Month: January 2014

The state government has planned a major administrative step to merge the century-old Kolkata Improvement Trust (KIT) and the two-and-a-half-decade-old Kolkata Metropolitan Water and Sanitation Authority (KMWSA) with the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). The aim is to bring the three urban development agencies under one umbrella for better administrative functioning and coordination.

Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said discussions were on regarding the plan. “A bill has to be passed in the assembly first,” he said. The matter was recently discussed in an administrative meeting.

The state government has been merging several agencies for better administration. Last year, the KMDA`s land acquisition cell was merged with the marketing management section of the authority.

The Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority (NDITA), which was formed in January 2006 to look after the IT hub of Sector V, will also be merged soon with the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation that will be constituted in a few months by upgrading the Bidhannagar Municipality. Sector V will be included under the new corporation.

The government has come up with the plan to merge KIT and KMWSA with KMDA as often, there is a lack of proper coordination between the three agencies. Though both KIT and KMWSA were earlier brought under the KMDA board, the two agencies are still functioning as separate administrative agencies.

KIT was constituted during British Raj way back in 1911 under the Calcutta Improvement Act, 1911, with an aim to develop the city and its suburbs. Now, KIT looks after the maintenance of Rabindra Sarovar and Subhas Sarovar, several housing schemes and 11 markets, apart from having about 300 acres of land property.

KMWSA was set up in 1966 as the premier government agency to develop and improve water supply and sanitation facilities in Kolkata Metropolitan Area. Similar to KIT, KMWSA also lost a big chunk of its workforce over the years. Several pumping stations that were earlier operated by KMWSA were handed over to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation for better maintenance and operation.

The state government has decided to gear up and start a massive drive against kangaroo courts throughout the state. The state Home Secretary, Basudeb Bandopadhay, along with other senior officials of the home department, held a video conference with all the district police superintendents from Nabanna on Friday.

“During the video-conference, Bandopadhyay gave clear-cut instructions to the district police superintendents to immediately increase patrolling in the rural areas in the state to prevent kangaroo courts from being held,” said a senior state government official.

The WB Govt is committed to bring kangaroo courts to justice despite all the difficulties in conducting detailed and in-depth patrolling in the rural areas, given that vast areas are covered by a single police station and the insufficient strength of police personnel in certain stations.

Often a single police station has under its jurisdiction areas as vast as gram panchayats. In such situations, in-depth patrolling is often impossible. However, even after admitting such difficulties, the home secretary asked the district SPs to mobilise the forces available with him in the most effective manner.

The state government will begin a series of drives against auto rickshaw drivers to discipline them from 27 January. Senior officials of the transport department in collaboration with the city police will conduct the drive in all auto stands.

State transport minister Mr Madan Mitra took the decision after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her annoyance over the series of incidents of assaults and brutal attacks on passengers by auto rickshaw drivers in the past few days.

Mr Mitra, along with senior officials of the transport department, held a meeting with the senior police officers at Lalbazar. The officials will check registration numbers, fitness certificates and driving licenses of auto drivers during the raids. 

The transport department will also open a special control room at Lalbazar from 27 January. The control room number 1073 will function from 7.30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Passengers can lodge their complaints here. 

A two-member committee comprising principal secretary Alapan Bandhopadhyay and additional commissioner of police, Mr Soumen Mitra, will find out ways and means to implement the order of the court by 27 January, Mr Mitra said.  “Auto rickshaws are supposed to ply as a contract carriage in the state like all other states in the country. But, the Left Front government had converted the vehicle to stage carriage from contract carriage. Now, we can`t change the system overnight,” Mr Mitra said. 

If any auto rickshaw driver misbehaves with passengers, the government will take stringent action against him, Mr Mitra said. The transport department will introduce uniforms for auto drivers soon to nab the errant drivers. The department will float a tender in this regard, Mr Mitra said. 

“I received series of complaints from passengers that drivers hiked the fares in various routes drastically.  Auto drivers from Park Circus to Ballygunge and Ultadanga to Salt Lake have been charging Rs 25 and Rs 40 respectively from each passenger,” Mr Mitra said.

