RTE privileges for the poor students

29 June 2012

State asks schools to reserve 25 % seats for underprivileged
biswabrata goswami
TAMLUK, 29 JUNE: To implement Right to Education (RTE) Act at every school from this academic session, the state government has asked every government, public and private schools to reserve 25% seats at entry level for the students from underprivileged families and economically weaker sections of society.
The decision for the implementation of RTE Act from the academic session 2012-2013, was taken decided in a meeting of the state education project committee under Sarbasiksha Mission.
In East Midnapore, meetings were held at Contai Town Hall and Nimtouri Smriti Soudha two days ago where the district administration called for a 25% reservation in private schools for children from humble backgrounds. The school authorities have also been asked to submit the list of the BPL students admitted in the schools within a set deadline from the commencement of new academic season.
“The government and private schools should cooperate with the administration to implement the RTE Act in the district so that we can become a model district, and set an example for other districts,” Mr Mamud Hossain, saha-sabhadhipati of zilla-parishad said. The recent judgement of the Supreme Court in favour of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, the composition of students in classes in private schools and the economic matters of private educational institutions will see dramatic changes.
Authorities of many schools were not happy with the ruling but to accept it.
According to the RTE, all government and private schools have to admit 25% students from socially and economically backward families from this academic year (2012-13). These students will be guaranteed free education from Class I till they reach the age of 14. However, Madrasas and institutions of Vedic learning will be kept outside the ambit of the Act as the HRD ministry had declared these institutions were mainly institutes of religious instruction rather than educational institutions
Mr Hossain said, there are 274 schools in Contai sub-division while the numbers of schools in Egra, Tamluk and Haldia subdivisions are 174, 260 and 174 respectively. All schools have been asked to follow the RTE instructions from this year and make registration of the school with the Sarbasiksha Mission, Mr Hossain said.
To get government funds in lieu of getting financially backward students admitted, the private schools need to inform the state government through the district education office about the strength of BPL students admitted in 2012-13 academic year.
“On receiving the documents, we will evaluate them and send it to the state education department so that the funds are released to schools within a timeframe,” said a senior education department officer.
After a prolonged exercise, the private English schools agreed to implement the RTE guidelines under pressure from the district education department. But still a few schools have failed to induct poor children citing one excuse or other, said Mr Ranjan Maity, a resident of Tamluk.

Infrastructural woes plague development projects

28 June 2012

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 28 JUNE: At a time when the chief minister, Miss Mamata banerjee, has made it clear that the proper implementation of various development projects in the Junglemahal should be the top priority of the district administrative officials, lack of proper infrastructure is spoiling such projects including school upgrade here.
According to the plans,  82 Madhyamik schools have already been upgraded in the Jhargram sub-division, but the entire process was done without following the general rules of school upgrade.  The students have refused to get admitted in the newly upgraded schools, and instead chose to seek admission in the existing Higher Secondary schools in the area. The school upgrade was done without verifying the necessity and requirements.
The state planning and development department has already proposed to hand over the responsibility of monitoring the development projects in the area to the ill-equipped paschimanchal unnayan affairs (PUA) department, a senior administrative officer said. A few months ago the department was allotted a sum of Rs 183 crore for the execution of the the development projects but the officials didn't know how to to utilise the funds. Finally, the planning department asked departments like PWD, forest irrigation, PHE, to submit schemes so that the PUA department can allot the required funds. The PUA could not spend Rs 61 crore allotted to it in the previous fiscal due to lack of infrastructure and manpower. The department will soon recruit 35 engineers, a full-time CEO and six WBCS officers in the parishad to monitor development the projects.

