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First of all, the “reasons to believe” cannot be unreasonable. If the Court has the power to hear an aggrieved person on this point, why should the Appellate Tribunals not hear?
Therefore, it appears from the statement of the Hon. Finance Minister that the Government will not consider the demand made the Opposition parties. So, we are staging a walkout.
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Thank You, Sir, for giving me an opportunity to speak today. Sir, as the Finance Bill is a little disturbing for me because my State – আমার সোনার বাংলা – my West Bengal is going to be deprived of Rs 4,000 crore every year just on account of non-division of the cess and surcharge that the Central Government is going to collect. Sir, the cess and surcharge over the last two to three years have jumped from a mere amount of Rs 20,000 or Rs 30,000 crore to 1.7 lakh crore.
Sir, rough pen and paper calculation shows that West Bengal will be deprived of Rs 4,000 crore because cess and surcharge is not shared with the States. Sir, what is more intriguing is that all the people who have spoken before me in the Council of States, have chosen not to raise this point because each and every State will get affected from this point.
Sir, the Finance Minister made forty amendments in Lok Sabha. I request him to make similar amendments here and remove all cess and surcharge and include them in the taxes, so that the States also get a share.
Sir, enough has been said before me but I would like to draw your attention to a few things. Sir, the tribunals have been merged and a lot of changes have been done. Sir, enough has been said about Money Bill. I just want to quote something, Sir. The Supreme Court, in the Madras Bar Association vs Union of India, in 2014, had held that “appellate tribunals have similar powers to High Courts and hence matters related to appointments should be free from the executive involvement.” Sir, I urge, through you, that all the tribunals, which are now being put under the executive control, should be free from executive control so that their independence is maintained.
Sir, Clause 50 of this Finance Bill is a very interesting clause. This government, our Prime Minister and Finance Minister, both of them have repeatedly said that they will not do any retrospective changes and they will not do any tax terrorism. But Sir, if you see Clause 50 and Clause 51 they have done exactly the same.
Sir, first I’ll refer to Clause 51 and I will just read from there. “In Section 132 of the Income Tax Act, in Sub Section 1, the following explanation shall be inserted and shall be deemed to have been inserted with effect from the first day of October 1975”. Sir, if this is not retrospective change, I fail to understand what is retrospective change.
Sir, another draconian provision, Clause 50, in section 132, Sir, where they are saying, “shall not be disclosed to any person of authority or Appellate Tribunal’. Sir, I was going through the Honourable Finance Minister’s reply in the Lok Sabha where he said he is doing it because he wants to protect the person who is giving the information. Sir, I am sure there is the Whistleblowers Act and other Acts that provide some confidentiality. Don’t disclose the name of the person but at least the reason can be given at the Appellate level. Sir, why is the assessee being denied a chance to defend himself? Why should he not know why the Income Tax people are doing certain seizure on him? Then again, Sir, 9(b) of Clause 50 says, merely by getting the sanction of the Director General provisionally any property can be attached. Sir, I think we are going back to the dark ages. I don’t know what will happen.
Sir, as I have said before, frequent changes – as many as 40 amendments – have been made in the Finance Bill on the day it was introduced in Lok Sabha. But, if you see this Finance Bill, here more than 300 amendments have been made. Sir, why does a tax law need so many amendments and so many changes every year? Why can’t we have a thorough discussion once and for all and move for a simplified ease of doing business, as this Government claims.
Sir, I just have three questions for the government. Sir, the Finance Minister in his reply to the Lok Sabha said that the RBI is still checking for fake notes in the currency deposited during demonetisation. Sir, I would like to know – whenever the Finance Minister speaks – how much loss has the RBI suffered on account of accepting fake notes? RBI’s loss means ultimately we are suffering.
He also said that there are many instances where people with five PAN cards have been discovered. Sir, I would like to know what is the number of such people who have been prosecuted. How many people have been discovered with multiple PAN cards?