Mr Mitra will visit various auto stands today, including Howrah station, Gariahat and Rash Behari Avenue and ask them to behave politely with passengers.

The state chapter of Confederation of Real Estate Developers` Associations of India (CREDAI) has lauded the state government`s move towards the rationalisation of property valuation across the city.

The government has revised the valuation of built-up space in certain localities for residential sectors and for offices in sector V, Salt Lake. The other areas in the city such as Behala, Thakurpukur, Kolkata Main, Lake Town and the city`s outskirts Madhyamgram, Garia, Narendrapur, Barasat, Konnagar and Rishra are places where property valuation would be rationalised.

Mr Sushil Mohta, Vice-president, CREDAI Bengal said: “The revival of the IT industry is directly linked to the state`s economy. We are happy to see that the government has acted swiftly to mitigate the difficulties of the IT and office segments, especially in Salt Lake sector V which had earlier suffered in terms of business.”

Mr Harsh Vardhan Patodia, president of CREDAI Bengal, said: “Rationalisation of property valuations by bringing in the circle rates to realistic market levels becomes extremely significant. It was crucial to infuse a positive sentiment in the market to support the home owning aspirations of millions of buyers, especially in the LIG and MIG category.”

West Bengal has secured 3rd rank among the states in implementing the mid-day meal scheme in schools across the state. 97% of the students enrolled in various schools in West Bengal are the beneficiaries of the scheme, a Central Govt report has revealed, which comes to a whooping 1,22,98,419 students in all.

According to a similar survey done in 2010-11, West Bengal was at the 12th position. Undoubtedly, this is a big leap forward for the state, under the able guidance of Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee.

To add to the laurels, the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development did not find any discrepancies in the records provided by the West Bengal government in the report of cost incurred for implementing the scheme. The Centre was also impressed with the quality of food provided in schools.

Kerala tops the list of large states with 99% students benefiting from the scheme, sharing the honour with Arunachal Pradesh (among small states) at 98%. Bengal is tied at 3rd spot with Haryana. The second rank was secured by Lakshadweep.

The reason behind the success of West Bengal can be attributed to the consistent efforts of WB CM in restoring peace in Jangalmahal and the Hills, where children have now returned to the schools, free from terror and bandhs.

The government has decided to procure most of its quota of rice from mill owners before the usual time to keep the price of the crop in check by ensuring that demand does not fall.

The Food and Supplies department has called the state`s 800-odd mill owners for a meeting on 28 January to urge them to sell as much of the “levy rice” as it can before March. After the government procures the levy rice, it allows the mill owners to sell the same amount in the market. The government usually procures the levy rice, which it sends to ration shops, after March.

Food minister Jyotipriya Mullick said: “We will hold a meeting with all rice mill owners on 28 January in Kolkata and tell them that they should deposit as much of the levy rice as they can before March so that the market price of paddy does not fall. If we can achieve this, the farmers will get a better price for their produce.”

This year, the state government has set a target of procuring 9 lakh tonnes of rice from the mills and 13 lakh tonnes from farmers.

As the mill owners buy paddy from farmers, government procurement of the levy rice will ensure that the demand doesn`t drop and that the cultivators get proper price and don`t have to go for distress sale.

The government has so far set up around 200 camps across the state and procured 88,058 tonnes of the target of 13 lakh tonnes of paddy.

The state government has sanctioned Rs 100 crore to set up 12 new industrial estates in West Bengal, according to the chairman of the West Bengal Small Industries Development Corporation Ltd.

Work on six industrial estates, including the Ambari-Falakata estate, has been completed and out of them four of them have already started operations. Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the Ambari-Falakata industrial estate on 20 January.

An eco-tourism park under the Public Private Partnership model would be set up on 100 acres of land in Banarhat in Dooars. It is expected to be completed within March this year.

A silk park will be set up on 15 acres of land in Madhughat in Malda; work is expected to be completed here by March. A multi-product industry will also be set up at the Dabgram industrial estate.