Dist gears up to improve state of adult education

22 June 2012

 biswabrata goswami 
TAMLUK, 22 JUNE: Even as the East Midnapore district holds the top position in literacy rate among all districts, in adult education it continues to lag behind the others.
In view to encourage adult education among drop-outs and under-privileged students in the backward areas of the district, the administration has planned to open adult high schools in its 25 blocks. To make the initiative fruitful, the district administration is all set to recruit six teachers, one head-master and one peon for each such school, said Mr Mamud Hossain, saha-sabhadhipati of the zilla-parishad. 
Mr Hossain said that the move has been initiated after it was found that only 31 per cent youth acquainted with adult education programmes have comprehensive knowledge about HIV transmission and its prevention while an equal proportion of teachers need to improve their awareness on these issues.
The drive for increasing literacy had received a jolt as Continuing Education Centres (CEC) had remained non-operational due to the political turmoil in the district since 2007.
In Nandigram all centres of continuing and nodal continuing education centres remained closed for long.
According to reports from the district literacy mission, the district has 2,608 CECs and 298 nodal CECs for the neo-literate and drop-out learners. Most of these centres were non-operational till the last Assembly polls.
As a result, the district which was once ranked at number one in terms of the rural literacy is now lagged behind other districts with 80.44 per cent literacy rate in 2008.
Mr Hossain said the district has received Rs 470 crore from Sarbasiksha Abhijan and 199 upper primary schools have already been opened. Two High Madrasha Schools and more 71 upper primary schools will be opened in the district soon, he said.
While briefing about the importance of opening new adult high schools in the district, a senior administrative officer said that only 31 per cent students from schools with adult education programmes and 20 per cent non-AEP had comprehensive knowledge about HIV and AIDS.
Nearly 30 per cent of the teachers in these schools lack comprehensive knowledge of HIV transmission and pregnancy-related issues. “Knowledge on methods that can prevent both HIV transmission and pregnancy (male and female condoms) is low among students. They need to learn the importance of consent driven voluntary HIV testing protocol, right to confidentiality and related issues,” the officer said.

Judicial commission to probe 1999 killing of 23 tribals

21 June 2012

biswabrata goswami 

MIDNAPORE, 21 JUNE: The state government has set up a judicial commission to probe  the incident in which 23 tribals were killed after being hit by a truck at Road Chandrakona in Garbeta police station in West Midnapore on 30 June, 1999.
 The one-member commission headed by the former justice of Calcutta High Court, Mr Justice (retired) Nikhil Bhattacharjee would carry out the investigation and he would submit report to the state government within six months, said Mr Sukumar Hansda, a Trinamul Congress MLA and minister for Paschimanchal Unnayan Parishad.
 “The state government decided to set up a Commission to probe the incident as there was an allegation that tribals were killed in a planned manner. The erstwhile Left Front government did not pay any heed to this matter and the whole incident was treated as a mere road accident”, said Mr Hansda.
 According to the reports available with the district police, the incident took place at on 30 June, 1999. Hundreds of tribals who were attending a rally to celebrate a festival at Saharbera in Garbeta were walking along the road from Road Chandrakona. A truck suddenly ran them over them, killing 23 tribals and injuring many.
At that time, Mr Jahar Samui, secretary of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) had alleged that it was not  an accident and appealed for an independent probe into it.
Mr Samui alleged that all the victims belonged to anti-Left camp and the CPI-M leader Susanta Ghosh had tried his best to bring them into his party’s fold.
 “But, as the tribals did not response to his call, Mr Ghosh had masterminded the plot of the accident”, Mr Samui had alleged.
 Mr Dahareswar Sen, a CPI-M district secretariat member alleged, “The state government is planning to frame Mr Ghosh in this case. Mr Ghosh is already facing trial in the skeleton recovery case”.

One year on, Junglemahal to catch up with parivartan

20 June 2012

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 20 JUNE: A year has passed since Mamata Banerjee and her party, Trinamul Congress, took over Writers' Buildings getting a clear mandate from the people as she won them over with a thousand promises. It was just last month that the state government released its performance book after completing one year in office, boasting of the change and development that the party brought in the state. In Junglemahal, however, the picture is quite different as the word ‘development’ doesn't hold true in this case.
Even after a year, same problems plague the tribals in Junglemahal as the Trinamul Congress failed to keep its promises in West Midnapore.
During the last Assembly poll, Miss Mamata Banerjee gave many assurances to people, but laws meant for protection of tribal rights have not been implemented yet in the tribal heartlands of Jhargram sub-division. As a result the women still have to migrate to big cities in search of livelihood. Surveys carried out by different NGOs under the guidelines of the Union social welfare ministry reveal that the  Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, which was framed to prevent atrocities on SCs and STs, has not been executed here, though there has been enormous efforts to free the area from Maoist activities.
“Since tribal women have to spend ample time in forests collecting produce like sakhua and chironjee seeds, medicinal plants, kendu leaves and mahua fruits, which fetch good market prices, efforts should be made to secure their rights and restore forest cover,” reports suggested.
A Naxalite party which is active in the Gopiballavpur area said: “Tribals should be given permanent land pattas (deeds) under the Forest Right Act, as they do not have legal right over the land in which they have lived for years.”
The state government had announced a few months ago that it would buy forest products collected by people living in Maoist-hit area of the state, but, no initiative has been taken yet, the report said.
Moreover, reeling under an acute financial crisis, the state forest department has failed to involve the forest protection teams in planting new saplings of trees across the forest.
“The tribals are finding it hard to maintain their livelihood. At some pockets in the Belpahari, Banshpahari and Gopiballavpur areas, foodgrain is not being supplied to the beneficiaries thus adding to the woes of the tribals,” said Mr Santan Hansda, a resident of Belpahari. Economy has taken a backseat in Junglemahal as the security forces have launched a crackdown to reclaim territory from the Maoist-backed tribals. Tribals, nowadays, have stopped entering the forests for collecting kendu leaves in fear of being rounded up by security forces.
Admitting that restoration of faith among the villagers is necessary, a senior police officer, however, said security forces are not harassing the villagers. “If they want to go in the forest for collecting kendu leaves, security forces will not disturb them,” said Mr Alok Rajoria, additional superintendent of police, Jhargram.

