Mamata's vindictive politics over patient care push Bengal people to poor health care

Norway may pull out of SSKM project

BySumati Yengkhom, TNN | Feb 22, 2013, 02.20 AM IST

KOLKATA: Barely four months after the state health department shunted out Dr Arun Singh, the head of the neonatology department at the Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (IPGMER) in SSKM Hospital, the state's premier medical institute is set to lose a prestigious project funded by the Norway government.

The funding agency wants to pull out of the project because it has "lost confidence" after Dr Singh's transfer.

Dr Singh, as the head of the department, had been instrumental in developing a state-of-the-art neonatology wing at IPGMER. He was transferred to the College of Medicine and Sagar Dutta Hospital in October 2012, allegedly after a row with an influential health department official.
Dr Singh - for whom the city's medical fraternity vouches for his dedication, hard work and pioneering initiatives -

was transferred to a hospital which does not even have a neonatology department.

former neonatology head at Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (IPGMER) (SSKM), the state's premier medical institute is about to lose a prestigious project funded by the Norway government.

The neonatologist, who the medical fraternity vouch for his dedication, hard work and pioneering initiatives, was shunted to the North 24 Parganas hospital which does not even have a neonatology department.

The Norway funding would have been crucial for the hospital, as the country boasts one of the best healthcare facilities for the newborn in the world. With an infant mortality rate of 3 (number of deaths per 1,000 births), it ranks sixth amongst countries with the lowest infant mortality rates.

The corresponding figure for Bengal is 35.

Now, the funding agency has expressed a wish to discontinue the project, said sources.

The funding agency reportedly has expressed its desire to discontinue with the ongoing project. If the project is withdrawn it will give a major blow to the neonatology wing that has taken up many pioneering initiatives.

Therefore the collaborative project with Norway government at IPGMER would have served the state.

Some initiatives that would have materialized under the project was a breast milk bank at IPGMER, a training programme for doctors and nurses in Norway and collaborative efforts to reduce neonatal sepsis, nutrition of newborns and improving neurodevelopment.

An exchange programme with the Oslo University Hospital under the project would have meant clinical skill development for medical staff members of IPGMER's neonatology wing.

In fact, the first batch of two doctors and four nurses have been trained so far with full sponsorship from Norway.

The project was to run for five years. Now, a little more than a year into it, the funding agency wants to pull out.

"The project would have gone to AIIMS in Delhi. But Dr Singh had fought hard to win it," said a senior doctor at IPGMER. "This was a matter of pride not only for the state but also for the entire eastern and north-eastern regions."

According to sources the funding agency had confidence in Singh's efficiency and dedication. Therefore it did not want to continue with the project after he was shunted out. A communication on this was sent to IPGMER director Dr Pradip Mitra some weeks back.

"Now I hear that they (the Norwegian funding agency) do not wish to continue with the project. The reason is not clear," said Dr Mitra.

The fate of the Newborn Care Resource Centre at IPGMER, facilitated by the Norway India Partnership Initiative, also hangs in the balance. The resource centre - a first-of-its-kind initiative in India - owed its existence largely to the efforts of Dr Singh.at IPGMER under NIPI was the first of its kind in India. While the other four centres - KEM Mumbai, Institute of Child Health Chennai, Lady Hardinge Medical College Delhi and PGI Chandigarh - that came up much later have been given extension for another five years, IPGMER has not been sanctioned the extension by NIPI. Singh was instrumental in impressing upon NIPI to start the centre.

Incidentally, even though the state has shunted Dr Singh to a hospital where he has very little work, it is yet to release him on a central Health Ministry deputation to work as a senior advisor to the National Child Health Project.

Even as the state shunted out the specialists doctor to a place where there was no work for his expertise, the central health ministry has requested the Mamata Banerjee government to depute him for two years to work as a senior advisor to the national child health project. The state however is yet to release Singh.




Read related news: 

Surprise transfer for SSKM doctor

After surprise transfer, probe shock for doctor

Neonatology doctor shifted to hospital without neonatology ward

Politics over patient care in transfer of top doctors

This is not the first time the uneducated and partisan politician Mamata put her egoistic politics over patient care, on 26 May 2011 she suspended an eminent neurosurgeon and The director of the Bangur Institute of Neurosciences Dr. Shyamaprasad Ghorai, without any reason. click on the link below to read details. 

Hospital head suspended

Mamata and her ministers always go abroad for best treatment but Bengal people get deprived of right treatment by expert doctors for her uneducated and insensitive behavior towards best doctors. Some of the city's well known persons say that she drive away best doctors from Govt. run hospitals to give advantages to some of the private clinics of the city in which she has some interest.

Gyanpith award winner writer Mahasweta Devi, who is the closest associate of Mamata, surprisingly silent about this ordeal of Bengal people who has always been vocal about people's cause and despite her poor health take part in many political rallies of Mamata. Then is it true that her intellect only gets vocal where she has some personal interest, and not for all?

However, Gyanpith award winner writer Mahasweta Devi, who is the closest associate of Mamata, surprisingly silent about this ordeal of Bengal people who has always been vocal about people's cause and despite her poor health take part in many political rallies of Mamata. Then is it true that her intellect only gets vocal where she has some personal interest, and not for all?

Is Mamata the CM (material) of Bengal

Please, someone tell Mamatadi she is Chief Minister

Smita Gupta

The Hindu: DETERMINATION IN HIGH GEAR: Mamata Banerjee leading a procession in Kolkata recently “to protest against the false propaganda” of her political rival. Photo: Sushanta Patronobish

Ten months after her massive mandate, the West Bengal Chief Minister continues to be in election mode, obstructing difficult decisions by the Centre and rejecting unpopular advice from State officials.

On March 19, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee swept imperiously into Parliament House to “persuade” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to appoint Mukul Roy as railway minister, and roll back much of the increase in rail passenger fares, just hours after she had forced Dinesh Trivedi to put in his papers. That accomplished, she pressured the Congress to withdraw its candidate for a Rajya Sabha seat from West  Bengal, enabling her to push four instead of three of her nominees into the Upper House, before flying back to Kolkata. What did the Congress receive in return? Yes, the Trinamool Congress didn't back the Bharatiya  Janata Party (BJP)'s amendments to the President's Address on the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), but its MPs, ministers included, only embarrassed the UPA government by walking out of both houses of Parliament.

