Deepa threatens to paralyse N Bengal over AIIMS
20 February 2012
statesman news service
RAIGANJ, 20 FEB: North Dinajpur district Congress threatened to
paralyse life in north Bengal if the state government does not allot
funds for the acquisition of land earmarked for the AIIMS-type
super-speciality hospital proposed at Raiganj in the upcoming state
Budget.
Raiganj MP and senior state Congress leader Deepa Dasmunshi said this
while participating in an agitation at the district magistrate’s
office today. District party workers gheraoed the district
magistrate’s office demanding paddy-procurement by the state food
ministry directly from the growers against appropriate prices.
“I wrote to the chief minister, Miss Mamata Banerjee, on 29 August
2011 requesting her to inform me about the latest development
involving land acquisition for the long-delayed health facility. I
received her answer as late as in November. Yet, CPI-M leader and
former state minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah received reply to his
missive promptly within a day or two. This indicates the mindset of
the state government regarding the Centrally-approved project. Our
patience with the chief minister has been wearing thin and we would
wait till the next state Budget is presented. In case there is no fund
allotted for the land acquisition we would be left with no other
option but to plunge headlong into an all-out agitation that might
bring life in north Bengal to a grinding halt,” she said while
addressing the Congress gathering.
Tearing into the Trinamul with characteristic pun, she said the
principal ruling party had been befriending the Marxists and the
communal BJP to spite its coalition partner, the Congress. “We are
being attacked everywhere at the behest of the Trinamul Congress
leadership,” she said. Slamming the state government on the paddy
procurement issue, the senior Congress leader said, the ineptitude of
the state food ministry had been perpetuating the farmer’s
predicament.
“The Centre has increased the procurement price for paddy from Rs 800
to Rs 1,080 per quintal. However, the state government’s track record
is miserable. The procurement process has not started yet in several
blocks in many districts. The state government must fulfil the
targeted quota or else it would face the farmers’ ire. The Congress
would not sit idle either,” she said.
Spinning mill employee dies
Suresh Chandra Roy (50) died because he was unable to pay for medical
treatment. Roy was a contractual staff member at West Dinajpur
Spinning Mills Limited who had not received work at the mill for the
past year and one-half, and was suffering from jaundice.
Mrs Kalpana Roy, his wife, said: "The doctor who was treating him said
the treatment would cost us Rs 8,000. But, as he hasn't been working
for such a long time, we had no money. My husband died due to lack of
proper treatment."
Raiganj Congress MLA Mohit Sengupta, who is chairman of the mill,
lamented Suresh Chandra Roy's death. "It is a matter of great sorrow
that the staff of this mill are facing financial hardships in the
absence of timely salaries. If the state government does not come up
with a solution, I will resign from my post as the chairman of the
mill," he said. Another staff member, Mr Arun Kanti Biswas, tried to
kill himself a month ago with sleeping pills. The production of West
Dinajpur Spinning Mills Limited has reportedly stopped almost six
months ago because of the dearth of raw materials. So the employees
are not receiving their salaries on a regular basis. Their salaries
for two months remain unpaid. They cannot lead normal lives for sheer
want of money.
20 February 2012
statesman news service
RAIGANJ, 20 FEB: North Dinajpur district Congress threatened to
paralyse life in north Bengal if the state government does not allot
funds for the acquisition of land earmarked for the AIIMS-type
super-speciality hospital proposed at Raiganj in the upcoming state
Budget.
Raiganj MP and senior state Congress leader Deepa Dasmunshi said this
while participating in an agitation at the district magistrate’s
office today. District party workers gheraoed the district
magistrate’s office demanding paddy-procurement by the state food
ministry directly from the growers against appropriate prices.
“I wrote to the chief minister, Miss Mamata Banerjee, on 29 August
2011 requesting her to inform me about the latest development
involving land acquisition for the long-delayed health facility. I
received her answer as late as in November. Yet, CPI-M leader and
former state minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah received reply to his
missive promptly within a day or two. This indicates the mindset of
the state government regarding the Centrally-approved project. Our
patience with the chief minister has been wearing thin and we would
wait till the next state Budget is presented. In case there is no fund
allotted for the land acquisition we would be left with no other
option but to plunge headlong into an all-out agitation that might
bring life in north Bengal to a grinding halt,” she said while
addressing the Congress gathering.
Tearing into the Trinamul with characteristic pun, she said the
principal ruling party had been befriending the Marxists and the
communal BJP to spite its coalition partner, the Congress. “We are
being attacked everywhere at the behest of the Trinamul Congress
leadership,” she said. Slamming the state government on the paddy
procurement issue, the senior Congress leader said, the ineptitude of
the state food ministry had been perpetuating the farmer’s
predicament.
“The Centre has increased the procurement price for paddy from Rs 800
to Rs 1,080 per quintal. However, the state government’s track record
is miserable. The procurement process has not started yet in several
blocks in many districts. The state government must fulfil the
targeted quota or else it would face the farmers’ ire. The Congress
would not sit idle either,” she said.
Spinning mill employee dies
Suresh Chandra Roy (50) died because he was unable to pay for medical
treatment. Roy was a contractual staff member at West Dinajpur
Spinning Mills Limited who had not received work at the mill for the
past year and one-half, and was suffering from jaundice.
Mrs Kalpana Roy, his wife, said: "The doctor who was treating him said
the treatment would cost us Rs 8,000. But, as he hasn't been working
for such a long time, we had no money. My husband died due to lack of
proper treatment."
Raiganj Congress MLA Mohit Sengupta, who is chairman of the mill,
lamented Suresh Chandra Roy's death. "It is a matter of great sorrow
that the staff of this mill are facing financial hardships in the
absence of timely salaries. If the state government does not come up
with a solution, I will resign from my post as the chairman of the
mill," he said. Another staff member, Mr Arun Kanti Biswas, tried to
kill himself a month ago with sleeping pills. The production of West
Dinajpur Spinning Mills Limited has reportedly stopped almost six
months ago because of the dearth of raw materials. So the employees
are not receiving their salaries on a regular basis. Their salaries
for two months remain unpaid. They cannot lead normal lives for sheer
want of money.
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