And Sir, the last point. Even the Law Minister himself said on the floor of the House that in 46% cases, the government is the litigant. Is there any plan to reduce this reputation? Are they planning to file cases based on merit and not just on a monetary limit? Right now there are monetary limits for going to higher courts but not on the merit of the case.
Thank you.
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Sir, I am grateful that you have given me the chance to speak with respect of the GST Bill. Sir, West Bengal fought hard to preserve and protect cooperative federalism in the process of the formulation of the GST. It also fought uncompromisingly on fiscal autonomy of all states of the nation on matters of GST. This was the hallmark of West Bengal that is so visible in many parts of the Bills presented to us in the Parliament.
As Chairman of the Empowered Committee, the West Bengal Finance Minister was instrumental in bringing about a broad consensus amongst states on single control in the hands of the State below Rs 1.5 crore turnover of small business in its meeting in the great city Calcutta many months ago. I believe the honourable Union Finance Minister Mr Jaitley was a witness to this consensus amongst States that had not been seen even before. Such was a seminal role played by West Bengal in protecting cooperative federalism and fiscal autonomy of the states at many such occasions in the course of formulation of this GST Bill.
Our leader and the present Chief Minister of the State of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, had in-principle supported the concept of GST as early as 2009 in our party-manifesto. The idea was to usher in a strong and cohesive indirect tax regime that creates a single market for all trade and industry that is beneficial for the common man and small traders and enterprises.
A draft GST Bill was circulated in the month of September, 2016 which had many clauses that were not in the fullest interest of the States, common man and small traders and enterprises. But, through the deliberations of the GST Council, a number of ideas were thrashed out and I believe West Bengal engaged uncompromisingly in a spirit of cooperative federalism and fiscal autonomy of the States.
West Bengal took the lead and ensured that the Constitution Amendment on GST incorporates the commitment of the Central Government to give full compensation to the States on account of any loss due to GST for a period of five years. The Compensation Act has also been design keeping in mind the mandate of the 122nd amendment of the Constitution and this will ensure that no State in the country will suffer any financial loss due to GST.
Our state has always stood up for the marginalised and needy, small traders and manufacturers who provide the bulk of the employment; the industrial sector have been given due regard in the new GST Law. In this spirit, West Bengal pushed hard for the GST threshold to be raised to Rs 20 lakh turnover. So that small and tiny business are kept out of the purview of the GST.
A composition scheme has also been offered for small traders and manufacturers upto an annual turnover of Rs 50 lakh. This composition scheme for manufacturers is a new feature that will help protect small and new manufacturers, specially in the MSME sector. West Bengal stood firm on this new feature which will benefit lakhs of small businesses and make tax compliance much easier.
Additionally, in order to ensure least disturbance and to provide a single interface so that the assessee does not have to face more than one authority, the concept of cross-empowerment has been introduced in the law. The State Governments and the Central Government will empower the officers of the other Governments, under the respective Acts, the assessee has to go to only one office and deal with only one authority. Apart from this, in order to ensure that small traders do not face any problems in working with the new law, 90 per cent of the assessees of both goods and services below a turnover of Rs 1.5 crore have been kept exclusively with the State Governments.
The purpose of GST was to get rid of multiplicity of taxes and the related cascading effect and to unify different taxes into a single entity. Firstly, the ill-effects of inflation can be scuttled to a large extent. Adding to this, this removal of multiple tax structures means a reduction in the cost of compliance, the benefit of which should finally pass down to the consumer.
The entire structure of GST has been created on the premise that the common man must benefit from the unification of taxes, and therefore it is necessary that the rate structures of different goods and services are adjusted so as to reduce inflation and also the prices of goods of mass consumption, so that the average Indian benefits from this path-breaking enactment.