State for innovation to improve services

biswabrata goswami

14 June 2012

While 90 per cent of the project cost will be financed under the DIF, remaining 10 per cent has to be shared by the local community or ngos

TAMLUK, 14 JUNE: The state government has geared up to launch schemes related to innovative plans for the first time, in consonance with the 13th Finance Commission’s recommendations, aiming at better delivery of services to people.
Initially, Rs 1 crore each would be provided to all 19 districts under the District Innovation Fund (DIF), which will be completely funded by the Centre, a senior administrative officer said.
While 90 per cent of the project cost will be financed under the DIF, remaining 10 per cent has to be shared by the local community (beneficiaries) or non-government organisations.
“Unlike the other existing ‘Assistance Fund,’ the DIF allows use of money in the existing capital assets to provide immediate benefits to people. The DIF will help fill the vital gaps in the available infrastructure, which is not being fully utilised for want of small investments,” said Mr Mamud Hossain, saha-sabhadhipati of East Midnapore zilla parishad.
To bring in competition among districts, the state government is also planning to make a provision to reallocate unutilised funds to districts which have come up with more innovative projects. A high-level committee headed by the additional chief secretary has been set up to monitor project implementation, an officer said.
For instance, the East Midnapore district administration has given priority to innovative plans for the agriculture sector. “Several such plans have already been recommended which include the setting up of three soil testing laboratories, three seed godowns and six vermicompost units at different places in the district,” said Mr Hossain.
For West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura districts, which were mostly affected by the Left Wing Extremism (LWE), the state government has asked the district magistrate to recommend projects that would be demand-driven rather than supply driven and the schemes that would be conducive to triggering innovative measures to make government accessible and accountable to all sections of society.
According to administrative officials, each district will get Rs one crore for filling the vital gaps in public infrastructure already available in the district.
Fifty per cent of the grants would be made available to the districts during 2012-13 and the Administrative Reforms Cell has been entrusted as the nodal agency for implementation of the programmes. biswabrata goswami

Surgeon accused of not submitting autopsy reports in 350 cases

8 June 2012

biswabrata goswami
TAMLUK, 8 JUNE: A surgeon who does post-mortems in Tamluk district hospital has been accused of failing to submitting autopsy reports on about 350 cases since 2008. As a result, several police cases whose merits depend on the post-mortem reports have been pending in several courts for years.
Dr Pradip Das, who is also accused of botching several autopsies, meanwhile, alleged that he was threatened on Tuesday by Trinamul Congress workers who pressured him to alter the report on his autopsy of the body of a minor girl who was raped and murdered in Tamluk. Dr Das also alleged they ransacked his house.
"I made SOS calls to the police during the attack, and later met district officials, but no action was taken against the accused," Dr Das alleged. But the district administration accused him of defiance and neglect of duty.
Additional district magistrate Malay Haldar has served a show-cause notice against Dr Das and hospital superintendent Prakash Chandra Barui, asking them to explain within a week why a large number of autopsy reports have not been prepared.
The East Midnapore Zilla Parishad has shot off a letter to the director of health, urging immediate action to restore normalcy to the Tamluk district hospital immediately.  According to health department reports, Dr Das failed to submit 58 autopsy reports in 2008, 55 in 2009, 62 in 2010, 60 in 2011 and 42 up to May 2012.
This was revealed when Dr Das denied carrying out a post-mortem on Dipanjan Dey, a resident of Bolpur in Birbhum who recently drowned in the sea nea Digha. Dev's body was referred to Contai hospital from Digha, and Contai hospital sent the body for to Tamluk district hospital for an autopsy.
But Dr Das referred the body to Kolkata, which enraged the victim's family members, who repeatedly urged him to carry out the post-mortem, alleged zilla parishad saha-sabhadhipati Mamud Hossain. "Dr Das even misbehaved with the victim's family members when they went to his house to ask him to carry out the post-mortem on the body," said Mr Hossain. "This incident came in front of the district administration, which conducted a probe into this matter and found Dr Das guilty."
Dr Das, though, wanted to talk about the rape-and-murder victim's autopsy. He said the alleged murder victim was 11-year-old Puja Bhuiyan, who worked as a domestic help in the house of local schoolteacher Pranab Roy for four years. Mr Roy brought her to Tamluk district hospital on 23 May and told doctors she had fallen unconscious after taking poison to commit suicide. She died.
"I carried out the autopsy, but found signs of some abnormalities," Dr Das said. "The examination of her stomach suggested that the poisoning was post mortem, meaning that someone forced the poison down her throat after her death. Since the girl was a minor, there is no question of consensual sex. This indicates she was raped and murdered."
Trinamul Congress leaders brushed aside his claim that he had been attacked, saying "the doctor is very irregular at his work and he refused to carry out the post-mortem."

