With the infrastructure being ramped up rapidly by the Trinamool Congress Government, the number tourists visiting Sundarbans has gone up too. The region now sees many more tourists round the year, while earlier tourist arrivals peaked during certain periods only.
With better and more roads, culverts (for channelling water under roads), watchtowers, better protected areas, beach development and other work being done, the mangrove haven has become more attractive. With the hike in tourists, naturally the local economy has also improved. Better means of livelihood are making lives easier for the locals. Things like better roads and rest sheds are a boon for the local people too.
Not just betterment infrastructure, there has been improvement in the system of inclement weather alerts too, which is beneficial to tourists and locals alike.
At the same time, infrastructure for water transport has also been improved. The conditions of the river jetties have been improved. Another step taken for improvement of connectivity is the construction of bridges, linking different islands in the delta.
To draw more tourists, every year, in August and September, the State Government organises the Hilsa Festival there.
The above facts are borne out by both Government officials and tour operators. The latter expressed a lot of hope for tourism during a recent tourism fair organised by the State Government in Kolkata. Among the popular places in the Sundarbans are Gosaba Hamilton Bunglow, Pirkhali, Dobaki Watchtower, Sajnekhali Watchtower, Sudhanyakhali Watchtower among others.
In May 2011, the Hon’ble Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, established efficient governance in 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 anniversary of this historic day, the Government of Maa, Mati, Manush rededicates itself to the service of people.
In the last seven years, Bengal has witnessed phenomenal growth in development and prosperity. Today, due to the unfaltering efforts of the State Government, Bengal ranks number 1 nationally, in multiple spheres.
The present day Government has achieved comprehensive development in multiple sectors including education, health, agriculture, industry, transport, culture etc. The State has set a shining example in maintaining communal harmony.
Bengal is no. 1 in the country with respect to the following:
• Generation of man-days and expenditure under the ‘100 Days’ Work’ scheme
• Construction of rural houses and establishment of rural connectivity
• Sanction of loans for the minorities as well as scholarships for minority students
• Provision of loans for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME)
• Skill Development
• Ease of Doing Business
• Transparency in work and highest number of contracts allotted via e-tendering
Awards and accolades received by the State:
• The ‘Kanyashree’ scheme of the State conferred with the 1st prize in the United Nations Public Service Award category
• The State’s ‘Kanyashree’ scheme conferred with the ‘National e-governance Award’
• The significant role of gram panchayats, with respect to Decentralised Planning, awarded by the Government of India
• ‘Skoch Smart Governance Award’, in the sphere of health services, for the innovative practices of ‘Fair Price Medicine Shop’, ‘Diagnostic Centre’, as well as for the provision of ‘Critical Care Facility’ below the district level
• ‘Krishi Karman’ award in agriculture for 5 consecutive years
• Declared as the ‘Best State’ at the ‘All India Skill Competition’ for 3 years
• ‘Tantuja’ conferred with National Award for ‘Marketing in Handloom Products’ and appreciated by ‘NITI Aayog’
• Award by ‘IPPAI’ for the electrification of rural households
• ‘Skoch Smart Governance Award’ in the labour sector
• 6 municipalities of the State honoured with the ‘International C-40 Award’ for solid waste management
• Received the first prize for ‘Chhau Dance’ of Bengal the Republic Day Parade in one year, while bagging the first prize for tableau of ‘Bauls of Bengal’ in another year
• CSI-Nihilent Award for i-Budget and e-Governance. Bengal is the first State to introduce online payment through e-Kuber of RBI and the Human Resource Management System
As we complete a journey of seven years, we pledge anew to serve the people of the State to ensure holistic development, with unwavering passion.
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 anniversary of this historic day, the Government of Maa, Mati, Manush rededicates itself to the service of people.
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.
As we complete a journey of seven years, we pledge anew to serve the people of the State to ensure holistic development, with unwavering passion.