Another important benefit of the new Goods and Services Tax is the boost to ease of doing business. A common law and standardised treatment of taxable entities with the special feature of full set of tax liability incurred being transferrable throughout the nation means that businesses do not have to think in terms of sales and can compete on cost-effective and competitive products that can compete in international markets and benefit the common man at the same time. It is expected that such a major reform in the structure of indirect taxation will not only help curb inflation but will also have a very positive effect on the growth of GDP. It is hoped the one country-one tax regime will result in growth in all sectors boosting both rural and urban economies in this nation.
Having said so, even then, we have concerns in a few areas which I would now like to point out.
Number one: while the spirit of, and the law on GST is sound, with both the States and the Centre having played a role in ensuring that a sound legislation is in place, there are still some areas of concern as far as the implementation is concerned.
Number two: considering the scale of the reform, it is imperative that sufficient time be given to build up the structures required to ensure the proper implementation of the GST law, we should not rush through the preparation as that is bound to give rise to small but crucial errors which may hamper the implementation of the law. We need to look at the experiences of other nations and learn from the mistakes made there so that we can implement the law in a proper manner.
Number three: another area of concern is the rate structure itself. The process of treatment of rates for different goods and services is yet to be started. Unless the industry is informed about the rates and sufficient time is given, it will not be possible for them to modify their ERPs and systems well in time to meet the deadlines. Therefore it is necessary that the rate treatment process be completed quickly so that industry in general has reasonable time to prepare.
Number four: another area of concern is the preparation of the GST Network – the GSTN. The GSTN is the core system which links all the States and the Centre with the assessees and is pivotal to the implementation of this goods and services tax system. This is one system that cannot afford to fail as its failure will lead to a collapse of the entire indirect tax system of the nation. Therefore it is necessary to get all the models of the GSTN prepared and tested as quickly as possible so that the assessees and the industries have enough time to train up their personnel to gear up their systems.
A completely e-based indirect taxation system means that even the smallest player has to be on board without which the input tax credit (ITC) chain and linkage will be lost. The small businesses must be given adequate time to adapt themselves to this completely new system.
This is a complex fiscal reform. State and Centre together in a federal polity must take appropriate quantum of time which will be sustainable and successful. I will request the Hon. Finance Minister, through you, that we should not rush for this. Look into the defects once again. Do not rush for July 1 deadline. We have time till September 1. The arenas which have been discussed still have lacunae; errors are there which may make it difficult for implementation. These arenas should be covered and discussed and necessary amendments should be brought.
Overall the goods and service tax enactments are set to usher in an area of a higher compliance, efficient taxation, reduce inflation and better growth. It is important that the implementation is also made by both Centre and State in the true spirit of cooperative federalism helping build the nation together. That should be the spirit. No one should ask for only credit, we have all done this together.
Thank you, Sir.
Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee today said in the Lok Sabha that “Bengal fought hard to preserve and protect cooperative federalism in the process of the formulation of the GST”. He was speaking during a discussion of the GST Bills in Parliament.
In his speech he highlighted the proactive role taken by the Finance Minister of Bengal, who is the Chairman of the Empowered Committee. “Bengal Finance Minister was instrumental in bringing about a broad consensus amongst states on single control in the hands of the State below Rs 1.5 crore turnover of small business in its meeting in the great city Calcutta many months ago,” he said.
He reiterated that Mamata Banerjee had in-principle supported the concept of GST as early as 2009 in our party-manifesto. Kalyan Banerjee said, “Bengal engaged uncompromisingly in a spirit of cooperative federalism and fiscal autonomy of the States.”
He cautioned the government against rushing ahead with the legislation; he said steps must be taken to make the system fully error free or else the whole indirect taxation system would collapse. He pitched for an e-based taxation system and said industry must be given sufficient time to prepare themselves for the new system.
Kalyan Banerjee also reminded the government that GST is the result of the hard work by all and no one should claim credit for it alone.
Also speaking on the issue, Saugata Roy cautioned the government against the “technological nightmare” that GSTN could bring and asked the government not to hurry. “If there will be any breakdown in the server, all over the country GST will go flat. So, Sir, I want the Government to be very careful. Government has said that they will train 60,000 officers for this job. For that, at least six months are necessary,” he said.
