offices in nine districts have been connected with LAN technology.
Project managers for the E-district project have been appointed in 17 districts.

IT majors setting up offices

TCS is setting up offices spread over 40 acres in New Town-Rajarhat, where 3,500 are currently employed.
Cognizant is setting up offices in the second Tower Complex in Bantala, where 5,000 would be employed.
Unitech is setting up offices in Rajarhat.
ITC has been given 17 acres in Rajarhat, where constructions are already underway.

Industrial and educational setups

Land for electronics manufacturing clusters (EMCs) has been granted in Naihati and Falta.
Work for a hardware park spread over 10 acres is on in Sonarpur; the work is going to be completed in the current financial year.
An Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) is coming up in Kalyani.

Employment

It is estimated that by the end of financial year 2015-16, 1,80,000 people would be employed in the IT and electronics sector, against the only 90,000 that got employment during the last year of Left Front rule (2010-11). On an average, employment in this sector is increasing by 20% annually.

IT in education

The State Government is implementing scholarship schemes online through State Service Delivery Gateway (SSDG). Computer systems with special education kits installed are being set up in schools in tribal regions. Schools for the blind are being supplied with state-of-the-art Braille monitor computers.

Hence, as we can see from the above information, the Maa-Mati-Manush Government of Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee has had unprecedented success in the information technology and electronics sector.