Glimpses of the progress achieved in seven years:
• The average family income of the farmers of the State has undergone a three-fold increase
• Over 90 lakh individuals have secured employment, 144 crore man-days have been generated and the unemployment rate has fallen by almost 40%
• The healthcare budget has been increased by 6 times. 42 super-speciality hospitals have been constructed, and free treatment, diagnosis and medicines, in all government hospitals, have been facilitated
• 22 universities, 48 colleges, 155 ITIs and 81 polytechnics have been established
• As compared to 2011, the expenditure on agriculture and its allied sectors has grown by 7 times
• The budgetary outlay for minority development has been raised by 8 times and almost 1.71 crore minority students have been provided with scholarships worth approximately Rs 4900 crore
• Almost 26,000 km of rural roads have been constructed/renovated and the construction/renovation of another 13,000 km of roads has been initiated
• Homestay facility in the tourism sector of the state has grown by 30%, which has resulted in the employment of a substantial number of people
• Financial assistance has been extended to 18,000 clubs for the development of sports infrastructure
• The quarter final, semi final and final matches of FIFA Under-17 World Cup were successfully organised, thereby winning the commendation of the whole world
• The revenue collection of the State has escalated by almost 2.5 times
• The average deficit, in terms of SGST collection all over the country, is 18%. On the other hand, Bengal, after recovering its 33% deficit, was left with a surplus of 3%
Mamata Banerjee’s emphasis on grassroots upliftment has been critical to the flourishing Bengal model of development.
Economic development has different connotations for different classes of people. For the poor and the underprivileged, it means good roads and painless travel to the remote village where he lives, free education in his vicinity, easily accessible low-cost health services in his neighbourhood and, of course, two square meals a day. If these are provided, most among them will agree that the incumbent Government is serious about development. Indeed, the poor are easy to gratify.
The more privileged have different aspirations and so are their standards of judging good development. To climb up the ladder of success, they need the latest conveniences and opportunities around them – giant corporate houses, premier educational institutions, five-star hospitals, busy airports, jazzy shopping malls, clubs, golf courses – in short, a life commensurate with modern living and comforts, a life as lived in the richer parts of our planet. With the world getting increasingly globalised, blown-up lifestyles from distant lands are being forced on the privileged Indian, alienating him from the vast underprivileged majority. A dichotomous shining India is created by the side of the less radiant traditional Bharat. Over the years, as social and economic inequalities have increased, the dichotomy has become stronger. As a result, the divergence between the notions of development as envisaged by the rich and the poor is also getting enlarged.
The government in power, therefore, has a choice problem – it has to decide how much attention is to be given to each notion of development. For Mamata Banerjee, however, the choice was obvious. Ever since she assumed power, her government has devoted its primary attention to the idea of development as perceived by the underprivileged. As a consequence, the poor are unanimous in their opinion that the Government cares about them. It is not merely a question of distributing benefits. It is a process of giving the poor a kind of respect and dignity which was not there before.
Here are some examples. In the present regime, a kid from a poor household going to a government-aided school receives a package of goodies from the authorities which increases his incentive to attend school. The package includes a new bicycle to ride to school, a pair of shoes to protect the feet from mud and dust, an umbrella to protect the head from the scorching sun and a raincoat to protect the body from getting soaked during a soggy monsoon. What is more, the school building now looks more like a school rather than a god-forsaken warehouse. In a similar vein, a poor pregnant mother gets five thousand rupees from the Government for her first delivery in addition to a travelling allowance which depends on the distance between her residence and the nearest health centre.
There is hardly any mud house in the village. A poor household gets money from the government to build a pucca house and a toilet. Farmers get subsidised seeds, planters get money to grow bananas and other fruits. During a natural calamity, those affected get tarpaulin, food and a temporary shelter. Clean drinking water is provided by newly built tube-wells, one for every five families. And, of course, there are the much talked about achievements of Kanyashree and MGNREGA, which have earned international and national kudos. What is most important is that all these benefits to the poor are distributed irrespective of which political party one supports or which caste or religion one belongs to. Just like the immensely improved roads in the countryside, welfare benefits are there for each eligible citizen to enjoy.
Indeed, development management in Bengal under Mamata Banerjee involved a deep-rooted administrative reform. After Trinamool came to power, governance at the grassroots 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 CPI(M), 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 workload. As we have already seen, her hard work has paid off in a number of ways. Already, Bengal has been named number one in the country in terms of the ease of doing business.