Embarrassing the UPA

It was all part of a familiar pattern. Last year, Ms Banerjee torpedoed the Teesta Waters Agreement with Bangladesh, embarrassing the Prime Minister; halted the government's efforts to introduce FDI in retail; and after backing the Lokpal Bill in the Lok Sabha, opposed it in the Rajya Sabha. This year, she joined opposition Chief Ministers to railroad the NCTC and, for good measure, got MP Ratna De to shred the general budget proposals in the Lok Sabha. “It's called compulsive populism,” an exasperated State official told The Hindu.

If the Trinamool out-opposes the real opposition in Delhi, Ms Banerjee plays Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition, by turn, in Bengal.

On March 3, four days after Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee led a procession through Kolkata in an open jeep, she followed suit, bringing the city to a halt, accusing the Left of maligning her government.

In the State

Ten months after she won a massive mandate, ending 34 years of Left rule in the State, she remains in election mode, as determined to prevent the Centre from taking difficult decisions, as she is to reject unpopular, if pragmatic, advice from her officials. Instead, she has focused on the optics: after being anointed Chief Minister at Raj Bhavan last year, she walked to Writers' Building through a kilometre-long surging sea of humanity. Eight months later, Ms Banerjee, en route to attend Republic Day celebrations, alighted from her car at one end of Red Road — along which the parade passes — and walked to the Maidan, where she was to receive Governor M.K. Narayanan. She ambled down, waving to the cheering crowds: when she arrived, the Governor — in a reversal of traditional protocol — was waiting for her.

Today, Ms Banerjee still believes she only has to wave her wand, and Jangalmahal will be magically transformed into a rural paradise, Darjeeling into a land of smiling Gorkhas, Kolkata into London, and West Bengal into India's industrial giant. But the jackboots she wears beneath that fairy godmother costume peep out each time she cracks her whip to make civil servants and industrialists — like her Trinamool colleagues — jump through the hoops. In January, she forced a sheepish Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP) to repeat her claims on developmental works in front of an audience in Maoist-affected Jhargram. A few days earlier, she reduced sharp-suited captains of industry and foreign diplomats to schoolboy status: naming them individually from her vantage point on stage at the “Bengal Leads 2012” business summit in Kolkata, she asked them “what their problem” was — why were they not investing in Bengal?

That script went awry on March 14: in full TV glare, Mr. Trivedi refused to reverse the hike in passenger fares, spotlighting not just disaffection in the Trinamool, but also Ms Banerjee's unwillingness — as demonstrated in this year's State budget proposals — to frontally address Bengal's economic crisis, the key challenge to her government. Currently, as she struggles to pay government salaries, a burden enhanced by 2,75,000 new jobs, State officials despair. “In her first few months,” said one official, “she should have increased resources through higher taxes and raised electricity tariffs. She was so popular she would have got away with it. The longer she waits, the tougher it will get.” This is, especially as Delhi has ruled out an economic bailout for Bengal.

Credibility at stake

She's also unwilling to admit that anyone in her party or government can err. Last year, she raised eyebrows when she marched into a police station to bail out Trinamool hoodlums; this year, her unsympathetic response to a young woman who was raped after leaving a nightclub on Kolkata's fashionable Park Street has become a watershed for the city's middle class, even as growing incidents of rape and political violence in rural Bengal in recent days have become grist for the Left mill.

As Ms Banerjee's personal credibility begins to take a beating, and there is little on the credit side as far as governance goes, her party colleagues are staining at the leash. Trinamool sources told The Hindu that Mr. Trivedi's demotion is fuelling discontent among its MPs, with Mr. Roy's elevation angering them further: they believe his unsavoury past will catch up with him and embarrass the party again. Of the party's 19 Lok Sabha MPs, Mr. Trivedi and poet Kabir Suman (who'd already gone public with his unhappiness), apart, Sudip Bandopadhyay, Kalyan Banerjee, Saugata Roy, Suvendu Adhikari, Sisir Kumar Adhikari, Sucharu Ranjan Haldar and Somen Mitra reportedly figure in the list of the disenchanted.

Ms Banerjee needs to stem the rot, keeping a sharp eye on the Muslim vote, before the panchayat polls next year when she will face her first electoral test after she came to power. In last year's Assembly elections, she broke the Left's hold over the 27 per cent strong Muslim population, pushing the latter's vote percentage in the State down to 41 per cent.

Not surprisingly, Rs.570 crore has been set aside for minority welfare in this year's State budget.

So, has the girl who clawed her way up from the slums of Kolkata to the seat of power done anything right? “Her inability to take no for an answer can work well occasionally,” a police officer admits. “Last year, when she wanted to recruit home guards from Jangalmahal, she was told the rules forbade recruitment from a specific region. When she remained adamant, a way out was found.” That's the flip side of her total disregard for rules, procedures, or indeed the law, if it comes in her way. But can she leverage her inclination to cut through red tape to remain a force in Bengal politics? For that will determine her ability to successfully scare Delhi about her imminent departure from the UPA — and extract what she wants.

smita.g@thehindu.co.in

Fascist soul and vitriolic mind of Mamta is exposed

Angry over car delay, Mamata says guards must be ‘whipped’

TNN | Feb 8, 2013, 02.23 AM IST

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee's public outburst against her security officer "apnakay chabkano uchit" (you should be whipped) on Wednesday night at the Kolkata Book Fair for being made to wait for her car, has made APDR move the West Bengal Human Rights Commission. 

 

KOLKATA: Chief minister MamataBanerjee's public outburst against her security officer "apnakaychabkanouchit" (you should be whipped) on Wednesday night at the Kolkata Book Fair for being made to wait for her car, has made the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) move the West Bengal Human Rights Commission. Ironically, the officer, Kusum Kumar Dwivedi, was awarded a seva medal by Mamata only a month back, in December last year.

APDR's branch secretary Ranjit Sur wrote to West Bengal Human Rights Commission chairperson Justice (retired) Asok Kumar Ganguly on Thursday. "Police personnel are government employees. No one has the right to misbehave with them in that manner and thus destroy their dignity and social prestige. Moreover, they are not in a position their service condition may not allow them to lodge complaint against the chief minister. So, we as a human rights defender organization appeal to you to intervene and do the needful to protect the dignity of the policemen on VIP duty."

APDR also pointed out the case of suicide by an officer of Park Street police station few months ago after his superiors allegedly misbehaved acted inhumanly with him.

"We have urged the commission to protect the rights of policemen humiliated by the chief minister and also other police personnel in general. If such incident is not checked now, this will percolate further to all layers of administration. And the worst sufferers will be those in the lower strata of the administration," said Sur.

Union minister But it was Deepa Das Munshi was also vocal. who pointed the disconnect.

"What wrong did the officer do? Wasn't he the one whom the chief minister had awarded only a month back? All these, for a few minutes for which she was made to wait.

