Governor turns journalist !

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 25: The Governor, Mr Gopal Krishna Gandhi, today interacted with villagers, particularly children, living in the char lands in the mid-Ganges. The objective of his visit to the char lands was to know about the plight of the people living there.Mr Gandhi asked the people about what basic amenities they get from the government and what was the education and health scenario here. He reportedly asked the officials: “Who is looking after the area, West Bengal or Jharkhand? Mr Gandhi was taken aback, seeing that minors of the char lands were forced to work to earn their livelihood. While returning from a char land, he plucked some bitter gourds and kept them in a basket. He interacted with a boy to know about his daily life and status of his family members.Mr Gandhi expressed his desire to meet the boy when the latter was crossing the Ganges. He was surprised to see that the boy could sail through the Ganges with the help of a small boat made out of corrugated tin. The Governor started for the char lands at around 7-45 a.m. from Manikchak Ghaat and visited the left bank of the Ganges, particularly the erosion-hit belt at Panchanandapur, and expressed his desire to study the char lands where erosion victims are struggling for survival. The Malda district magistrate, Mr Abhijit Choudhuri, SP Mr DK Mondal, irrigation engineers and a medical team accompanied him.Mr Gandhi, after returning to Manikchak Ghaat, went to Char No 2, through the centrall channel of the Ganges, which surfaced after eroding the entire area of Kakri Bandha Jhow Bona gram panchayat of Kaliachak II block of Malda a few years back.The gram panchayat area has been wiped out of the block map officially and the people of Bengal and Jharkhand are now living there temporarily.The people of the char lands told the Governor that they had been living there for the past eight months and that they shift during the monsoon when the char lands are inundated by the Ganges.After interacting with the children, the Governor found that children here are devoid of proper education facilities. He also noted down how and why they leave schools.Mr Gandhi was reportedly interested in visiting a particular area to know the actual scenario there after getting reports from responsible officers.Hundreds of men and women met him when he returned to Manikchak Ghaat at around 11-15 a.m.He heard calmly about their problems and assured them that he would discuss their problems with the authorities concerned. #