MALDA, 27 JULY: A large number of government officials, including the heads of the various departments, were upset after the cancellation of a meeting with the finance minister Dr Asim Dasgupta. They had been waiting four-and-a-half hours before the meeting was cancelled, which had been scheduled to be held on Sunday from 11.30 a.m. at the Malda District Magistrate Conference Hall.
The district magistrate Mr Sridhar Ghosh had announced that Dr Dasgupta would hold a meeting with the group of Cabinet ministers, MPs and MLAs, chairmen of the municipalities and sabhadhipati at Old Circuit House from 10.00 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. on Sunday. Just after the end of the meeting the finance minister was to meet the various departmental heads to review the progress of development works at the district magistrate office.
But the first meeting with the political leaders and Cabinet ministers ~ where only the district magistrate, two additional district magistrates and the superintendent of police were present ~ ended around 3.00 p.m. The disappointed senior district officials, just before leaving the venue, wondered: “What was the purpose of the meeting called here today?” The Congress MLA from English Bazaar Mr Krishnendu Choudhury, who was more vocal in the meeting than others, said: “We had planned to detain the ministers here, to break the trend of holding meetings with the government officials and inviting only the sabhadhipati. They apparently do not need to discuss any subject with the MLAs.” Though the MPs were not present, the MLAs belonging to the LF and the Congress pointed out various problems concerning the district and pending government tasks, blaming the related departments.
With two separate meetings at two venues, and in the absence of the heads of the departments, some cabinet ministers faced difficulties answering the questions raised by the political leaders.
Neither the finance minister Dr Dasgupta nor the district magistrate Mr Ghosh called all the officials who were waiting ~ including the additional district magistrate, sub-divisional officers and some departmental heads including the executive engineers ~ to the Old Circuit House, owing to problems in accommodating all of them.
When the executive engineers of the PWD, PWD (Roads), PWD (Electrical), agri-irrigation and agri mechanical, PHE and PHE (Arsenic Division) were waiting for him at Malda district magistrate’s office, they were summoned one by one to brief departmental ministers and other top officials, answering the questions raised by the political leaders. Executive engineers of the PHE and some other departments were not summoned.
Due to this mismanagement, the total team of engineers of the irrigation and waterways department, including the chief engineer II (design) Dr A Sen, did not meet the finance minister to place before him the report prepared for this district. They instead waited for their minister at Old Circuit House, following the instruction of the departmental minister Mr Subhas Naskar, from 10.30 am till 3 pm.;SNS
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