Is this the culture of Bengal? Or is this the frustration over something else?" she quipped.

Opposition leader Surjya Kanta Mishra, now in Tripura, told reporters: "The chief minister should keep her cool. She isn't in the opposition anymore.", but the head of the state government. She should behave like one. If this continues, I wonder how they are going to continue for their complete five years. This might trigger a constitutional crisis." BJP leader Tathagata Roy termed this as a dangerous precedent..

Major scam and misuse of public money by Mamta party run Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Nothing fair about Kolkata Municipal Corporation trident ‘fair rate’

Saikat Ray, TNN Oct 4, 2012, 01.26AM IST

KOLKATA: Trident lamps have muddied the civic waters further. It has been revealed that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) fixed Rs 17,690 as "fair rate" for installation of trident lamps - a few notches above market rates.

The rate on offer for a medium pole with lamp at the KMC's Entally workshop is Rs 9,600 - at least Rs 5,000 above the existing market rate. A TOI team probing the KMC rate came to know about it from suppliers at Muktaram Babu Street. According to market estimates, the medium pole costs Rs 3,500 while the KMC put it at Rs 5,800. A solite (decorative lamp) distributor at Shibnarayan Das Lane, off Bidhan Sarani in north Kolkata, put the price of each lamp at a maximum of Rs 2,000 while the KMC fair price rate is Rs 2,965.

Worse, the KMC lighting department fixed the rates after taking quotations from two small-time shops in the sanitary and fittings trade — one at Nirmal Chandra Street and the other at Shibnarayan Das Lane. The arbitrary price fixing has raised eyebrows even among officials in the state urban development department.
Heads rolled in the lighting department with director general (electrical) Gautam Patnaik being transferred to the Kolkata Environment Improvement Project. But the controversy refuses to die down even if mayor Sovan Chatterjee is desperate to sweep it under the carpet. Like Patnaik, other senior officers namely Monobrata Bose, now acting DG (electrical), was also a signatory to the fair rate decision as officer on special duty. Even an executive engineer of the lighting department had signed the rate, though they remain where they were.
Even as Patnaik in his reply to the show-cause said whatever he did was after consultation with his political bosses, the mayor refuses to probe the muddle further. "We have no role in fair rate fixing. The lighting department officials did it on their own," Chatterjee said. On the contrary, the mayor refused to take sides when asked how the lighting department could fix rates for the entire state except Salt Lake by consulting two shops only. "It is up to the lighting department to choose the process," the mayor said. Chatterjee was also non-committal to the Opposition demand for a probe.
Surprisingly, the TOI team that spotted the two shops based on corporation documents found that the owners didn't ever speak to corporation officials. "Yes, we are in touch with KMC-enlisted contractors to whom we supply materials," said the decorative lamp distributor at Shibnarayan Lane. But the one at Nirmal Chandra Street expressed dismay over his shop being mentioned in the KMC papers. "I am not into it," the shop owner said. However, he hinted at a shop on Muktaram Babu Street that has been supplying medium poles to KMC contractors.
The mismatch between KMC records and the reality over fair rates has come as a shot in the arm to the Opposition in the KMC. "We have already demanded a probe. The mayor has turned it down. But the recent revelations indicate that the trident lamp controversy is turning out to be a major scam," said KMC opposition leader Rupa Bagchi.

Trident main accused in HC, says mayor signed file

Saikat Ray TNN 07.02.2013

Kolkata:Mayor Sovan Chatterjee once again finds himself in the dock in the trident light scam.
    A former civic official indicted by the KMC as the prime accused in the scam has moved the Calcutta high court, alleging in his petition the file on installation of the lights —integral to beautification drives undertaken to realize the CM’s vision of turning Kolkata into London — was signed by Chatterjee.
    Gautam Pattanayak, former director general of the KMC’s electrical department, retired on December 31 last year, but was shunted out months before that to the Kolkata Environment Improvement Project. In paragraph VIII of his petition, Pattanayak has said the mayor signed the file on January 1, 2012. Since the file recommended emergency installation, the KMC’s electrical department finished the work within two months, the petition adds. Pattanayak has said he has documents to back his claims and will produce them before the court. His petition will come up for hearing at Justice Jayanta Biswas’ court on Friday.
    The official has also accused the KMC of holding back his retirement benefits that include provident fund, gratuity and pension.

 Didn’t approve breaking of rules: Mayor As the KMC brass went into a huddle with senior lawyers on Wednesday to discuss its reponse after receiving a notice, the mayor rubbished the charges and said he had cleared a file that was routed through proper channels and hadn’t approved breaking of rules. He said the KMC’s lawyers will contest the case.Pattanayak’s claims have, however, added to the simmering discontent in the KMC ranks over officials being made scapegoats for councillors’ faults. A delegation of KMC directors-general (DGs) have already taken up the issue with the mayor, requesting him not to take harsh steps against officials since they had only carried out instructions from political bosses
    An internal audit report submitted by chief municipal auditor Biplab Guha Roy just over a week ago found the entire process of installing trident lights-—right from tendering to fixing the ‘fair’ price — to be lacking transparency. The auditor also pointed to "extraneous circumstances" that compelled civic officials to bypass rules.
    While officials believe that Pattanayak, who was in charge of the electrical department, was responsible for impropriety, they also want ‘political’ forces that influenced his actions to be exposed. Apart from Pattanayak, officer-on-special duty (electrical) Monobrata Chaudhuri was showcaused. Like Pattanayak, he was also transferred to the Kolkata Environment Improvement Project. 

Bengal CM derogatory comment at security personnel in Kolkata Book Fair

Mamata loses temper at book fair

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  06.02.2013

Kolkata: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is said to have publicly screamed at her securitymen at the Kolkata Book Fair on Wednesday evening after she got out of the wrong gate and could not find her car. While her guards scrambled to clear a way for her Santro through the traffic jumble at boi mela, the CM lost patience and started walking towards Park Circus crossing. Scores of passersby stopped on seeing her on the road and a crowd quickly gathered, triggering a potential security nightmare.

