Do not neglect Bengal: WB CM tells Prime Minister

Do not neglect Bengal: WB CM tells Prime Minister

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

West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee with the Prime Minister to India today and will reiterate the demands of the State.

“Bengal should not be deprived and neglected. I raised this issue with the PM,” she said after her meeting. “No state should be neglected. We want every state to prosper. People of Bengal also should not be neglected,” she added.

The Chief Minister said, “Bengal suffered a lot due to Left rule. They incurred heavy debt. We increased our revenues but it is taken away to pay installment.”

“Earlier CMs could raise issues of their State and plan sizes were made at Planning Commission. There should be a full-fledged meet of Niti Ayog where CMs can raise issues of their States,” the CM added.

WB CM also highlighted how Bengal has been ignored in the list of heritage tourism sites by Centre. “Centre has drawn up a list of heritage tourism sites but places like Belur, Dakkhineshwar, Tarapith etc do not feature in it. Bengal is the land of Netaji. Bengal is where Tagore was born, where Ramakrishna spread spirituality. Bengal should not be neglected,” she said.

Bengal deprived of funds

West Bengal is being denied and deprived by the Centre in every sector and has not yet received the financial assistance for flood and drought relief.

The Centre has slashed funds for 37 projects and 50 schemes in the last one year. Earlier, under the ICDS scheme, the State contributed 10 per cent and the Centre 90 per cent. Now it has become the reverse.

The West Bengal Chief minister has been repeatedly asking for funds from the Centre for relief and rehabilitation of flood victims in 12 districts, but no money was received from the Centre.

The State Government had arranged for Rs 1500 crore for flood relief and Rs 3000 crore for developmental work at Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore districts which were under BRGF.

The Centre has also been slashing funds for other projects such as police modernisation and Sarva Sikhsha Abhiyan. Bengal has 18,000 SSKs and 2,000 MSKs that are run by the panchayat department. For these, the Centre used to provide 65 per cent of the salary bills of 75,000 teachers engaged in the units. The Centre has now put more burdens on the State by changing the Centre-State share.

In August, the Chief Minister met the Prime Minister and demanded Rs 6,000 crore to tackle the post-flood situation in Bengal.

Promise fulfilled: New multi super speciality hospitals for districts

Posted on November 23, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The West Bengal Government not only makes promises but fulfills them. West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee had announced in the past that 34 new multi super speciality hospitals will come up in Bengal. Fulfilling her promises, two such hospitals were inaugurated by the CM today at a function in Nadia district.

The new super speciality hospitals with 300 beds are located at Nayagram (West Midnapore) and Barjora (Bankura) respectively.

The project was conceived after the Trinamool Congress came to power in 2011. The department for health and family welfare is headed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself.

Other such super speciality hospitals are coming up in the districts including East Midnapore, Purulia, Birbhum, Jalpaiguri, South 24-Parganas and North 24-Parganas.

Along with fair price medicine and diagnostic centres, these super speciality hospitals will go a long way in rejuvenating the health sector in the state.

The image is representative

Won’t tell people what to eat or wear: WB CM

Posted on October 29, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Maharashtra may have banned beef, but Bengal won’t. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday made it clear her government doesn’t want to dictate people’s choice of food and dress.

“People have the right to food. Kon mangso khabo, konta khabo na, kon saree porbo, konta porbo na, kon gaan gaibo eta tar byapar (We should leave it to individuals which meat he wants to eat, or which saree she wants to wear, or the song he wants to sing). Any diktat in this regard will only create disunity,” the CM said at a public rally in Jhargram, West Midnapore.

Mamata also warned the gathering against efforts to provoke sentiments that could lead to violence. “Those who mastermind riots take to their heels. It is the ordinary people who suffer. Let us not get into all these things,” Mamata said.

End to Maoist violence

The CM urged people to be vigilant and ensure peace in the area.

“Some people keep coming from outside to provoke villagers. I advise you against falling into the trap. Keep an eye on the surroundings. If you are on the right track, nobody can harm you. Continue with your night patrols because people are the best sentries,” the CM said.

“As many as 170 people were killed in the Gyaneswari accident. I was then the railway minister. I handed over the case to CBI to find out the truth. I don’t have the latest update of the inquiry . The victim families deserve justice,” she said.

“You have helped restore peace in the area. Don’t lose it,” she added.

Flood relief

The chief minister again hit out at the Centre saying that it didn’t give Bengal its due on account of flood relief funds. “We submitted the report to the Centre but haven’t received anything yet. Instead, the Centre is taking away Rs 28,000 crore on account of debt repayment.What’s more, the Centre has slashed funds in a lot of projects,“ the CM said. She has written to Prime Minister in this regard.

Biswa Bangla stalls to showcase lost and forgotten art of Bengal dollmaking

Posted on October 28, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Biswa Bangla stalls will now showcase lost and forgotten art of dollmaking in the State.

A total of 27 genres of Bangla dolls, including rare ones, such as Bonga elephants of Sandra (Bankura), animal dolls from Belia (West Midnapore) and Shiva head of Nabadwip (Nadia), have been brought together at the state-run handicraft retail chain.