Heatwave grips West Midnapore

6 June 2012

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 6 JUNE: An intense heatwave is prevailing in most parts of West Midnapore district for the past one week, paralysing normal life as day temperature continues to hover above 45 degrees Celsius in most places.
Although unofficial sources have reported 26 sunstroke deaths across the district in the last two days, only six deaths have have been officially confirmed ~ one each in Jhargram and Beliabera blocks and four in Kharagpur block.
Sanjukta Jana of Radhanagar in Jhargram, suffered heatstroke when she was returning from her College on Monday. An elderly woman, Champa Khilari of Chapla in Beliabera, died when she went to collect widow pension yesterday. A police officer, Apurba Paul (55), posted in Belda police station, died when he was on his way home from the police station yesterday.
The SP, West Midnapore, Mr Sunil Chowdhuri, has said that the police officer died due to the high discomfort index in the weather. A bus driver, Tazisur Islam (46), a resident of Murshidabad, died at Chandrakona Town bus stand. Papal Hansda (35) was found dead near the Chandrakona Road railway station and residents claimed that the death was probably because of heat. Ajit Bose (82) of Jamboni, died due to heatstroke. He became unconscious when he came out of his house at around 10 am. According to the records of health officials, at least four persons died of heatwave in Kharagpur yesterday. Pradip Mitra (46), Animesh Sarkar (46) of Subhashpalli, Debarjan Nandi (18) of Kharagpur, Gurucharan Tudu (48) of Benakul in Kharagpur, Tulsi Adam (40) of Bara Aima and Anamika (32) of Kharida died apparently due to heatstroke, a health official said. This apart, two unidentified bodies were recovered in Kharagpur. Police suspect they died due to heatwave.
However, health officials are not ready to accept the toll as high as 26, as they said that many people died due to old age and some had other illness. “Without a post-mortem, it is difficult to ascertain the number of deaths due to heatstroke. But, we feel that high humidity, along with high temperature, is causing deaths,” a health officials said.

Trinamul Congress retains Panskura with absolute majority

5 June 2012

biswabrata goswami
HALDIA, 5 JUNE: In the first major election where the ruling allies ~ Congress and Trinamul Congress ~ contested independently after last year’s Assembly poll, Trinamul Congress retained its Panskura civic body with an absolute majority, but failed to snatch the Haldia municipality from the Left Front.
Though Trinamul had pinned hopes of winning both, party chief Mamata Banerjee’s paribartan seems to have failed in the industrial town of Haldia.
The party has bagged 12 out of 17 seats in Panskura while it has won 11 out of the 26 seats in Haldia. In the previous poll, the Trinamul Congress had won six seats in Haldia. Although it has been able to increase its hold on the number of seats, yet it has failed to snatch the civic body from the Left Front. On the other hand, the Left Front has bagged five seats in Panskura and has been able to retain the Haldia civic body by winning 15 seats.
However, the CPI-M won wards 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24. The party's former Haldia civic body chairperson, Mrs Tamalika Panda Seth, defeated the Trinamul candidate, Mr Sheikh Ajijul Rahman, by 265 votes. In a few wards, the contest between two warring candidates was pretty tough. For example, in Ward 3 the CPI-M candidate, Mr Abhimanya Mondol, won by a narrow margin of 42 votes while in Ward 5, the Trinamul’s Ms Mayarani Naskar defeated her opponent by only 52 votes.
In Panskura, the Trinamul Congress won wards 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 17. In most wards, the BJP and the Congress also secured many votes. 
CPI-M leader Niranjan Sihi, however, alleged that the Trinamul Congress had unleashed a reign of terror in many wards that prevented many of their supporters from voting. In Haldia, Mrs Tamalika Panda Seth, said the verdict has once again proved that Haldia municipality was capable of carrying out development works for the sake of people.
Trinamul MP Subhendu Adhikari said: “We have fared well than in the previous poll. It is true that we could not replace the CPI-M in the Haldia civic body this time also, but the number of our seats has increased.” The Trinamul has been accused of unleashing a reign of terror on CPI-M workers and supporters at different wards in Haldia. Mrs Seth alleged that her vehicle was gheraoed by Trinamul workers when she left the counting centre. They also threw stones. Police intervened and resorted to a lathi-charge to disperse the mob.  Later, Trinamul workers beat up some of her party workers at ward number 18, 13, 11 and 6. They also ransacked a party office. At least six CPI-M workers were injured in the attacks, Mrs Seth alleged.   