 

 

See Video Below

Security mess at CM boi mela visit

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 06.02.2013

Kolkata:There was a security scare during chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s visit to the Kolkata Book Fair on Wednesday evening when she exited via the wrong gate, putting her guards on the tenterhooks.
    The CM was very upset at not finding her car and shouted at her security officers. Sources say she walked out of Gate No 3, expecting to find the car she had left at Gate No 1. A senior officer hinted that the CM’s “unscheduled movement” gave no time to police to place her car in the changed location as it is difficult to move through the massive crowds and traffic jams.
    Mamata entered the fairground around 7.55pm through the main gate (No 3) on Wednesday and headed for the Jago Bangla stall to release her book and some CDs. Artist Suvaprasanna and Trinamool student leader Shanku Deb Ponda were waiting for her along with officials of the Publishers and Book Sellers’ Guild. “She had a book release programme,” said Ponda.
    After spending nearly half an hour, she walked out but this time she took Gate No 1 that is towards JBS Haldane Avenue. Her security unit was not prepared for this sudden change of route. “It was scheduled that she would leave via the main gate so her car was kept there,” said an officer. Her guards scrambled to get her Santro to Gate No 1.
    Mamata, meanwhile, was surprised on not seeing her car. After waiting for about two minutes, she started walking on the road. Police threw a security ring around her and stopped traffic, but they could not maintain the cordon as scores of people rushed towards her., shouting ‘Didi, Didi”. Some got close enough to shake hands with the CM.
    After walking for about two minutes, Mamata stopped and turned back towards the gate with a grim face. It was then that she was reportedly seen screaming at her securitymen. Alittle later, her car arrived.

Passersby throng the CM as she walks down JBS Haldane Avenue 

 

Video of Mamata's derogatory comment at personal security personnel in Kolkata Book Fair 2013

Related Story: Mamata's Culture

Anarchy and Politics at Bengal's Education Arena

মুখ্যমন্ত্রীর কলেজে ঢুকতে তৃণমূলের 'বাধা' অধ্যক্ষকে

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কৃষ্ণেন্দু অধিকারী, এবিপি আনন্দ
Wednesday, 06 February 2013 21:19

কলকাতা: সরকারি সুপারিশ থাকা সত্ত্বেও মুখ্যমন্ত্রী মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়ের কলেজ ক্যাম্পাসে ঢুকতে পারছেন না অধ্যক্ষ৷ এ ব্যাপারে অভিযোগের আঙুল উঠেছে শাসক দল তৃণমূলের বিরুদ্ধে৷ জানা গিয়েছে, দক্ষিণ ২৪ পরগনার ফকিরচাঁদ কলেজের অধ্যক্ষ সুবীরেশ ভট্টাচার্যকে হাজরায় শ্যামাপ্রসাদ কলেজের অধ্যক্ষ পদে নিয়োগের জন্য গত বছরের অগাস্ট মাসে মনোনয়ন দেয় কলেজ সার্ভিস কমিশন৷ মনোনয়ন পাওয়ার এক মাসের মধ্যে কাজে যোগ দেওয়ার কথা৷ কিন্তু সুবীরেশবাবুর অভিযোগ, এতদিন পরও কলেজ পরিচালন সমিতির কাছ থেকে নিয়োগপত্র পাননি তিনি৷ বিষয়টি তিনি কলেজ সার্ভিস কমিশন ও কলেজের পরিচালন সমিতিকে চিঠি লিখেও জানিয়েছেন৷ কিন্তু এখনও সমস্যা সেই তিমিরেই রয়েছে৷ তবে শ্যামাপ্রসাদ কলেজের পরিচালন সমিতির সভাপতি সচ্চিদানন্দ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায় কার্যত কমিশনের ক্ষমতা নিয়ে প্রশ্ন তুলে বলেছেন, কমিশনের মনোনয়ন মানতে কলেজ বাধ্য কি না, তা খতিয়ে দেখা কমিটি গড়া হয়েছে৷ যে বিষয় কলেজে পড়ানো হয় না, সেই বিষয়ের প্রার্থীকে অধ্যক্ষ মনোনয়ন করা যায় কি না, তা নিয়েও প্রশ্ন তুলে রিপোর্ট চাওয়া হয়েছে৷ সচ্চিদানন্দবাবুর রাজনৈতিক পরিচয়, তিনি দক্ষিণ কলকাতা জেলা তৃণমূলের সভাপতি৷ যদিও তাঁর যুক্তি মানতে নারাজ কলেজ সার্ভিস কমিশন স্পষ্ট জানিয়েছে, শ্যামাপ্রসাদ কলেজের অধ্যক্ষ পদে সুবীরেশ ভট্টাচার্যর নিয়োগ নির্ভুল৷ তাছাড়া আইন মেনেই কলেজে পঠন-পাঠন হয় না, এমন বিষয়ের প্রার্থীকে অধ্যক্ষ পদে নিয়োগ করা হয়েছে৷
এ ব্যাপারে ওই কলেজেরই শিক্ষকদের একাংশের অভিযোগ, মন মতো প্রার্থী না হওয়ার জেরেই আটকে দেওয়া হচ্ছে মনোনীত অধ্যক্ষকে৷ মুখ্যমন্ত্রীর কলেজ যোগমায়া দেবী৷ তারই সান্ধ্যবিভাগ শ্যামাপ্রসাদ৷ মুখ্যমন্ত্রীর কলেজ ক্যাম্পাসেই সরকারের মনোনীত অধ্যক্ষকে ঢুকতে বাধাদানের অভিযোগ ঘিরে তাই তৈরি হয়েছে বিতর্ক৷ বিভিন্ন মহলে প্রশ্ন উঠছে, শিক্ষার আঙিনাকে রাজনীতিমুক্ত করার তৃণমূলের স্লোগান কী তা হলে শুধুই স্লোগান? 

Gag protest against Rape? Yes, It's Kolkata

Cops halt silent march for justice

TNN | Feb 6, 2013, 03.33 AM IST

KOLKATA: A silent rally from Mahatma Gandhi's statue at the Dufferin Road-Mayo Road intersection to Park Street police station - organized by prominent civil society individuals to protest the tardy progress in the Park Street rape case - was blocked by police following instructions from higher ups in the Mamata Banerjee administration.

Ironically, the same rallyists had been stopped at the same spot in 2007 by the then Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government when they hit the streets to protest the Nandigram firing.

"Power corrupts. It is extremely unfortunate that political rallies with flags are allowed to disrupt the city but a silent orderly rally is stopped without police and they don't even consider it necessary to cite a reason," said artist Samir Aich as theatre personality Shaoli Mitra nodding vigorously in agreement.

"When the Nandigram firing happened, many of those who are now in government had joined us in the silent protest march that was blocked at the Kyd Street-Chowringhee intersection. The same thing has happened again, a pointer to the fact that the faces in power may have changed but attitudes and functioning haven't," said Mitra.

Unlike March 2007 though, only a handful of civil society activists turned up for the march, among them Saswati Ghosh, Miratun Nahar, Bolan Ganguly, Sunanda Sanyal, Meher Engineer, Asim Giri and Dilip Chakraborty.

