Month: June 2015

West Bengal plans minimum wage laws for domestic help

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The West Bengal government is considering framing laws to determine wages of domestic help, and has asked departments for their feedback on the subject, a minister said on Wednesday.

“Fixing wages is under consideration, and we have asked for feedback from various departments, including social welfare and labour, on this matter,” state Labour Minister Moloy Ghatak told a news agency.

He said the government was looking into various aspects before finalising a directive or regulation since there were different natures of work done by domestic help.

“The issue of non-standardised work hours is there. While some of them work in a household, attending to its sweeping needs, others may work as cooks etc. Besides, there is no particular time of work for them,” he said.

Ghatak said the state government has already framed laws over health benefits and other social sector schemes for the unorganised work force in the state.

“We already have these schemes running and the domestic help can avail these schemes,” he said.

Maidservants across the state have been asking the state to determine their wages, and are also pressing for several social sector benefits.

Another international acclaim: Bengal Rural Crafts Hub selected by UNESCO for Paris festival

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Rural Craft Hub of Bengal, which is run by the Micro Small & Medium Enterprises & Textiles Department of our State, has received the rare honour of being selected by UNESCO Headquarters to showcase their artistes in Paris on 28th July, 2015.

West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee shared this good news on her Facebook and Twitter pages.

She  said that one each artisan of the hub – Patachitra from Pingla, Sitalpati from Coochbehar, Wooden Mask from Kushmundi, Teracota from Panchmura, Dokra from Bikna – along with baul and chau team will be visiting France to represent India at the prestigious Gannat festival during July 7-26, 2015.

A special event has been planned at Paris Plage and at UNESCO Headquarters on 28th July 2015.

“Our efforts to spread rural crafts of Bengal across boundaries continue to get yet another international acclaim. My best wishes to all of them,” she wrote.

WB CM extends Ramzan greetings

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West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee extended greetings to all “Muslim brothers and sisters” on the Holy and auspicious occasion of the beginning of Ramzan.

“Holy month of Ramzan is a special time for introspection & spiritual renewal. This month of fasting is rewarded at the end with Eid-Ul-Fitre,” she posted on her Facebook and Twitter pages.

She added, “For this auspicious month, I extend my greetings to all my Muslim brothers and sisters. I share their piety and hope that all their Roza are accepted by the Almighty.”

She also posted her greetings in Bangla:

WB CM vows to build clean and green Darjeeling

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced a slew of development plans for Darjeeling Hills.

She said 53,000 toilets will be constructed in the hills for schools and for the community as part of the ‘Nirmal Bangla’ (Clean Bengal) scheme. Stress would be given to set up toilets in girls schools where they do not exist.

Stressing on development of tourism in Darjeeling, called the Queen of the Hills, Banerjee said facilities for the tourists would be looked after by the state government itself.

She emphasised on cleanliness in the hill to attract more tourists and said steps would be taken to encourage more of them to visit the remote destinations of Lava and Lolegaon in Darjeeling district known for their natural beauty.

“I come only for the sake of development of north Bengal and have intention of any politics,” she said.

WB CM, who is on a four-day visit to north Bengal, told reporters that an educational hub was being planned at Kurseong that would provide opportunity for the local youth, who will not be required to leave home to be trained.

Steps will be taken for skill development to increase employability of the local youth, she said.

The development plans were discussed at two meetings with officials of GTA and senior government officials during the day.

The chief minister is scheduled to meet members of various communities residing in Darjeeling today.

WB Govt paid Rs 76000 Cr on debt servicing, a legacy of Left: Amit Mitra

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West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra said that in the last four years, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government had to spend Rs 76,000 crore on debt servicing, a legacy of the erstwhile Left government.

In real terms, the present government has taken only Rs 6,000 crore loans in the last four years, which was a very meagre amount compared to the previous government, he said.

The Chief Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee has maintained that she inherited a huge debt left behind by the erstwhile Left government.

Dr Mitra explained how the state government had been able to multiply expenses in the sectors like social infrastructure, development of physical infrastructure, state plan expenses and capital expenditure.

The government has been able to raise the growth of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) above 5 per cent successively in the last four years of TMC rule as against below 5 per cent registered by the previous Left regime.

WB CM conducts administrative review meetings in north Bengal

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West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee chaired two administrative review meetings for three districts on Tuesday, one at Raiganj and the other at Siliguri.

At Karnajora in Raiganj, Uttar Dinajpur, the West Bengal Chief Minister chaired the administrative review meeting for Uttar and Dakshin Dinajpur. She inaugurated and laid foundation stones for 55 projects, 29 for Uttar and 26 for Dakshin Dinajpur.