Haldia saving grace for Left Front

5 June 2012

biswabrata goswami
HALDIA, 5 JUNE: At a time when the CPI-M lost its grip on the power it had enjoyed for decades over the Durgapur Municipal Corporation, it has miraculously retained its dominance in the industrial town of Haldia.
The CPI-M has come to power again with a clear majority in the municipality ~ the state’s second-richest civic body after the Kolkata Municipal Corporation ~ today.  The contest had acquired the dimensions of a people’s appraisal of the performance of the Trinamul Congress on the one hand and of the immediate future of the CPI-M on the other.
The Trinamul Congress had hoped to win all the seats in Haldia municipality and had projected chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s development plans during the campaign .
The party's setback this year may be attributed to infighting involving party MP Subhendy Adhikari, and MLA Shiuli Saha. "We are not satisfied with the results of Haldia civic polls, though we have increased our seats from the previous election. However, we will carry out a thorough probe of the matter and will find out our loopholes,” said a senior Trinamul Congress leader. The victory, on the other hand, is all the more sweet for the Left Front as its Haldia strongman and former MP Lakshman Seth is now in jail in connection with the abduction-and-murder of seven Trinamul Congress workers during the Nandigram violence in 2007.
The industrial township of Haldia in West Bengal was recaptured by the Left Front, which had won 19 of the 26 seats when a high-voltage municipal election was held on 22 July 2007, in the shadow of the violent clashes in neighbouring Nandigram. This time, though, the party has become "weaker" and many of its leaders are absconding after being accused of being involved in the Nandigram violence.
“However, interestingly, local matters have been superseded by the tug of war at the state and national levels. The noise over the selection of candidates and extreme measures such as kidnapping of nominees, intimidation and the usual tactics of "area domination", had probably worried the residents who want peace. These residents may have turned off their support to the Trinamul," said a CPI-M party insider.
The CPI-M leaders, however, explained the victory as the peoples’ faith in the Left Front. "Haldia municipality had drawn many development projects for the sake of people in the past decades. But, the successes were dumped under the political movement triggered by the Trinamul Congress, based on a land acquisition notice for a proposed chemical hub at Nandigram. Later, the Left Front was wiped out in different polls and the Trinamul Congress started ruling the industrial hub. But, residents felt the heat of the poor ruling of the Trinamul Congress and decided to support us again,” said the party's former Haldia civic body chairperson, Mrs Tamalika Panda Seth. 

Jhargram and Siliguri shine in HS

4 June 2012

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 4 JUNE: At a time when Junglemahal has become synonymous with Maoist violence, a girl from Jhargram has come first among girls in Higher Secondary examination. Susmita Haldar, who has scored 476 out of 500, however, has secured fourth rank in the merit list.
Recounting the horror days of Maoist violence, Susmita, a resident of Bachurdoba in Jhargram, has, however, given full marks to chief minister Mamata Banerjee who tried hard to bring about peace in Junglemahal for which many students were able to attend schools without fear for the past one year.
“Two years ago, when I sat for Madhyamik examination, I was severely disturbed by repeated bandhs and Maoist violence. But, this time, I was able to study peacefully. For this reason, I have scored such marks; I never expected such a high score, though”, Susmita said.
Her parents, however, pinned high hopes on her as did her teachers. A student of Ramakrishna Saradapith High School in Jhargram, Susmita now wants to pursue law. “My grandfather, Phanindra Nath Haldar, was a famous lawyer in Jhargram and I want to build my career in judicial service,” she said.
Everyone, especially my tuition teachers and schoolteachers, helped me. I expected around 450 marks, but I have scored 476.
Susmita's father, Narayan Haldar, who is now posted in Purulia district hospital as a pathologist, is elated over his daughter's results. Her mother, Anupama, a housewife, has always guided her daughter, she says.
A bookworm, Susmita loves to dance, especially Manipuri, watches movies and also listens to music. “Studying after a point gets boring. My hobbies kept me going. I love to play as well as watch cricket,” she says.