State Congress president Pradip Bhattacharya and party leader Nirbed Roy joined councilor Mala Roy and local Krishna Debnath joined them along with four truck loads of Congress supporters from No. 13 Bustee and Kalia Colony Rail Bridge in Tollygunge.

"Please don't label this a rally by intellectuals. It is a citizen's rally with people the cross-section of society," said scholar Miratun Nahar, aware that the turnout was not quite what she and others had hoped despite the short web campaign.

"I had hoped more youngsters would participate. But that does not belittle the issue. A year after the Park Street rape case, there has been no justice for the victim. Not only has she been vilified by people in power, she has been ostracized in society. She has been refused tenancy and jobs. We want immediate arrest of the two prime accused who are absconding and speedy justice for the victim," said activist Saswati Ghosh.

Questioning the laxity on the part of police, Nahar wondered if it was the comment of home minister (Mamata also holds the home portfolio) that the case was a concocted one that had prompted them to go slow.

"The CM calls it 'shajano ghotona'. Her ministers cast aspersions on the victim's character and term the rape accused as 'clients'. The only police officer who dared to conduct an impartial probe is transferred. Is there a link between the rape accused and those in top echelons in the administration? How the police have dealt with this case is reflective of the government's attitude," remarked Aich.

The Park Street crossing was blocked for nearly an hour by a group of women, mobilized by Mala Roy, even as the dozen-odd intellectuals were allowed to proceed to Park Street police station and submit a memorandum.

Activist Saswati Ghosh blames the Mamata government not only for "delayed justice" in the Park Street rape case but also the victim's humiliation because of "character assassination by the chief minister and her ministers".

"It is because of the aspersions that were cast on her character and irresponsible comments that the CM and some ministers made about her that she has found it difficult to land a job or reside in a place of her choice. This is continued violation of human rights. The state must own responsibility and remedy the situation," said Ghosh.

Aich felt the government needed to extend all possible help to the victim. "It is a shame that she has to continue suffering the ordeal," he said.

Bengal's healthcare in doldrums

Health spend a sorry figure

By Ajanta Chakraborty, TNN | Feb 5, 2013, 07.01 AM IST

KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also the health minister, has spent barely half of the state's allocation for health.

According to figures compiled by the state health department and submitted to the finance department, the Trinamool Congress-run government has only spent Rs 698 crore of the Rs 1,410 crore allocated by the Planning Commission for 2012-'13.

In 2012, the commission had approved an annual plan of Rs 25,910 crore for Bengal. The allocation, increased by 16% from last year, was projected as a shot in the arm for the government, though Mamata herself was silent on it.

Insiders said the chief minister was aware that the allocation had been okayed on the basis of what the government had submitted before the plan panel. Therefore, it was clear that Mamata had planned to spend Rs 1,410 crore on health projects. The Rs 698 crore spent so far was needed for strengthening hospitals and block primary health care centres, creating newborn care corners, mother and child welfare and on providing modern facilities.

With only a month of the last quarter remaining, officials said they would barely cross the halfway mark.

The chief minister is believed to have expressed her displeasure over the slow progress of projects funded by the centre's backward region grants fund in the health department. Sources said she had pulled up officials for the delay in working on the 33 super-speciality hospitals in the districts. She then set an "impossible deadline of March 2013", the sources added.

"Even if the state government manages to provide its own contribution, the central funds will take time to arrive. It will be impossible to finish projects by March, 2013," said an official.

National Rural Health Mission director Sanghamitra Ghosh had recently written to chief secretary Sanjay Mitra that central funds of Rs 6.73 crore earmarked for rural health upgrade was lying unspent. Add to this is a corpus of Rs 5.86 crore lying unspent with 909 primary health centres across the state. Ghosh wrote that the unspent amount lying in the districts was higher than the annual entitlements and that the administration must take necessary steps to expedite utilization.

At the beginning of the fiscal, the chief minister had talked about upgrading 27 hospitals in 11 backward districts to super-speciality hospitals as the Planning Commission approved the detailed project reports related to 27 sub-divisional and rural hospitals and block primary health centres. The figure was later revised to 33, but the funds management was apparently glossed over. Even as the Centre had released 30% of the amount at the beginning of the fiscal, the backup work was left pending.

That was the first time the Centre had sanctioned funds for a special project in Bengal since Mamata came to power. Officials said the delay caused by the wait for the Bengal government's project reports had come in the way of funds.

But now it appears that even after getting this kind of a fiscal boost, the government - which had tabled a bigger budgetary allocation to the health sector - has cut a sorry figure.

Mamta wants to gag Media in Bengal

Don't 'show, print' indecent comments made by politicians, Mamata Banerjee minister tells media

Express news service : Kolkata, Wed Jan 30 2013, 11:37 hrs

Partha advises party leaders to shun derogatory remarks
The electronic and print media have been advised not to "show or print" indecent comments made by politicians. The advisory has come from none other than Commerce and Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee, also considered the close lieutenant of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Chatterjee observed that media publicity of derogatory comments "often encourages" the politicians who make such remarks. "Dont show and print the derogatory remarks of any politician as such act encourages them," he advised the media. "The politicians compete with each other if they are shown in television frequently and their comments are printed regularly," Chatterjee added.
The recent days have seen a flurry of derogatory comments made by politicians from both the sides of the aisle — ruling Trinamool Congress as well as Opposition CPM and Congress.
Chatterjee also requested political leaders. including the ones from his own party, to refrain from making such comments. Chatterjee's remarks came a day after his cabinet colleague Madan Mitra said that he had once threatened the police officer of giving him "a tight slap".