He also reminded the government that prices should not rise during the transition period. He wanted to know why the government was in a hurry o pass GST when the rates of individual commodities have not yet been decided. He wanted to know from the Centre where would the extra money come from to compensate the States.
Click here to read the full transcript of Kalyan Banerjee’s speech
Click here to read the full transcript of Saugata Roy’s speech
The Bengal Government has decided to set up training for farmers to enable them to rear honeybees. Such training opportunities would be made available in all the districts of Bengal.
Worldwide, honeybees have been severely affected by the changes in environmental conditions, so much so that productions of honey and beeswax have come majorly.
A beginning has been made with the initiation of a four-day course for 100 farmers in Naikuri block of Purba Medinipur district. After the completion of training, each farmer would be handed over, by the State Government, two boxes of honeybees.
Today’s youth have largely forsaken the often dangerous method of collecting honey from inside deep forests. As a result, the production of honey and beeswax has come down, so much so that a large portion of the requirement of the State has to be imported from foreign countries.
Through this honeybee-rearing programme, the State Government has thus provided a three-pronged solution: employment generation through the rearing and selling of products derived from honeybees, conservation of foreign exchange and maintaining the balance of the environment (since the already less number of honeybees need not be exploited).
সারা পৃথিবী জুড়ে মৌমাছি প্রজাতি আজ বিলুপ্তির পথে। আর এর জেরে চাহিদার থেকে কম উ९পাদন হচ্ছে মোম, মধু। শুধু মোম-মধু নয় কীটপতঙ্গ কমে যাওয়ায় পরিবেশের ভারসাম্যও নষ্ট হচ্ছে। এবার এই সমস্যার সমাধানে কৃষকদের মৌমাছি পালনে উ९সাহী করার উদ্যোগ নিল রাজ্য সরকার।
রাজ্যের সমস্ত জেলায় এই ধরনের প্রশিক্ষণের ব্যাবস্থা করা হয়েছে। পূর্ব মেদিনীপুর জেলার নাইকুড়ি ব্লকে কৃষকদের মৌমাছি পালনের প্রশিক্ষণের মাধ্যমে এই জেলায় রাজ্যে সরকারের উদ্যোগের সূচনা হল। প্রশিক্ষণ চলবে চার দিন ধরে। পাঁশকুড়ার প্রতাপপুর বি কিপিং সমিতির সহায়তা নিয়ে নাইকুড়ি ব্লকের ১০০ জন কৃষককে নিয়ে এই প্রশিক্ষণ শিবির অনুষ্ঠিত হচ্ছে। প্রশিক্ষণের পর এই কৃষকদের হাতে রাজ্য সরকারের তরফে বিনামুল্যে মৌমাছি পালনের জন্য প্রয়োজনীয় দুটি মৌমাছি ভর্তি বাক্স তুলে দেওয়া হবে।
এর ফলে কৃষকদের মৌমাছি পালনে সমস্যায় পড়তে হবে না। মৌমাছি পালনের ফলে কৃষকেরা মৌচাক থেকে মধু ও মোম দুটোই সংগ্রহ করে তাদের উপার্জন বাড়াতে পারবেন। এর সঙ্গে বাজারের যোগান বাড়বে।
বিপদ মাথায় নিয়ে এই প্রজন্মের ছেলে মেয়েদের জঙ্গলে গিয়ে মধু ও মোম সংগ্রহের পেশায় যুক্ত না হওয়ার প্রবণতা জোগান কমিয়েছে মোম, মধুর। ফলে চাহিদাপূরণের জন্য বিদেশ থেকে প্রয়োজনের প্রায় ৭০ শতাংশ মোম ও ৩০ শতাংশ মধু আমদানি করতে হয়। রাজ্য সরকার গ্রামে গ্রামে মৌমাছি পালনের মাধ্যমে মোম ও মধুর জোগান বাড়ানোর উদ্যোগ নেওয়ায় বিদেশ থেকে আমদানির পরিমাণ কমবে। এলাকার মানুষের কর্মসংস্থান হবে। পাশাপাশি বিদেশি মুদ্রা সঞ্চয় হবে এবং পরিবেশের ভারসাম্য রক্ষা করা যাবে।
In a stern message to a section of people who are trying to incite communal tension in the State, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said Bengal is a land of culture and politics of riots has no place here. She urged people to be aware and not pay heed to rumours.