5th in HS, JEE, Bishal wants to become a doctor
Bishal Kundu, who ranked fifth in Joint Entrance Examination in medical this year, was taken aback when he came to know that he also ranked fifth in Higher Secondary examination today.
Bishal, a student of Gangarampur High School in South Dinajpur, obtained 472 marks in the aggregate.
“I concentrated more for JEE than HS. I ranked fifth in medical of the JEE. I did not expect such high marks in HS. In Madhyamik I had ranked 10th in the state. Though it was unexpected for me, I am really happy,” Bishal said over the phone from his school premises.
Bishal’s mother is a health worker and his father is a high school teacher in Gangarampur and teaches biology.
Bishal said: “My mother is my inspiration. She convinced me to choose medical and encouraged me for JEE. I am grateful to her. I want to study in Calcutta Medical College.”
He secured 80 in Bengali, 95 in English, 98 in Mathematics, 98 in Chemistry and 99 in Physics. He scored 100 in Biology, which was his additional subject.
Bishal said he had seven private tutors while preparing for HS and JEE.
He said private tutors are necessary and they deserve credit when a student secures good marks.
Bishal, who wants to be a doctor to serve the people in rural Bengal, said: “I like to play and read. I also sing Rabindra Sangeet from my childhood. I love Tagore’s songs.”

Peace prevails in Panskura, Haldia

3 June 2012

biswabrata goswami
HALDIA, 3 JUNE: Barring stray incidents of violence, polling at Haldia and Panskura civic bodies in East Midnapore ended peacefully amid tight security today. As the election gathered tempo, where the ruling alliances ~ Congress and Trinamul ~ contested separately for the first time after last year’s Assembly poll, a large number of voters, ignoring the muggy weather, exercised their franchise.
District Magistrate Parwez Ahmed Siddiqui said 87 per cent of the 117,747 voters in Haldia and 83 per cent of the 34,740 voters in Panskura exercised their franchise to elect their representatives.
Voting for both the municipalities started at 7 am in all the 148 booths in Haldia and 43 booths in Panskura which continued beyond the 3 pm deadline, Mr Siddiqui said. Though, initially, there were technical glitches in two electronic voting machines (EVMs), they were immediately replaced, he said. Mr Siddiqui said polling was peaceful barring an incident at ward 18 in Haldia where two groups got involved in a clash over an altercation which led to injuries of two persons. Police had to resort to a lathi-charge to disperse the mob and bring the situation under control, he added. The Congress and CPI-M alleged that the polls were far from being free and fair and accused the Trinamul Congress of unleashing a reign of terror on their activists. The former chairperson of Haldia municipality and CPI-M leader, Mrs Tamalika Panda Seth, alleged: “We are disappointed the way polls were held. Our party agents were physically assaulted and removed from booths by Trinamul workers. EPICs were snatched away from 37 of our supporters from ward number 11 when they queued up in front of a booth near the IOC gate. There were widespread irregularities. We will lodge a complaint with the state election commission.”  The Congress has also accused the TMC of harassing its candidates in Haldia and Panskura municipalities and said the polling was not free and fair Complaining of irregularities, Mr Niranjan Sihi, a CPI-M leader in Panskura and former sabhadhipati of East Midnapore zilla parishad, said: “TMC workers unleashed a reign of terror at our party’s stronghold like wards 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 17 in Panskura. They carried out door-to-door visits and threatened our agents and electors with dire consequences.” Mr Sihi said the presence of “outsiders” in some wards of Haldia and Panskura municipalities has obviously hampered free and fair election. Rubbishing the allegations, Mr Subhendu Adhikari, the Trinamul MP from Tamluk, said the party would sweep the polls in the two municipalities.