  Minister provkes to do violence in West Bengal, India(source 24ghnta news)

A few days ago, Food and Supply Minister Jyotipriya Mullick described CPM leaders as "poisonous snake" and urged people to treat the Marxists as they treat a snake. Trinamool MP Suvendu Adhikari, too, had compared the CPM with snakes earlier. Mullick had once advised his party colleagues to socially boycott CPM leaders and workers. Deputy Leader of Opposition and CPM state committee member Anisur Rehman had used defamatory words against the Chief Minister for which he was censured by his party.
"Everyone should be very cautious about use of language. I appeal to all my party colleagues not to get provoked by a section of the media and the opposition parties. We should not lose tolerance," Chatterjee said, and added that the former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's remarks towards Mamata Banerjee is unacceptable. "He (Buddhadeb) called the Chief Minister mad. Can it be accepted?" Chatterjee said

Sunil Gangopadhya the writer who never compromised with fascists

Writer of many parts

Caleidoscope

Designer Nil (above) and other participants at the Rainbow Carnival organised by Sappho for Equality at Rabindra Sadan on December 9. Several activists joined in the day-long celebration of human rights. The events included games, music, fashion show and a jatra-style production. Picture by Pabitra Das “Shudhu kobitaar janye aami amaratva taachchhilya karechhi (I have disregarded immortality for poetry alone)” Writers who knew Sunil Gangopadhyay well tussled long and hard with this line of his from the the poem Kobitar Janye at a memorial programme recently organised by the Sahitya Akademi. None of the interpretations satisfied everyone, and as the forum dissolved into personal reminiscences and tributes, it was clear that Gangopadhyay’s death on October 23 had left a void that would be hard to fill. Leading lights from Calcutta’s literary scene attended the event, divided into sessions for poetry, fiction and children’s literature. Nirendranath Chakraborty, who inaugurated the session, recalled writing to Gangopadhyay (then in his late-teens) to congratulate him for a poem he had submitted to an anthology. The two grew close over the years and used to meet every Saturday to watch films. They even travelled together to various places at home and abroad. Manabendra Bandyopadhyay recalled adda sessions with Gangopadhyay in various cabins and coffee houses. The late writer’s friends like Pranab Kumar Mukhopadhyay recalled his years of struggle and stand for the Hungryalists. Srijato spoke of Gangopadhyay’s search for poetry that would express spontaneous and raw feelings. Bani Basu suggested that Gangopadhyay’s style may actually have been a consciously honed “styleless” style. Debasish Bandyopadhyay, a former editor of Anandamela, recalled that Gangopadhyay never saw the Kakababu stories as detective fiction. They were to him adventures of a man who braves disability and danger. He did not like murder, corruption and complex plots in children’s writings. Though no one referred to it, one could not help remembering the beautifully illustrated and edited magazines and books brought out by the Sishu Kishore Akademi when Gangopadhyay was its president. Another recent memorial programme for Gangopadhyay, hosted by Crossword on Elgin Road, borrowed the title of his book Eka Ebong Koekjon. The evening of poetry and prose was interspersed with soulful Rabindrasangeet by Sohini Mukhopadhyay. Conducted and conceived by Sujoy Prosad Chatterjee, the programme presented those who are not familiar with Gangopadhyay’s writings an opportunity to understand their power. Bijoylakshmi Barman read out Jol Barchhe and actress Sreela Majumdar Jokhon Tumi Ashi. Pranati Tagore recalled how Gangopadhyay played Kabiraj Moshai in an audiobook of Moner Manush. She also read out Gaach tolai dariye and Ke Kake Taanchhe. Dipanwita Chatterjee read out an English translation of Neera Tumi, Chaitali Dasgupta Je Jai Boluk, Chaiti Ghoshal Ekti Grammo Drisho and Uttoradhikar and Sutapa Bandyopadhyay the poignant Saptam Garver Kanya. Recalling Gangopadhyay’s praise “Dibbo korechho” (You did very well) for Muktodhara, filmstar Rituparna Sengupta read out Naach Khela. Others who read out Gangopadhyay’s works were Biplab Dasgupta, Suchita Raychaudhury, Arindam Sil and Kanchan Moitra, who reminded the gathering of Gangopadhyay’s lines that roughly meant those who leave, leave; only those who stay behind know how, wiping away tears with the back of one’s hands, one ushers in a smile — “Jara jay tara jay jara thake tara janey, haater ulto pithey kanna muchhe kikorey hashi aante hoy”. (Contributed by Sebanti Sarkar) Sunil Gangopadhya was heckled and abused by Mamata Banerjee and her party Trinamool Congress as the esteemed writer refused to toe the line of fascist political leader Mamata Banerjee like other  'artists' e.g Suvaprassana, Arpita Ghosh, Bratya Basu, Nachiketa - who lend their support for personal gain like land,Govt.Posts and monetary allowances at public expense.

Bengal’s House of shame:courtsey Mamata Banerjee

3 MLAs Hospitalized As Left, TMC Come To Blows In Assembly

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata: Bengal’s lawmakers dragged the assembly down to the gully pits on Tuesday, choosing fists and cuss words when a debate was denied. During the bedlam in the well of the House, legislators punched each other and a woman CPM MLA was “pulled by the hair” and allegedly “lifted to the treasury benches” by male MLAs.
    Two women MLAs from the CPM and the Trinamool Congress were taken to a hospital and a CPM legislator was hospitalized for head injuries. Speaker Biman Banerjee suspended three CPM MLAs — Nazmul Haque, Susanta Besra and Amjad Hossain — for the rest of the session, triggering cries of bias from the Opposition.
    The dishonour to the House was worse than the unruly scenes in the sixties when Left legislators hurled tomatoes and eggs at the chair and even threw shoes at then governor Dharamvira. But never had members participated in the bedlam so enthusiastically as Becharam Manna and deputy speaker Sonali Guha. Their seniors Firhad Hakim, Partha Chatterjee and Subrata Mukherjee tried to defuse the tension but were no match. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee was not present in the House on Tuesday.
    Trouble broke out soon after the Speaker ruled out discussion on the Left Front’s adjournment notice on chit funds. When the notice was being read, Opposition leader Surya Kanta Mishra protested that it had been “severely edited”. Furious Left members rushed to the Speaker’s podium, shouting slogans, but he ignored them. Security personnel threw a cordon around the Speaker. and a number of Trinamool legislators also ran to the well of the House to shield Banerjee. Soon, women legislators got involved in the melee. As a scuffle ensued, the Speaker adjourned the House and left.
    When Banerjee suspended the three CPM MLAs for disorderly conduct (using foul language against the Speaker, smashing his microphone and tearing papers on his table), parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee lauded him for acting against the CPM’s “goonda raj”. Congress leader Manas Bhunia blamed the ruling party for sparking the violence, adding that the Speaker’s ruling violates the principle of natural justice. CPM MLAs were angry that their comrades were not given a chance to defend themselves. But Chatterjee said the rules of procedure (Section 347, 348) don’t give scope for self-defence.
    As Left members then rushed the Speaker’s chair, deputy speaker Sonali Guha started abusing and threatening CPM’s Susanta Besra. To make matters worse, Trinamool MLA Mahamuda Begum chased CPM’s Debalina Hembram and pulled her by the hair. Some male Trinamool MLAs allegedly joined Mahamuda and dragged Debalina to the benches.
    “Mahamuda Begum pulled me by the hair. Others abused me and some Trinamool members, including ministers, lifted me and took me to the treasury benches,” Debalina alleged. Mahamuda complained of chest pain and was taken to SSKM Hospital. Trinamool’s Pulak Roy is also among the injured.
    The Left came down heavily on the ruling party. “The Speaker was a mute spectator to the Trinamool violence. He watched how Gouranga Chatterjee was beaten up by members of the treasury benches even as he lay helpless. Instead, the Speaker suspended three CPM MLAs without giving them a chance to defend themselves,” said Opposition leader Surjya Kanta Mishra. Congress members blamed Trinamool for the “insecurity of members”. The Congress later called on the governor.

