Month: February 2015

Delhi Election turning point of present political situation: Mamata Banerjee

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West Bengal Chief Minister and AITC Chairperson Ms Mamata Banerjee congratulated AAP chief Mr Arvind Kejriwal for the party’s huge victory in the Delhi Assembly Election.

“My hearty congratulations to AAP for sweeping Delhi Elections. All the best @ArvindKejriwal the new CM”, she tweeted.

Her tweets read:

 

Incidentally, on February 5, Ms Mamata Banerjee had tweeted – “Delhi elections on 7. My request to all of you in Delhi to please vote for AAP. For the greater need of the country and development in Delhi”, encouraging the need of a change.

 

Health insurance for BPL families – Bengal shows the way

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West Bengal Government, under the leadership of CM Ms Mamata Banerjee, is committed to the mission “Health for all.” From fair price shops to fair price diagnostic centres to free beds, WB has witnessed a sea change in health infrastructure.

At present, West Bengal has enrolled more than 56 lakh BPL families for scheme of health insurance. West Bengal is at number 2, only after Bihar, in terms of enrolment. All 19 districts are covered under the scheme. 602 hospitals are enlisted for the scheme which includes 544 private hospitals and 62 public hospitals.

 

Shown below is performance of the top 5 states:

 

RSBY data

 

Source: www.rsby.gov.in

WB Govt gives nod to two new townships at Rajarhaat

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Two new townships will be set up in the outskirts of Kolkata in the Rajarhaat Block with an estimated investment of Rs 4000 crore. Each township will come up on 100 acres of land.

The West Bengal cabinet gave a nod to these projects earlier this month; the Urban Development Department and Land Reforms Department are processing necessary clearances.

The townships will be built by Highland Group and Forum Group. Both the groups have been granted primary clearances under Town and Country Planning Act.

In the recently concluded Bengal Global Business Summit, investment proposals worth Rs 67,703 crore have been received for building 22 townships. The West Bengal Cabinet recently cleared six theme townships.

Bengal surging ahead in Horticulture

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Actions speak louder than rhetoric.  Date regarding horticulture clearly show that this sector has registered immense growth under Trinamool. Here is a comparison of parameters during the last 3 years of the CPM rule ( 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11) and the first 3 years of Trinamool’s governance ( 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14):

 

Poly House and Shed Net House: 

Poly Houses and Shed Net Houses are built for climate controlled ventilated areas which are essential for horticulture.  Poly house concept emerged to undertake adverse environmental conditions such as excess rainfall, temperature, cold conditions, airflow etc. India and Holland both have more or less the same area under flower cultivation, but Holland amounts to 70% of flower export and India about 1% in the global market. The difference is due to use of Poly houses and Shed net houses and use of advanced technology.

Graph 1_horticulture

In terms of new area covered under Poly house technology and Shed net house, the performance of Trinamool Congress is much higher than the Left rule. 58,200 meters of Poly house are constructed in the last 3 years as against 5520 meters of Left regime. The success of construction of Shed net house is even more. In comparison to just 448 sq meters in the Left rule, 3,21,180 sq mts have been constructed in the last 3 years.

Graph 2_horticulture

The average numbers of Poly houses build per year in the last 3 years are 19,400 as compared to just 1840 in the last 3 years of Left rule. The annual average numbers of Shed net houses build is 7,060 under Trinamool’s governance.

 

Area added:

In the last 3 years, 15,611 hectares of land are added for fruit cultivation and 3631 hectares for flower cultivation.

Graph 3_horticulture

 

Some significant developments:

  • West Bengal Government has taken up initiatives of horticulture through NREGA. It is worth mentioning that Bankura has received the prestigious “District Award for Effective Initiatives under MGNREGA Administration.”
  • 384 skill development camps have been organised.
  • The government has passed the Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Bill 2014. This bill will promote formation of new markets where farmers can directly sell the product to the end users, curb the middlemen menace, thus the interest of both the farmers and the customers will be taken care of. Government will regulate these markets.
  • More than 2800 farmers related with horticulture have been assisted with power tillers, tractors, power pumps and other automated machines.
  • Government assisted Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme has been implemented. More than 8000 farmers (Kharif season) and 4000 ( Rabi season) has benefited from this.