(Professor Abhirup Sarkar is Professor of Economics, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata)
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today attended the inauguration of Bangladesh Bhaban in Santiniketan. Funded by the Bangladesh Government, this Bhaban has been set up with cooperation from the Visva-Bharati authorities. The Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh were also present.
Highlights of the Chief Minister’s speech:
My best wishes and greetings to all the people in ‘epaar’ and ‘opaar Bangla’. I hope this Bhaban becomes a site of pilgrimage in the days to come.
Thank you for inviting me on this auspicious and proud occasion. I am honoured. I enjoyed today’s programme immensely.
Indo-Bangladesh ties will always be strong.
We cannot imagine Bengal without Rabindranath and Nazrul. Similarly, Bangladesh is also incomplete without them.
It is Kazi Nazrul Islam’s birth anniversary tomorrow. He is the national poet of Bangladesh. We can go on and on if we speak about his works.
We have set up a university named after Kazi Nazrul Islam. Haseena Ji will be going there tomorrow. We will felicitate her there.
We have named the Andal airport after Kazi Nazrul Islam. We have set up Nazrul Academy and Nazrul Tirtha. We have instituted a Chair after Kazi Nazrul too.
We also want to set up a Bhaban in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s memory.
My best wishes and greetings to everyone in India and Bangladesh on the occasion of Ramzan.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday spoke out against the proposed change in the allocation of services to candidates who clear the all-India civil services examination, describing it as “very dangerous”. The examinations are conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
“What I have come to know about the (proposed changes for) civil servants is very dangerous. They (IAS and IPS officers) used to come through the merit list. Now, if you think that whoever will be an IAS or IPS because of a particular recommendation, then don’t you think it is a constitutional crisis?” Mamata Banerjee told reporters.
“It’s a constitutional breakdown,” she said, adding, “There must be a limit to everything.”
The Centre is considering a major change in the allocation of services to the successful candidates in the civil services examination.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has asked the Ministry of Personnel to explore if the allocation of services to the probationers can be done after the completion of the three-month foundation course, according to an official communique. At present, the allocation is done on the basis of the ranks obtained in the civil services examination.
On the occasion of the seventh anniversary of Trinamool coming to power, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee greeted the people Bengal and reiterated her commitment towards working for the betterment of the people.
She posted on her Twitter page: “On May 20, 2011 the first Maa, Mati, Manush Government took oath of office. It has been seven years and we continue to be committed to working for the betterment of the people.”
On May 13, 2011, the people of Bengal gave a historic mandate, ousting the Left Front out of power. Mamata Banerjee took oath as the Chief Minister of Bengal on May 20, 2011 at 1:05 PM. To read more about the historic day, click here.
Shortly before 1 PM, Mamata Banerjee entered the Raj Bhavan. Earlier in the morning, she had visited the Kalighat temple and took blessings of her mother, now late Gayatri Devi. Alighting at the north gate of the Raj Bhavan, she walked in, amidst cheers and slogans from the people waiting outside in thousands.
At 1.05 PM, Mamata Banerjee took oath as the first woman Chief Minister of West Bengal. History was created.
Mamata Banerjee takes oath as Bengal CM
Mamata Banerjee and her cabinet took oath in the presence of some 3,000 people that included her party workers and relatives of the victims of violence in Nandigram and Singur. This has perhaps been one of the most crowded swearing-in ceremonies of a chief minister. Along with her, 35 MLAs from Trinamool Congress took oath as ministers of the two-tier ministry. Four of the Trinamool Congress MLAs were sworn in as Ministers of State.
Mamata Banerjee takes oath
Clad in a simple white sari and wearing a tricolor uttariya (long scarf) that has by now become her trade mark, Mamata Banerjee took the oath in Bengali in the name of God, which was administered by Governor M.K. Narayanan.
Some hours earlier, Ms Banerjee had set off from her humble Harish Chatterjee Street house on a journey to change Bengal`s course. Thousands of supporters had already lined the route she would take to Raj Bhavan, holding puja thalis and blowing conch shells. Many were barefoot, as if had come to worship a deity.