Some of the dolls are so rare that only one or two families in the entire state make them now. With the market for these dolls going down, most artisan families have stopped making dolls.

The Shiva Head of Nabadwip is now made only at the time of Basanti Puja, to mark the mythological wedding of Shiva and Parvati. The local artists create colourful masks of Shiva. Unlike terracotta figures, which are baked in ovens, these dolls are dried in the sun. The masks, once painted, are then taken door to door to collect money for the ritual. These artisans make dolls only during Chaitra.

The Biswa Bangla authorities are trying to present the different dolls to the connoisseurs in India and abroad. We have already seen a good demand at our London store. We are also coming up with miniature dolls, along with a short history for them. This makes for an excellent collectors’ item.

It took six months to find some of the rare dolls. The Bonga elephants are not made anymore. They were made by tribals in Bankura, and were dedicated to the Santhali deity, Singh Bonga, at a place called Zaher. In some cases, artistes were convinced to revive their art. The figurines need to have utility too. We assured them a good price and a market too. The unique feature of the elephant is its round shape, nowhere found in other dolls. Animal dolls of Belia have unique features and incorporate semi-circular shapes of the ears. The elephants of Belia are different from other genres with their long round trunks and large ears.

WB CM to start district visit from October 28

Posted on October 27, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is going to leave for the two districts of West Midnapore and Bankura on October 29 to preside over administrative meetings that would take stock of developments in the two districts. She will be accompanied by a host of officials headed by chief secretary of the State.

On October 29, WB CM will hold a public meeting at Bankura and on October 30, she will address another public meeting at Gopiballavpur in Paschim Medinipur.

On November 2^nd, the West Bengal Chief Minister will be visiting North Bengal. She will be holding meetings at Cooch Behar, Malbazar and Jaigaon.

On November 5, the West Bengal Chief Minister will reach Kolkata and and hold a meeting with the visiting Chinese delegation at Glass House in Eco Park.

Jangalmahal has witnessed development in last four years: Abhishek Banerjee

Posted on July 18, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Abhishek Banerjee, who is currently touring the districts in the run up to 21 July Martyrs’ Day rally, held a public meeting at Belpahari in West Midnapore district on Friday.

Saying that violence and left-wing extremism is a thing of the past in Jangalmahal now, Abhishek added that people of the region were living in peace. He also said that Jangalmahal has witnessed development in the last four years.

Abhishek said spreading canards and slander campaign will not be able to defeat Mamata Banerjee as she enjoys the support of people. After 34 years of misrule, people were getting the fruits of progress under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, he said.

WB CM Mamata Banerjee helps tribal kids live dreams

Posted on July 17, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Dasharath Mandi had severed ties with textbooks after he quit school in Class IV. A daily wage labour and a part-time carpenter in Belpahari — among Bengal’s most poverty-stricken blocks — Dasharath nurtured a dream, though. He wanted his 10-year-old son Sisir to study, complete school and perhaps even college. In January, Dasharath wrote to chief minister Mamata Banerjee and sought her help to admit Sisir to an English-medium school in Kolkata. The CMO was prompt to reply. The government made all arrangements and got Sisir admitted to South Point School.

Sisir is not the only one to make the cut. Around the same time when Dasharath had written to the CM, Manu Hembram, another daily wage labourer in Nayagram, too, wrote to her about his 10-year-old daughter Swarnalata. His neighbour Haripada Besra, also a daily labour, pleaded for his daughter Jaba; Jamboni’s Mamoni Mudi wrote for her daughter Laximoni. And the list grew to 11. Letters reached Nabanna from Jamboni’s Mahadeb Bagal and Sagen Kisku, Rimil Murmu and Rohit Kumar Mandi from Belpahari, Nayagram’s Ruma Hansda and Shefali Hansda and Belpahari’s Laksman Mandi as well. All these kids will now study at the reputable school at state expense.

It was in March when West Midnapore district magistrate Jagdish Prasad Meena received a call from the chief secretary’s office. “We were directed to reach out to these homes and prepare a detailed proposal. We were informed that the state would fund their school education in a reputable school in Kolkata,” Meena said. He entrusted ADM (Panchayat) Sushanta Chakraborty to follow up the ‘project’ till closure.

“The chief minister had made this request to the school authorities. It is a very unique and commendable step and we felt we should also do our bit. The students have been admitted in Class V and VI. Their school fees have been waived, they have been provided with uniforms, books and stationeries. The children are brilliant and exceptionally gifted. The only drawback is the language. We are trying to give them special English coaching. But we have decided not to segregate them; they will study with other students,” said South Point school spokesperson Krishna Damani.

The West Midnapore DM added, “The state government has arranged their boarding and lodging facilities in Kolkata. For the moment, they will stay in the Backward Classes Welfare Department’s Salt Lake hostel campus.”

“Amra murkho manush, Shefali onek boro hok amra chai. Amader khoob gorbo hochche or jonno (We are illiterate people. We want Shefali to succeed. We are very proud of her),” said Manu.

Sagen Kisku’s father Sujit, working as a NVF in the Midnapore Police Lines, says, “The school is huge. And the teachers spoke to us for a long time trying to understand our apprehensions and fear. They are very kind. The very fact that they are studying in such a big school is a milestone by itself.”