“We believe in religious amity. We do not believe in the politics of riots,” she said.
“I believe in religion that teaches you to love all humans. I participate in Durga Puja, Eid, Christmas as well as Guru Parab. The human body is incomplete without all organs. We must treat all humans equally. A mother can never discriminate between her children,” she added.
The CM said Constitution of India was her guiding principle and it taught her to be tolerant and respectful of people from various backgrounds.
এক শ্রেণীর মানুষ যারা ধর্মের নামে রাজ্যে বিভেদ সৃষ্টি করে বাংলায় অশান্ত পরিবেশ তৈরি করতে চাইছে তাদের কড়া বার্তা দিলেন মুখ্যমন্ত্রী মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়।
জলপাইগুড়িতে একটি জনসভায় তিনি বলেন, “আমি জাতি-ধর্মের ভেদাভেদে বিশ্বাস করি না, দাঙ্গার রাজনীতিতে বিশ্বাস করি না। উৎসবের সময় বেশ কিছু মানুষ সমস্যার সৃষ্টি করার চেষ্টা করেন।” তিনি জনগণকে সতর্ক হওয়ার পাশাপাশি গুজবে কান না দেওয়ারও আর্জি জানান।
তিনি বলেন, “যে ধর্ম সকলকে ভালবাসতে শেখায় আমি সেই ধর্মে বিশ্বাসী। বাংলায় দুর্বৃত্তদের কোন জায়গা নেই। এ মাটি সংস্কৃতির মাটি।”
“আমি দুর্গা পুজো, ঈদ, ক্রিসমাস, গুরু পরব সবেতেই যোগদান করি। সব অঙ্গ ছাড়া মানব-শরীর অসম্পূর্ণ। আমরা বিশ্বাস করি সব মানুষ সমান। একজন মা কখনও নিজের সন্তানদের মধ্যে বিভেদ করেন না” মুখ্যমন্ত্রী বলেন।
তিনি আরও বলেন, “ভারতের সংবিধান আমাদের সহনশীল হতে শেখায়। সংবিধানই আমাদের পথ দেখায়।”
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The National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016 is a very important Bill in the context of engineering education in India at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels and in the context of research. The Bill was first introduced in the year 2007. The motto behind this Bill is for giving national importance to certain institutes of engineering and science so that they can provide quality education, both at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels of engineering, and do research work in the frontal areas of engineering.
The Bill was first amended in 2012. In 2007, 20 such institutions run by different societies across the country were included and were mentioned in the first schedule. In 2012, when the first amendment was done, another 10 institutions run by different societies were included and added to those in the first schedule. At that time, another five IISER – that is, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research – were incorporated and mentioned in the second schedule. Another institute, Indian Institute of Science Technology and Research in Shibpur, was mentioned in the third schedule. All these endeavours are very good in promoting engineering education. Recently, in 2016, two new IISERs were incorporated to correct the regional imbalance after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana – one in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and another in Berhampur in Odisha. So the endeavours for promoting engineering education and moreover, to correct the regional imbalance in terms of institutes of national importance, by the Government are very good. At present there are a total of 31 NITs and five IISERs and two more will be included in the Bill, bringing the number of IISERs to seven. All these are welcome approaches. But my humble submission in the floor of the House is regarding my points of concern.