Bengal number one in 100 Days’ Work : WB CM at Mati Tirtha, Bardhaman

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The State government organised the first leg of “Mati Tirtha Krishi Katha”, in Bardhaman. The conference will continue for three days and the second leg in Balurghat. The conference is indented to inform the farmers of the latest developments in agriculture and also how to avail easy agricultural loans.

The current government is giving agriculture top priority and such conferences are being held to reach out to farmers.

WB CM Ms Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the conference at Bardhaman and she spoke to farmers and take questions from them.

The state government will also deploy agricultural experts to advice farmers regarding preventive measures to be adopted to prevent fungus infection of several agricultural crops.

It may be recalled that the state government has already provided Rs 4.70 crore for the development of agriculture in several districts.

Highlights of WB CM speech:

  • We thank the United Nations for sending a representative for the inauguration of Mati Tirtha.
  • UN has declared 2015 as the International Year of Soils.
  • Bengal has been celebrating Mati Utsav for the last three years at Panagarh.
  • We have set up a Mati Tirtha at the Agricultural University in Bardhaman.
  • The Mati Tirtha will advise farmers in increasing efficiency of agriculture and improving productivity. The Mati Tirtha will help people associated with soil 365 days in a year, not just during 7 days of Mati Utsav.
  • We must ensure farmers are able to easily sell their products in urban areas, not just rural areas.
  • Mati (soil) is our janmabhoomi, karmabhoomi.
  • We have inaugurated 429 roads today. The project cost Rs 1151 crore
  • In the past we initiated the process of building 60000 km of roads in rural areas.
  • Centre is not giving us any funds. Instead they are taking away all our revenues. We are paying for sins committed by others.
  • We want answers from the Centre. We will go to Delhi if necessary. Bengal must get its dues.
  • They have no base in Bengal. They only appear on TV studios. They have no idea about running government.
  • I welcome criticism. But some people are indulging in smear campaign. UPA neglected Bengal. BJP is crossing all limits.
  • Why did our predecessors not think of Krishak Bazars, Mati Tirtha? Why did they not set up schools, hospitals?
  • We have given Kisan Credit Cards to 35 lakh people. We gave land pattas to 2.5 lakh people.
  • We will also set up Mati Tirtha at north Bengal.
  • Post independence, only 34 colleges were set up in Bengal till 2011. In 3 years we set up 31 colleges.
  • Only 2 universities were set up in Bengal during CPM rule. We set up 7 government and 5 private universities in 3 years.
  • AIIMS is being set up at Kalyani. IIIT is coming up in Kalyani.
  • We had set up a target of 50,000 ponds for 5 years. We have already created more than 1 lakh ponds in 3 years.
  • Bengal is No. 1 in 100 Days’ Work Scheme. That is why Centre has stopped giving us funds.
  • BJP Govt slashed funds for 100 Days’ Work. Prices of fertilizers have been increased. Funds for PMGSY have been blocked.
  • Centre abolished the Planning Commission. We oppose that. Netaji conceptualised the Planning Commission. We will not accept this.
  • We increased our revenues. But the Centre is taking away our taxes.
  • We want federal structure to be strengthened. States must have power of taxation.
  • Food grain procurement in Bengal has crossed 1.74 lakh metric tonnes.
  • We are giving away benefits of various schemes to 25000 people today.

Mamata Banerjee stole BJP’s thunder: Abhishek Banerjee at Bongaon

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Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee today said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has “stolen the thunder” of the BJP while accusing the saffron party of unleashing a “shameful smear campaign against Bengal”.