West Bengal Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee laid the foundation stone for the hawkers` market on CR Das road in Darjeeling.

In a bid to make Darjeeling town cleaner and more beautiful, the CM had earlier instructed the district administration to identify areas where the town`s street hawkers could be relocated. District administration officials, along with officials of the Darjeeling Municipality, had been working hard to identify the places.

There are around 600 registered street hawkers in Darjeeling, who carry out their business under four-five different street hawkers` associations.

The project at CR Das road will have a concrete building that can accommodate at least 90 hawkers.

The district administration, the municipality and the PWD have identified a few more locations (where the hawkers can be relocated) and these are expected to be finalised soon.

The project to rehabilitate the street hawkers was one of the key issues raised during Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee`s visit to Darjeeling last year.

এ রাজ্যের নাবালিকাদের মধ্যেও রয়েছে আগুনের স্ফুলিঙ্গ। রবীন্দ্র সদনে `জাতীয় শিশুকন্যা দিবস`-এর অনুষ্ঠানে এমন আট কন্যাকে কুর্নিশ জানাবে রাজ্যে সরকারের সমাজকল্যাণ দফতর। এই কৃতীদের এক-এক জনের হাতে ১০ হাজার টাকার চেক তুলে দেওয়া হবে। কেবল রৌশনারা খাতুন নয়, প্রতিবন্ধকতার উজান ঠেলে নিজের স্বপ্নকে সফল করার দৌড়ে সামিল হয়েছে আরও সাত কন্যে। কেউ স্বাস্থ্যকর পানীয়ের উদ্ভাবনে তাক লাগিয়েছে, কেউ দারিদ্রকে জয় করে এখনই হয়ে উঠেছে পেশাদার আলোকচিত্রী, কেউ আবার প্রতিবন্ধী হয়েও আন্তর্জাতিক ক্রীড়াক্ষেত্রে সুনাম কুড়িয়েছে।

পুরুলিয়ার অখ্যাত বোঙ্গাবাড়ি হাইস্কুলের ছাত্রী দেবাদৃতা মণ্ডল দিল্লির `কাউন্সিল অব সায়েন্টিফিক অ্যান্ড রিসার্চ`-এর কর্তাদের নজর কেড়েছে। মফস্সলের মুখচোরা মেয়ের ভাবনায় রয়েছে এ দেশের গরিব ঘরের শিশুরা। পুষ্টির অভাবে ক্ষয়ে যাচ্ছে যাদের শৈশব। গম, গুঁড়ো দুধ, চিনি, সয়াবিনের মিশেলে শিশুদের জন্য সস্তার এক স্বাস্থ্যকর পানীয়ের উদ্ভাবনে তাক লাগিয়ে দিয়েছে দেবাদৃতা।

পুরস্কার প্রাপকদের তালিকায় রয়েছে খিদিরপুরের ফিরোজা খাতুন, তমলুকের সিলি আচার্য বা মালদহের নুর বানু। দারিদ্র্য ফিরোজার স্বপ্নগুলো দমাতে পারেনি। প্রতিভা ও পরিশ্রমের ফসল কুড়িয়ে কলেজের প্রথম বর্ষেই ফিরোজা এক জন পেশাদার আলোকচিত্রী। ৫০ শতাংশ মানসিক প্রতিবন্ধী সিলি অ্যাথলেটিক্সের আসরে নামলেই অন্য রকম! গত বছর স্পেশ্যাল অলিম্পিক এশিয়া প্যাসিফিক মিটের আঞ্চলিক আসরে দৌড়ে রুপো ও ব্রোঞ্জ পদক পেয়েছে সে। নুরের লড়াইটা আবার অনেকটাই রৌশনারার ধাঁচের। মালদহের ছাত্রীটি অষ্টম শ্রেণিতে পড়ার সময়ে কিছুতেই মা-বাবার কথা শুনে অকালে বিয়ের পিঁড়িতে বসতে রাজি নয়। সাহস করে বান্ধবীর মোবাইল থেকে সটান থানায় ফোন করে সে। পুলিশের হস্তক্ষেপে তার বিয়ে বন্ধ হয়।

