CM plains prod to ministers

TT, Siliguri, Aug. 12: Mamata Banerjee has told her ministers that the plains and the hills of north Bengal should get equal treatment at a time the adivasis and Rajbangshis are railing at the government’s perceived bias towards hill areas.

The chief minister’s directive has the twin objectives of countering the charge of the government’s perceived step-motherly attitude towards certain communities in the plains as well as gaining a toehold for the Trinamul Congress ahead of the panchayat polls.

Yesterday, at a meeting in Calcutta, Mamata pushed for launching of new projects and completing ongoing ones under the Centre’s Backward Regional Grant Fund (BRGF).

The meeting was called to review the progress of projects being executed under the BRGF scheme across the state. Eleven districts are covered under the central scheme and Jalpaiguri, Malda, and the two Dinajpurs are among them.

Mamata has specifically asked her cabinet colleagues to make sure that the plains areas of north Bengal kept pace with Darjeeling when it came to development.

“The chief minister has asked us to speed up the implementation of all projects, especially welfare schemes, sanctioned under the BRGF across 11 districts. She said new projects should be identified for implementation and finish the ones which were already launched,” said north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb.

“The chief minister said the funds would be made available from the BRGF and other sources. She referred to north Bengal and said there should be no regional imbalance in the execution of schemes. She instructed us to see that the plains and the hills were equally treated.”

The Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad, Kamtapur Progressive Party and the Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association have slammed the government for turning a deaf ear to their demands while Mamata announced projects in the hills. These outfits have threatened to launch movements against the government once the GTA is formed.

Trinamul leaders in the region had informed the chief minister about the resentment brewing among the people towards the government during her recent visits to north.

“The tribal people and the Rajbangshis have always complained that the Trinamul government is showering the hills with development and welfare schemes and the rest of north Bengal is getting little. We urged the chief minister to give priority to the Dooars, Terai, both the Dinajpurs and Malda, where people have not seen the development work announced by the government,” said a Trinamul leader in Siliguri.

“Besides, we impressed on her the need to expand Trinamul’s base in the region ahead of the panchayat polls, particularly when it is unlikely that we will have a tie-up with the Congress,” he added.

Trinamul considers the rural body polls to be a trial of the party’s strength before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The party hopes it can boost its prospects in north Bengal in the panchayat polls slated to be held in November if the government ushers in new schemes in the plains.

“Dhupguri municipality is the only civic body run by the party in the region. We have few councillors in Siliguri Municipal Corporation where we have a tie-up with the Congress and some other municipalities. The number of Trinamul members in all three tiers of panchayat are minimal,” said the Trinamul leader.

“To obtain more seats in the local bodies, it is imperative that the government cares about the all-round development of north Bengal. With Mamata directing her ministers to implement more projects in the region, we are hopeful of increasing our tally in the November polls.”