BEDLAM ROCKS ASSEMBLY: (Clockwise from left) Congress MLAs protest outside the assembly hall in Kolkata on Tuesday; CPM legislator Debalina Hembram (left) being taken to a hospital, escorted by Jahanara Khan; a Left Front MLA shows his spectacle broken during the ruckus

 

HOUSE OF SHAME

Thanks to Mamata Banerjee

 

 

Trinamool, Left MLAs In Unprecedented Assembly Fistfight

HOUSE OF SHAME

Four MLAs Hurt; 3 CPM Members Suspended

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata: Bengal’s lawmakers dragged the assembly down to the gully pits on Tuesday, choosing fists and cuss words when a debate was denied. In the bedlam in the well of the House, legislators punched each other and a woman CPM MLA was “pulled by the hair” and allegedly “lifted to the treasury benches” by male MLAs.
    Two women MLAs from CPM and Trinamool Congress were taken to the hospital and a CPM legislator was also hospitalized for head injuries. Speaker Biman Banerjee suspended three CPM MLAs — Nazmul Haque, Susanta Besra and Amjad Hossain — for the rest of the session, triggering cries of bias from the opposition.
    The dishonour to the house surpasses all precedence in the Bengal assembly. It was worse than the unruly scenes in the Sixties where Left legislators hurled tomatoes and eggs at the chair and even threw shoes at Governor Dharamvira. But never had members of the treasury benches participated in the bedlam so enthusiastically as newly crowned minister Becharam Manna and deputy Speaker Sonali Guha. Their seniors Firhad Hakim, Partha Chatterjee and Subrata Mukherjee tried to defuse the tension but were no match for the gung-go greenhorns in the treasury benches.
    Chief minister Mamata Banerjee was not present in the House on Tuesday.
    Trouble broke out soon after the Speaker ruled out discussion on the Left Front’s adjournment notice on chit funds. When the notice was being read out in the House, Opposition leader Surjya Kanta Mishra protested that it had been “severely edited”. Furious Left Front members rushed to the Speaker’s podium and surrounded it, shouting slogans, but he ignored them and moved on to the mention cases. Security personnel rushed to throw a cordon around the Speaker. A number of Trinamool legislators — including some ministers — also ran to the well of the House to shield Banerjee.
    Soon, women legislators also got involved in the melee. A scuffle ensued, and a few legislators fell. The Speaker adjourned the House and left.
    Worse was in store. When Banerjee gave a ruling on the bedlam and suspended the three CPM MLAs for disorderly conduct (using foul language against the Speaker, smashing his microphone and tearing papers on his table), parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee lauded him for acting firm against the CPM’s “goonda raj”. However, Congress leader Manas Bhunia stood up and blamed the ruling party for sparking the violence. The Speaker’s ruling violates the principle of natural justice, Bhunia said. CPM MLAs were angry that their comrades were not given a chance to defend themselves. But Partha Chatterjee said the rules of procedure (Section 347, 348) don’t give scope for self-defence. Speaker was a mute spectator: Left
    Left Front members then rushed the Speaker’s chair, led by Forward Bloc MLA Paresh Adhikary. Deputy Speaker Sonali Guha rose from her chair and started abusing and threatening CPM’s Susanta Besra. To make matters worse, Trinamool MLA Mahamuda Begum chased CPM’s Deblina Hembram and pulled her by the hair. Some male Trinamool MLAs allegedly joined Mahamuda and dragged Debalina to the treasury benches. “Mahamuda Begum pulled me by the hair. Others abused me, and some Trinamool members, including ministers, lifted me and took me to the treasury benches,” Debalina alleged. Mahamuda complained of chest pain and was taken to SSKM Hospital. Trinamool’s Pulak Roy is also among the injured.
    The Left came down heavily on the ruling party. “The Speaker was a mute spectator to the Trinamool violence. He watched how Gouranga Chatterjee was beaten up by members of the treasury benches even as he lay helpless. Instead, the Speaker suspended three CPM MLAs without giving them a chance to defend themselves,” said opposition leader Surjya Kanta Mishra.
    Congress members initially stayed away from the bedlam, but later blamed Trinamool for the “insecurity of members”. The Congress later called on the governor. “The ruling party should be more tolerant of the opposition,” Bhunia said. “During its regime, CPM had encouraged chit funds, but we find no change in the attitude of the present government. According to RBI rules, states have the responsibility of curbing activities of chit funds.”

Manas Bhunia and other Congress MLAs protest against the Assembly turmoil at Raj Bhavan

Democracy soon fading away in West Bengal

110 med students held for gherao

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 16.11.11

Friends of the arrested students wait outside Lalbazar on Tuesday night

Kolkata: In a bid to crack down on political hooliganism in hospitals, the state administration on Tuesday arrested 110 students of Calcutta Medical College Hospital for gheraoing principal Dr Utpal Dutta for five hours. The students were later released on personal bonds. They were protesting the authorities’ attempt to bar 18 students from contesting the college union election on November 25. These candidates had allegedly flouted the election code of conduct by taking a few students out for a picnic. 
    The arrested students owed allegiance to Medical College Democratic Students Association — a non-CPM, non-Trinamool union. They later alleged that the police had resorted tolathicharge, although joint commissioner of police (headquarters) Jawed Shamim denied using any force. 
    The authorities claimed MCDSA supporters had disrupted normal functioning of the hospital and cut off access to the principal’s office for over five hours. The union members also organized a rally on the campus. 
    “A committee to supervise the college union election was formed on November 4 and laid down certain guidelines. It was later reported that 18 MCDSA candidates had organized a picnic for first-year students. This was a violation of the code of conduct and a brazen attempt to lure voters,” a hospital official said. The committee on Monday unanimously decided to bar the 18 students from contesting. “The committee was to meet on Wednesday to probe complaints against them. But suddenly, the students gheraoed the principal’s office for five hours,” said Dr Siddhartha Chabraborty, medical superintendent and vice-principal.