The Chief Minister announced that a Government Engineering College will be set up in Dakshin Dinajpur, a medical college and a super specialty hospital, at Raiganj and Islampur. Auditoriums will be set up in both the districts.

The Chief Minister informed that the project- Sabar Ghare Alo has been completed in the districts of Maldah, Dakshin Dinajpur and Paschim Medinipur. She said that she has instructed the newly appointed District Magistrate of the Uttar Dinajpur to bring more pace in executing developmental works.

The Chief Minister said that while travelling on road, she had observed the bad condition of the national higway from Itahar to Raiganj. She said that she had informed the National Highways Authority to take immediate steps.

The Chief Minister held meeting with the vice chancellor of the newly formed Raiganj University. She enquired about the current status of the university, the administrative set up and related information.

At around 1:30 PM, the Chief Minister left for Siliguri.

On reaching Siliguri, the West Bengal Chief Minister chaired the administrative review meeting for the Darjeeling district at the Rabindra Bhanu Bhavan in the North Bengal University. She said that this was the 97th review meeting she was conducting. Discussions were held regarding Naxalbari, Kharibari, Matigara and Chopra among other issues.

 

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WB CM at Siliguri administrative review meeting

WB Govt to train home guards for disaster management

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The department of disaster management will train home guards attached to the police stations to combat disaster, state minister for disaster management Mr Javed Khan said in the Assembly.

Taking part in the Budget discussion, Mr Khan said that home guards will be trained to handle several gadgets, required to combat disaster. Mr Khan said that if any person wants to take disaster management related training, he will be welcome. He said that more than 20 fire stations will be set up in the state.

“The Left Front government had destroyed the infrastructure of this department but the current government has improved it,” he said. He said that the regional civil defense control center in Kolkata will be modernized.

He assured insurance coverage for the volunteers engaged in different disasters. “The department has also targeted procurement of more boats and modern equipment for the purpose of rescue,” he said. A quick response team barrack will be constructed in all districts, he said.

WB Govt sets up six ration shops outside closed tea gardens

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The State Food Department has set up six ration shops outside the gates of five closed tea gardens, so that the tea garden workers, along with the people living in the fringe areas of those five closed tea gardens, can get the benefit of procuring ration from those shops.

State Food Minister Jyotipriya Mullick said in the Assembly lobby that these ration shops have been set up by the Food Department, each at a cost of Rs 6.24 lakh. The minister said that ration shops have been set up outside Red Bank, Surendranagar, Dekhlapara, Dalmore and Kathalguritea tea gardens, with two being set up outside Kathalguri.

The Minister alleged that during the Left Front tenure, tea garden managers were given charge of ration shops and “after we came to power we found out that these managers most of the time failed to distribute ration evenly among the closed tea garden workers, which led to starvation.”

The Minister further said that his department has chosen some efficient self-help groups to run these ration shops and that these groups are now effectively running the ration shops outside these closed tea gardens.

At present, 1.03 lakh workers, their family members and those living adjacent to these closed tea gardens are the beneficiaries of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s special package of rice at Rs 2 per kg. He said Rs 1,080 crore is being spent on the special package and a total of 3.28 lakh people are the beneficiaries of this package.

 

34 multi super speciality hospitals coming up in Bengal

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Twenty super-speciality hospitals in the districts would be ready by 2016, while another 14 would be constructed by HRBC, the minister of state for Health and family welfare, Chandrima Bhattacharya informed the Assembly on Tuesday. She was replying during the demand for budgetary grant of the department.

Nearly 78 per cent of the West Bengal’s population were dependent on the government’s healthcare delivery system, she said.

Majority of the people subscribe to the government healthcare system, which had been revamped and improved after 34 years of Left Front rule which had completely damaged it, the minister added.

She said that many services had been made free for patients, adding that the medicines supplied through the fair price shops were being verified by the drug controller and were not inferior quality as many Opposition members alleged.

She said that allocation during the four years of Trinamool Congress rule had been doubled from the level which existed before.

 

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WB CM writes to Centre on the export of Maldah mangoes

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During an administrative review meeting at Maldah, West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee said that the State Government has written to the Centre to permit the mango-farmers in the district to export their products to foreign countries.

“The State Government cannot sanction export of mangoes to a foreign country without the consent of the Centre. We’ve written to the Centre,” the Chief Minister said.

The Chief Minister also insisted that the Merchant Chamber of Commerce may have a meeting with the mango exporters. She said that if it is necessary, the State Government may also provide subsidy.