The first point of concern is regarding the quality of education. The prime focus of the Government should be to provide substantial amount of finance to these institutions. As far as my information goes, the global ranking of these NITs is between 3,500 to 4,000, that is, far down in the list and the global ranking of the IITs – that is, only IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay – is between 400 and 450. Only the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore is ranked between 300 and 350. So, in the global ranking, we are far behind and in the Asian context, the ranks of the NITs is not even within 1,000. In the Asian raking too, even IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi are within 300. So my humble submission to the Minister and the Government is that there should be an expert committee which should monitor the declining quality of education in India and address the issue of bridging the huge gap in the ranking of Indian institutes with respect to the world’s top ones, both in the context of the global ranking and the Asian ranking. There should also be a committee to monitor the quality of education in the NITs. The 31 NITs should be ranked, and then efforts should be made to address the gaps in quality. The faculty from one NIT should be moved to some other NIT, students from one NIT should be allowed to go to another NIT, etc. so that the parity of engineering education in the country is maintained. The next point of concern is regarding research work. The Minister has said that the purpose of the IISERs is mainly to focus on research work. So, does the Government have any report on how many research papers are submitted by the engineering students in these institutions each year in Indian and international journal?
The second thing of concern is this: there are several scientific programmes and scientific competitions in the country; now, how many students from the NITs and the IITs participate in these engineering competitions, and are there records on that or not? This is very important to know with respect to research work. We all know and we appreciate the research work by our scientists in space technology, research work done by the DRDO. So all our engineering faculty should do a lot of research work.
The third point is regarding the long-standing problem of brain drain in India. We all know that every year a large number of students passing from these institutions go abroad and do their research work there and then one day we read in the newspaper or see on TV that some Indian scientist doing research work in MIT or Harvard has got the Nobel Prize in physics or chemistry. This should be stopped. We should create such an environment that all brilliant Indian students do their research work in India, and we should be proud of such institutions that bring fame to India. We should think of this. And my last humble submission to the Minister is to enquire whether the Government is thinking of any common test for engineering students before they graduate from the NITs after the eighth semester, so that the Government can get a sense of the amount of parity in engineering education in India. The Government should consider this proposal.
At the end, I want to congratulate the Minister for correcting the regional imbalance in terms of the IISERs by setting up two new ones in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. I welcome this Bill. Thank you, Sir.
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Madam, I am thankful to you for allowing me to raise this issue during Zero Hour. This is about the communal clash in Patan district of Gujarat. The police have arrested 13 people. The clash on Saturday afternoon between the Thakurs of Sunsar and neighbouring villages and the Muslims of Vagjipara caused the death of Ibrahim Khan, Lal Khan Belim and injured 20, all of whom are residents of Vagjipara.
However, those arrested are not among the 31 accused named in the FIR lodged by Rehmanbhai Alibhai Malek of Vadavali, of which Vagjipara is a part. The complaint was lodged in Chanasama police station on Saturday. After combing operations those named in the FIR could not be arrested. Some of the injured are undergoing treatment.
Though the reason for the clash has not been ascertained, according to the FIR lodged at Chanasama police station lodged by Malek, there was a verbal dispute at Vadavali High School between some thakurs and Muslims.
This incident is worrisome as it happened in the home state of the Prime Minister, and only 100 km from Ahmedabad.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today expressed her concern over the recent happenings in Uttar Pradesh. She said that “people are afraid & many are scared about differences over caste, creed & religion.”
The Chief Minister reiterated that “we are all one”. She posted on Twitter: “A government has to be for all. ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ sirf bolna nahi hain, karna hain. We have to do it, to make it meaningful.”
Mamata Banerjee added that “we must all safeguard the Constitution and allow it to guide us.”