Fascist rule in West Bengal, India

Cong trains attack guns on Trinamul

OUR BUREAU13.11.11

Pradip Bhattacharya Nov. 12: Senior Congress leaders today criticised Trinamul at two separate meetings, angry that their partymen were being attacked by activists of the ruling partner. At one of the meetings in Murshidabad, Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee was present when Congress state president Pradip Bhattacharya railed at the Trinamul Congress. The alliance has been under fresh strain after the November 3 petrol price hike. After the petrol price rise announcement, Mamata had spoken of quitting the alliance. She had also said that in “coalition governments, allies’ opinions are equally important”. Today, Bhattacharya spoke in the same vein. “Uni ja bolben shetai thik aar aamra ja bolbo shob mittha, eta hote pare na. (It can’t be that whatever she says is true and whatever we say is false.),” he told the panchayati raj convention in Behrampore where Congress MP Adhir Chowdhury was also present. “We made an alliance with Trinamul to strengthen the Congress, not to weaken it. But attempts are being made to wipe out our party by sponsoring consistent attacks on us across the state,” Bhattacharya said. Adhir threatened to launch a protest march against the state government if it did not purchase paddy from farmers at a price fixed by the Centre. “Farmers are almost dying because the middlemen are purchasing paddy from them at Rs 700 a quintal despite the Centre fixing the official price at Rs 1,080,” he said. “I want the state government to intervene and purchase paddy directly from the farmers at the Centre’s price…. If it is not done, we shall hit the streets soon,” he added. In neighbouring Nadia, Manas Bhuniya, the minister for irrigation, also lashed out at Trinamul for attacks on Congress workers. “We had aligned with Trinamul to oust the CPM from Bengal. Our united efforts yielded results. But if paribartan means consistent attacks on our own workers, then we are hurt,” he told a rally at Bogula, about 81km from Calcutta. Bhuniya said he would ask the chief minister why “our workers are being attacked in a state where the Congress is part of the alliance at the helm”. Nadia district Congress president Shankar Singh warned Trinamul would not be able to “finish us despite its constant efforts to wipe us out of Bengal”. “I want to warn the Trinamul Congress that if it does not stop its attacks on us, we shall not hesitate to counter them.” The Congress rally in Nadia was organised to voice protest against the killing of a Congress woman worker in a police firing during a clash over a Durga idol immersion on October 7. PCC general secretary Krishna Debnath, also present at the rally, accused Trinamul activists of attacking “our women members” across the state in the aftermath of the Assembly polls. She said the state Congress had already written to the chief minister requesting her to take necessary action against those involved in “attacking our men and women” but nothing had been done. Congress plans agitation against Mamata govt Kabita Chowdhury, TNN | Nov 13, 2011, 03.41AM IST BEHRAMPORE: Just a few days after Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee upped the ante against the Congress-led UPA government over the hike in petro prices, Congress - the Trinamool ally in West Bengal - planned a stir against the state government's decision to expedite development work by bureaucrats, ignoring the elected local bodies. The agitation programme will start in Murshidabad. The party will also step up pressure on the state government to procure paddy or jute when the Centre has announced support prices. The "friendly opposition" is likely to gain momentum in view of the panchayat elections by the end of 2012. Congress strongman Adhir Chowdhury on Saturday made this announcement in presence of Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjeeand Pradesh Congress president Pradip Bhattacharya. "We will not keep mum. What is preventing the government from buying paddy or jute while the Centre has announced support prices? I came to know of the state's decision to buy only 55,000 tonnes of paddy in Murshidabad, while farmers of Kandi alone produce 2.80 lakh tonnes. I would urge the Union finance minister to arrange for paddy purchase through the Food Corporation of India if the state fails to do so." PCC president Pradip Bhattacharya criticised the state's decision to execute the development works by nominated bureaucrats that might render the elected local bodies jobless. "We protested when the Left Front government tried to dissolve the elected Congress-run civic board in Behrampore. We will do the same again if the government proceeds with its plan. Elected panchayats and municipalities are statutory bodies. No government can curb their powers. All these issues will come up at the panchayat raj convention in Kolkata on November 20," Bhattacharya said. He clarified that the state Congress was not going a whole hog against the Mamata Banerjee government. "Our party is with the CM's development plan and her attempts to check the Maoist problem," the Pradesh Congress president said. State irrigation minister Manas Bhunia told party workers that he would personally look into the government's alleged reluctance to recognise that the Left Front has lost its majority in the Murshidabad zilla parishad. "I will take up the matter with the panchayat and rural development secretary and urge him to look into the issue. The administration should change the sthayee samitis as the Left Front has become minority." State ministers Manoj Chakraborty, Abu Hena attended the convention at Rabindrasadan.

West Bengal police get punished by Mamata for performing their duty!

Cops removed two days after Bhowanipore brawl

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 10.11.11

Cops stand in front of Bhowanipore police station on Sunday night, after the attack on them

Kolkata: Two Bhowanipore police station sub-inspectors whose names figured in the Sunday’s vandalism inquiry report submitted yesterday, were “closed” on Wednesday — an official jargon which means they’re being removed from active duty. The sub-inspectors, however, officially didn’t get the axe for the Bhowanipore incident but for not having done much in the cases assigned to them for investigation. 
    An officer said sub-inspectors Amit Mukherjee and Prasanta Chakraborty have been “closed” for pending “case dairies”. Why this came to the notice of senior officers only two days after the Bhowanipore incident is anybody’s guess. The two officers who were attacked by the rowdies while trying to tackle them will now be posted at the divisional reserve office of DCP (South). 
    The third officer indicted in the inquiry report, the Bhowanipore OC, was given a reprieve. However, it is almost certain that he too will face action. The police station falls under the Kolkata South Lok Sabha constituency where the code of conduct for the November 30 bypoll has already come into effect. Any action against the OC now will need a permission from the EC. 
    The incident on Sunday involved two clubs reportedly patronised by chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s brothers. The clubs claiming their political connections refused to pay heed to police warnings and kept bursting banned crackers and blare music in front of a hospital. Not stopping at mere defiance they chose to attack cops and threatened to forcibly enter the police station, prompting police lathicharge. Mamata herself rushed to the police station to pacify the mob. 
    Her role which came in for severe criticism by Left Front, with Biman Bose dubbing her act as unbecoming of a CM. State BJP had already submitted a deputation to the governor on it. Governor M K Narayanan, however, defended the CM and said: “It was one of these puja clashes that sometimes take place. If the violence went on, police would have to take stronger action. She was afraid that violence may go on. So, she went there,” he told PTI in Chennai.

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