রাজ্যের সমাজকল্যাণ দফতরের তরফে গোটা রাজ্য ঢুঁড়ে মেধাবিনীদের খুঁজতে তৎপরতা শুরু হয়। সেই সঙ্গে এটাও দেখা হচ্ছিল, কোন মেয়েদের কৃতিত্বকে তুলে ধরলে একটি ইতিবাচক সামাজিক বার্তা দেওয়া সম্ভব। তাই রৌশনারা, নুরদের কথা ভাবা হয়েছে। মুর্শিদাবাদের শেরপুর গ্রামের ১৬ বছরের আসমা খাতুন বা বারাসতের নাজমা খাতুনও বিয়ের জন্য পড়াশোনা ছাড়তে রাজি হয়নি। চাপের কাছে মাথা না-নুইয়ে বিয়ে দিতে ইচ্ছুক মা-বাবার সঙ্গে সংঘাতে যেতেও তারা পিছপা হয়নি। রাজ্যের স্বাধীন দায়িত্বপ্রাপ্ত নারী ও শিশু কল্যাণ দফতরের প্রতিমন্ত্রী শশী পাঁজা বলেন, `এই সব মেয়েরা আমাদের সম্পদ। এদের দেখেই মেয়েদের বিষয়ে সমাজের দৃষ্টিভঙ্গি পাল্টাবে। এই মেয়েদের মাধ্যমেই নারী নির্যাতনের বিরুদ্ধে চেতনাও গড়ে উঠবে।`

জাতীয় শিশুকন্যা দিবস উপলক্ষেই `বিয়ে নয়, চাই পড়াশোনা` এই বার্তা সামনে রেখে সম্প্রতি স্কুল-কলেজ পড়ুয়াদের নিয়ে এক পোস্টার প্রতিয়োগিতার আয়োজন করেছিল রাজ্যের নারী ও শিশুকল্যাণ দফতরও। বিভিন্ন জেলার ১৪ থেকে ২১ বছর বয়সী ছাত্রছাত্রীরা প্রতিযোগিয়া যোগ দেয়। প্রতি জেলা থেকে প্রথম তিন জনকে নিয়ে হয় রাজ্য স্তরের প্রতিযোগিতা।

This news was first published in Anandabazar Patrika om January 24, 2014

In an unfortunate incident in Birbhum on Sunday, a tribal woman was allegedly gangraped by 12 men as she was having an affair outside her community. Showing prompt response, the police had arrested 13 persons including the head of the salishi sabha that passed the order of gangrape, within 24 hours of the FIR being filed.

All accused were remanded to 14 days` judicial custody. WB Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee ordered removal of Birbhum SP C Sudhakar after tribal girl`s gangrape. Dr Shashi Panja, Minister with independent charge of Women and Child Welfare department, today spoke to the victim and assured all help from the Government.

WB Panchayat Minister said that rape is a social malaise that needs to be weeded out of the society. There needs to be a wider discussion in the national level to prevent such crimes.

Incidentally, Trinamool had launched a `quick response team` last week to help victims of sexual violence.

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বীরভূমকাণ্ডে ধৃতদের পুলিশ হেফাজতে না নেওয়ায় ক্ষুব্ধ মুখ্যমন্ত্রী সরালেন এসপিকে৷ বীরভূমের ঘটনাকে সামাজিক ব্যাধি বললেন পঞ্চায়েতমন্ত্রী সুব্রত মুখোপাধ্যায়৷ পুনরাবৃত্তি রুখতে জাতীয় স্তরে আলোচনার দাবি করলেন৷ নারী ও শিশু কল্যাণ মন্ত্রী ড: শশী পাঁজা বীরভুমের নির্যাতিতার পরিবারের সাথে কথা বলেন। সব রকম সাহায্যের প্রতিশ্রুতি দিয়েছেন তিনি।