উত্তর প্রদেশের সাম্প্রতিক কিছু ঘটনায় উদ্বেগ প্রকাশ করলেন মুখ্যমন্ত্রী মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়। তিনি বলেন, মানুষ আজ ভীত। জাতি, ধর্মের ভেদাভেদের কারণে অনেকেই আতঙ্কিত। মনে রাখতে হবে আমরা সবাই এক।”
তিনি টুইটারে বলেন, “সরকারের দায়িত্ব সকলের পাশে দাঁড়ানো। ‘সবকা সাথ, সবকা বিকাশ’ শুধু বললেই হবে না, কাজে করে দেখাতে হবে।”
মুখ্যমন্ত্রী আরও বলেন যে সবার উচিত সংবিধানের গরিমা রক্ষা করা যাতে আগামী দিনে সংবিধান আমাদের পাথেয় হতে পারে।
Bengal Chief Minister chaired an administrative review meeting for Jalpaiguri district at Sarojendra Deb Raykat Kala Kendra today where she took stock of various development projects.
Later in the day, the Chief Minister inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for several projects during a public meeting. She also distributed benefits among people of the district. She announced the formation of a medical college in Jalpaiguri.
The projects inaugurated by the CM include a mobile animal treatment unit, seven long-distance buses of North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC), a women’s police station and a residential complex for sub-inspectors. The newly constructed building of Banarhat police station and barrack was also inaugurated by the Chief Minister.
During her speech, the CM said that the natural beauty of Jalpaiguri was unmatched. She laid stress on tourism in the district and said Gajoldoba was a ‘dream project’ that would attract tourists from all over the world. She said once complete, the various road projects in the district would help cut down the time to travel to Kolkata.
Mamata Banerjee said the aim of her government was to turn Bengal around and make the State the best in the world.
আজ জলপাইগুড়ি সরোজেন্দ্রদেব রায়কত কলাকেন্দ্রে একটি প্রশাসনিক বৈঠক করলেন মুখ্যমন্ত্রী মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়। এরপর জলপাইগুড়ি বিশ্ববাংলা ক্রীড়াঙ্গন প্রাঙ্গণে একটি সরকারি অনুষ্ঠানে বিভিন্ন সরকারি প্রকল্পের উদ্বোধন করলেন তিনি।
জলপাইগুড়ি শহরে একটি মহিলা থানার উদ্বোধন করলেনমুখ্যমন্ত্রী। এছাড়া বানারহাট থানার নতুন ভবন এবং জলপাইগুড়ি ও বানারহাটে নতুন পুলিস ব্যারাকের উদ্বোধন করেন মুখ্যমন্ত্রী। এই অনুষ্ঠান থেকেই ৭টি অত্যাধুনিক রকেট বাস চালু করেন মুখ্যমন্ত্রী মমতা ব্যানার্জি।
এছাড়া কৃষকদের মধ্যে বিতরণ করা হয় ট্রাক্টর, পাওয়ার টিলার ও কৃষি সরঞ্জাম। পাশাপাশি ছাত্রছাত্রীদের মধ্যে বিতরণ করা হয় কয়েক হাজার সাইকেল। এই অনুষ্ঠানের মধ্য দিয়ে কয়েকশো মানুষকে চেকের মাধ্যমে অনুদানও তুলে দেন মুখ্যমন্ত্রী।
বক্তব্য রাখার সময় মুখ্যমন্ত্রী বলেন, জলপাইগুড়ি জেলার যেমন আছে প্রাকৃতিক সৌন্দর্য, তেমনই আছে কৃষ্টি ও সংস্কৃতি। এদিন গাজলডোবা- ড্রিম প্রজেক্ট প্রসঙ্গে তিনি বলেন এই প্রজেক্ট হলে আগামী দিনে সারা বিশ্বের লোক এখানে আসবে। তিনি আরও বলেন অন্যান্য সড়ক প্রকল্পগুলির কাজ শেষ হয়ে গেলে কম সময়ে কলকাতা পৌঁছানো যাবে।
এদিন মুখ্যমন্ত্রী বলেন বাংলাকে ঘুরে দাঁড় করানো এবং বাংলাকে বিশ্ব সেরা করাই তাঁর সরকারের একমাত্র লক্ষ্য।