Campaign ends in Haldia, Durgapur

1 June 2012

kanchan siddiqui & biswabrata goswami
DURGAPUR/HALDIA, 1 JUNE: At a time when the Trinamul Congress is roping in all the party's big names for campaigning to ensure a win in the Durgapur civic body election, the CPI-M strangely has not bought in any of its star leaders for campaigning apart from Dr Suryakanta Mishra.
Dr Mishra was accompanied by CPI-M district secretary Amol Haldar for the campaign. The CPI-M's reluctance to bring party stalwarts for the campaign has come has a huge surprise to others. On being asked to comment on this decision of the party, Mr Haldar said: “It's an election for the local self government. We think it is more rational for the the campaigning to be done by those who can talk on the local issues here.” 
The Trinamul Congress, on the other hand, assigned a bunch of party leaders, ministers to lodge in Durgapur and hold street corners, rallies, door to door campaigns.
Apart from the state Cabinet ministers ~ Mr Partha Chatterjee, Mr Moloy Ghatak, Mr Arup Biswas, Mr Madan Mitra, Mr Firhad Hakim and Union minister Mukul Roy ~ Mr Subrata Bakshi, Mr Shovondeb Chatterjee, Mrs Nargis Begum, Mrs Debashree Roy also came to Durgapur to campaign for the municipal election.
Mr Apurba Mukherjee, party’s mayoral candidate said: “This is a part of our coordination. The industry minister and the municipal affairs ministers explained the masses, the change, Durgapur will undergo once TMC wins the civic poll. The LF’s misrule and nepotism have crippled its growth and our ministers told the people exactly what Durgapur will be like under the TMC rule.” The Congress, disheartened with the non-shaping of the pre-declared alliance however, managed to convince PCC president Pradip Bhattacharya, party’s senior leaders Mr Adhir Chowdhury, Mrs Dipa Das Munshi to come to Durgapur and campaign for its 35 candidates. Mr Sudeb Roy, party’s Burdwan (industrial) district president, according to the insiders has already tendered his resignation as the state leadership didn’t agree to compromise with the Trinamul Congress’s offer of nine seats. He himself didn’t participate in any of the poll campaigns.
He said: “I was sick and couldn’t take part in the campaigns.” Dr Manas Bhuniya, the state irrigation minister also skipped campaigning citing health reasons.
The intense campaigning for the 3 June municipal elections at Haldia and Panskura civic bodies, which witnessed bitter verbal duels between titans of state politics, concluded today.
While the ruling Trinamul Congress urged the residents to give it a clear mandate, the Congress, BJP and the Left Front railed against the Trinamul Congress chief and chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
The last day of campaigning saw Mr Subhendu Adhikari, a Trinamul Congress MP, Mr Biman Bose, CPI-M state secretary, Mr Shyamal Chakraborty and Mr Rabin Deb, CPI-M state secretariat members, among others, holding meetings at various places in Haldia and Panskura. Road shows, rallies and public meetings of different political parties were also held today.
Mr Adhikari, who held a meeting at Haldia, said: “People have rejected the Left Front in earlier polls and they will again make our candidates victorious in the civic poll. The CPI-M did not materialize any plans in the last 34 years in Haldia and Haldia residents were victimized for them. They could not solve the scarcity of drinking water and pollution here which were the basic demands of residents”.
Rulling out the TMC allegation, Mr Bose said: “The Trinamul Congress had created a terror-like situation among the residents for the past few years for which the Haldia civic board could not materialise plans.”

Maoists likely to adopt terror tactics in Junglemahal

31 May 2012

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 31 MAY: After apparent successes with the terror tactics of kidnappings and ransoms in Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, Maoists are likely to adopt the same tactic in Junglemahal to revive their activities there.
The ultras have already held a few meetings in recent times at different secret locations in Junglemahal, which borders Maoist-hit states. Sources close to officials from different Intelligence agencies said a female Maoist leader from Chhattisgarh sneaked into Junglemahal a few days ago and has held meetings with residents.
Intelligence agencies have alerted security forces and the district administration about this new development. According to Intelligence report, the woman has established communication with Maoist leaders such as Madan Mahato, Bela, Jaba, Dilip and Shyamal, who are still wanted by police.
Set back by the killing of senior Maoist leader Kishenji in an encounter with security forces in West Midnapore on 24 November, Maoist leaders have made enormous efforts to re-launch their movement in Junglemahal. But the state government's new rehabilitation and economic packages for Maoists have kept the top Maoist leaders from formulating their plans for regrouping for the past few months. So far, 30 Maoists have surrendered to the government and the state police hopes that if another 10 Maoists ~ such as Akash, Bikash, Tara, Ranjan Munda, Jayanta, Bela, Madan Mahato, Jaba, Dilip and Shyamal ~ surrender, all of Junglemahal will be free from Maoist influence.
"In a bid to win back the faith of the villagers, Maoists are formulating plans to adopt a harder stance ~ kidnap and ransom," said an officer of the Subsidiary Intelligence Branch (SIB). "The abduction strategy is the easiest method to force the establishment to meet their demands. This is a short-term tactic to fight the state."