In Ms Banerjee’s para, the atmosphere was Puja-like. When she emerged from the door, wearing a crisp off-white saree with a blue zari border, a chant of “Didi…Didi” went up. Her car was ready to take her to Raj Bhavan, but the Iron Lady of Bengal walked into the crowd, much to the dismay of her bodyguards from the Special Security Unit. She touched as many hands as she could, smiled, and folded her hands in humility. Someone passed her a microphone.
At exactly 12.55 PM, the Chief Minister-in-waiting walked into Raj Bhavan. She greeted Governor M K Narayanan and took the sheet of paper she was to read from.
The historic march from Raj Bhavan to Writers’
Trailed by a sea of supporters, Mamata Banerjee walked the 1 km from Raj Bhavan, where she took oath as the first non-Left Chief Minister in 34 years, to Writers’ Building on Friday, May 20, 2011. Euphoric, swelling crowds — nearly 2.5 lakh — thronged the kilometre-long road to Writers’ Buildings. “Democracy has to be with the people,” she said. “I saw the crowds and asked the governor’s permission to walk to Writers’ Buildings.”
Her first day at Writers’ Building
Bureaucrats and security officers escorted Mamata Banerjee up the same flight of stairs along which she had been dragged down in 1993. In the corridor, she suddenly cut her brisk stride and turned towards a balcony. She stood there for a while and waved to the delirious crowd. A bodyguard swiftly crouched before her, hanging on to the low guard rails to protect her from the mad scramble of photojournalists. With a final wave, Ms Banerjee walked off purposefully to the CM`s chamber. It was 4.44pm.
It was from there that Ms Banerjee had been hauled out 17 years ago. Then a firebrand Congress worker, she had been agitating outside former CM Jyoti Basu’s office, insisting he meet a woman who had been allegedly raped by CPM workers. As the police yanked her out, Banerjee swore to set foot in Writers’ Buildings only after the Left was ousted. On the afternoon of 20 May, she kept her vow.
The first Cabinet Meeting
On her first days as chief minister, the people’s leader broke all protocol. She refused a bullet-proof car, declined the privilege of free passage, instructed police to halt her black car at traffic signals, worked in office until 12.35 AM the day she was sworn in.
People greet Mamata Banerjee on 20 May, 2011
After the swearing-in, Mamata Banerjee chaired her first Cabinet meeting at around 5 PM: Singur topped the agenda, then came her first press conference as CM around 8 PM. Then she sat in her office, allotting ministries to her Cabinet colleagues. The CM left office at 12:35 AM on Saturday.
Calling the political chaos in Karnataka as a ‘constitutional crisis’, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee raises question on the alleged “horse-trading” in the State.
“In Karnataka,this is a constitutional crisis. The governor is a constitutional post. he cannot act like a political guide. Why he is not calling the Congress-JD(S) when they have already submitted letter with the adequate numbers. A governor should act abiding by the Constitution and not by his personal choice. I endorse all Opposition leaders’ views in this regard. I support Mayawati Ji, Stalin, Chandrababu Naidu and Akhilesh’s opinion on this issue,” said Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
Hinting at the Karnataka crisis, she said: “Of late, there are so many instances of horse trading. If this becomes a rule, a bad precedence will be set in the country. It will not only destroy democracy, but the country as well.”
People have exercised their rights in polling stations today. A few isolated incidents have taken place, however, which All India Trinamool Congress neither wanted nor supported. The administration today helped the Election Commission and nobody got involved in any instigation.
A few of our supporters were badly injured. But, across the length and breadth of the State, our supporters were the model of tolerance.
The allegation made against us regarding the incident in Kakdwip is untrue. At no time is death welcome. So, be it any party, death of a worker is always a sad event.
The BJP is involved in a dirty game. The way it brought in people from Bangladesh, Assam and Jharkhand to create trouble in border regions is extremely reprehensible and in this, it has indirectly taken the help of the BSF, which is under the control of the Central Government. It was shown on TV how BSF personnel were trying to influence voters standing in queues for casting votes.
Law and order is a State subject, as per our Constitution. Hence, we have written to the Election Commission to investigate how the BSF engaged in these activities without any permission from the State Government.