“Bengal gave us 34 (Lok Sabha) MPs. Modi is not sure if he can even win the Assembly in Delhi. And he dreams of winning here,” Abhishek, Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, said addressing a poll campaign meeting for the upcoming by-election to Bongaon Lok Sabha seat.

“They have unleashed a shameful smear campaign against Bengal,” he said.

“Mamata Banerjee has stolen the thunder of BJP. Narendra Modi and Rahul Sinha (state BJP chief) are nervous,” he said.

The election at Bongoan Lok Sabha constituency is scheduled for February 13.

Along with Bongoan Lok Sabha seat, by-elections will be held in the Krishnaganj Assembly seat in Nadia district.

Mamata Banerjee’s books strike a chord with readers at Kolkata Book Fair

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WB CM Ms Mamata Banerjee’s books have struck a popular chord with book lovers at the 39th Kolkata International Book Fair.

A regular writer and a poet, Ms Banerjee started writing in 1995 and has written 53 books so far. This year 7 books penned by her were released by British journalist Anita Anand at the Book Fair.

The books are at display at the Jago Bangla stall which has been modelled around theme of communal harmony. That apart, her books are available in several other stalls.

The seven books penned by Mamata Banerjee are, ‘Kotha’, ‘Bikel ta hariye geche’, ‘Kothanjwali’, ‘Jivan Sangram’, ‘Tumi’, and an Urdu book called ‘Tamanna’. An English compilation of her works, “Best of Mamata” has also been released.

Happy hours on WiFi Street

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Kolkatans logged in merrily on Park Street on Friday, putting to rest all apprehensions about connectivity. Hundreds strolling down the party street, stopping over at restaurants or just passing through the area availed of the free Wi-Fi service launched on Thursday. Most were happy with the service.

Private firm employee Suparna Gupta happened to be on Park Street for a business lunch. The moment she walked out of the restaurant, Suparna remembered that she was in the Wi-Fi zone. She fished out her smartphone and scanned the Wi-Fi option. “And yes, there it was. The network asked me to type out my phone number and the moment I did, a password was SMSed to me. The network speed was good,“ she said.

Ankit Jain, a student, dropped in at a cafeteria for a quick cuppa. The moment he started fiddling with his phone, the Reliance Jionet icon popped up on his screen. “I logged in more out of curiosity . It worked pretty well,“ said Jain.

“It’s been fast and efficient so far,“ said Abhishek Ray , a blogger.

 

This article was originally published in The Times of India, 07.02.2015

WB Govt to promote homestays at tourist spots

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After eco tourism hubs, the state government is keen to promote homestays at prominent tourist spots as part of its efforts to ensure significant rise in tourist flow to the state. “The government is working on a policy to develop homestays at prominent tourist locations.

The most interesting feature of this policy is that luxury tax will be waived,” said tourism minister Bratya Basu while inaugurating the 5th Destination East, a joint initiative by the CII and the state government.

“Such new trends in tourism would not only drive the GDP growth but would also create numerous new jobs in the state,” added Basu. To promote homestays for visitors, the tourism department is considering offering financial assistance to the owners of homestays, helping them to beautify their dwellings, spruce up toilets and do other value additions.

WB Govt to promote medical tourism

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After rolling out initiatives to promote eco-tourism, the West Bengal government is gearing up to pitch its best private healthcare establishments for medical tourism ventures. Steps are being taken so that travellers could avail twin benefits through the medical tourism.

People from Western countries can visit the state as tourists and during their stay they can also get their medical needs met at a relatively low cost at our best healthcare institutes.

To boost the concept, the next steps would be to showcase medical products by Bengal’s leading hospitals at the international tourism fairs.

The State Health Department will promote its advantages to international travel forums and fairs, such as World Travel Market, London, and give them space to sell their products and offers.

In addition, the state government is also mulling conducting road shows with hospitals from south India.