Govt desperate to improve betel leaf production

25 May 2012

biswabrata goswami
CONTAI, 18 MAY: High demand for Bengal betel leaves in other states and in foreign countries seems to have prompted the state government to take a holistic approach towards improving production.
The state has failed to meet growing demand for specially bleached leaves in countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and America, as well as states including Assam, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu.
Now it is all set to open a Rs 15 lakh betel market in Ramnagar. All trade-related facilities will be available at the market, through which the betel farmers will be able to send their produce abroad without any hassles.
According to horticulture officials, the cumulative deficit in the trade balance for March to June 2011 was Rs 1.8 crore, compared to Rs 1.05 crore for the corresponding period in 2010.
Betel leaf exports were grossly affected for the last few years owing to floods and natural calamities that devastated vast areas of East Midnapore and West Midnapore districts, the largest betel leaf-producing districts in the state. This year, destruction of betel leaf plantations because of a lack of rain in the summer has led to a loss of Rs 10 lakh a day in Contai and Tamluk alone.
Betel leaf grown in West Bengal is in tremendous demand at home and abroad because of its quality and flavour. But since there is no betel leaf research institute in the state, farmers have no place to go for advice on how to increase yields and improve quality, said Mr Rabindranath Maity, a betel leaf grower in Pataspur.
Quite frequently, he said, betel leaf production in East Midnapore faces setbacks because of diseases. So farmers are always worried about recouping their investments. Even after washing the betel leaf stems with pesticides and chemicals as recommended by the horticulture department, the shoots emerging from the transplanted stem are not healthy and many of them are attacked by viruses, Mr Maity said.
"There is a huge scope for the farmers to treat betel leaf as a commercial crop here," said a horticulture official. "So we have planned to set up two state-owned betel plantations at Kajlagarh in Contai sub-division. We will grow high-quality betel saplings, which will be supplied to the farmers." 
Through the National Horticulture Mission, financial assistance will be provided for various activities such as the production of quality planting material, protected cultivation, integrated pest and nutrient management, post-harvest management and establishment of marketing infrastructure.
Betel leaf cultivation is also being promoted under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, said Mr Ujjal Biswas, minister for horticulture and food processing.  

7 Maoists surrender

23 May 2012

biswabrata goswami
JHARGRAM, 23 MAY: Seven Maoists surrendered before state director general of police Naparajit Mukherjee at a programme here today. Among them was a former bodyguard for slain Maoist politburo leader Kishenji. 
Though nine Maoists were expected to surrender today, two refused because they did not want to spend two years in a correctional home, as required by the government's surrender policy. "We are trying our best to continue negotiation with them so that they can realise the government's rehabilitation policy and package," said a senior police officer.
Mr Mukherjee presented each of the seven Maoists who surrendered with a scarf and a bouquet. "This was the first time in West Bengal that a large number of ultras surrendered with arms before the police," he said. "On previous occasions, police played roles in negotiations with Maoists, who finally agreed to surrender before the police," Mr Mukherjee said. "But, this time, the Central Reserve Police Force had taken on such a role, which brought such success." All seven ultras were close to Kishenji before his death in an operation by joint forces last year. The seven weapons surrendered included a 5.56 Insas rifle, 0.315 and 0.303 rifles and country-made firearms. The first to surrender was Kishenji's bodyguard, Jagannath Soren (alias "Hiro"), who had the 5.56 Insas rifle. Soren was from Beliagora village in the district. The other six were Lalit Mahato, Sasadhar Mahato, Khagapati Mahato, Susen Baske, Niranjan Nath and Buddheswar Tudu. They are all residents of Jamboni and Binpur, a police officer said. Basistha Mahato (alias "Bullet") and Lakshmikanta Baske (alias "Jamai") did not turn up. According to Central Reserve Police Force officials, they were to surrender along with the others.
Welcoming the Maoists, Mr Mukherjee appealed to other Maoists to return to the mainstream. A police officer said: "At present, a total of 10 Maoists are active in Junglemahal, but we are trying to negotiate with them so that they can surrender with their arms before us." Police sources said the surrendered cadres were demoralised after the deaths of their leaders in encounters with the security forces in Junglemahal.
Siddhu Soren, chief of the Sidhu-Kanhu Gana Militia, operating in the Goaltore belt, was killed on 26 July 2010. Sasadhar Mahato, an accused in the Jnaneswari Express mishap was killed on 11 March 2011. Kishenji's killing in Burisolo jungle on 24 November was the biggest blow, police said.
A senior police officer said the government is quite unresponsive in moving forward with its own rehabilitation and financial package for Maoists who wish to surrender without arms. Many youths who claim to be Maoists in Junglemahal are willing to surrender, but police are virtually not responding to them.