Jagori’s brother applies for cop job

 biswabrata goswami

18 November 2011

MIDNAPORE, 18 NOV: A day after Maoist activist Jagori Baske, along with her husband, Rajaram Soren, surrendered before chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee, her brother, Sovaram Baske, today applied for a job in the police forces under the special recruitment drive of tribal youths launched by the state government in Junglemahal.
He is probably the first family member of any prominent Maoist in Junglemahal who stepped forward to apply for the special police constable force. “I am eager to get benefit of the special project launched by the chief minister. I agreed to work for the sake of the people and the nation,” he said after filling up the form at Belpahari police station today. As today was the last date for filing application to the posts of various police jobs, hundreds of tribal youths thronged the various police stations in Junglemahal.
Defying the Maoist diktat against accepting government jobs, thousands of tribal youths had cycled to police stations from distant areas to collect application forms for jobs in the posts of junior constables, homeguards and the National Volunteer Force in the last two months.
Former Peoples’ Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) convenor Chhatradhar Mahato’s son had also applied for a police job a few days ago.
On her first visit to the Junglemahal tribal belt after taking over as the chief minister, Miss Banerjee had addressed two public meetings at Nayagram and Jhargram on 13 July. At the events, she also distributed scholarships and bicycles to the meritorious adivasi students and promised 10,000 jobs to the youth in the state police and home guards.
She made a clarion call to the Maoists for joining the mainstream by laying down arms and promised that her government would provide them adequate financial compensation, besides taking care of their family members. “Surrender your guns and stop individual killings,” the CM had said, adding, “If you take up arms, do it for the country.”
Following her call, five Maoists have surrendered themselves before the state government so far and “more than 10,000 tribal youths have applied for police jobs so far,” said Mr Alok Rajoria, additional superintendent of police, Jhargram. sns

Demand soars, government to boost cashew trade

18 November 2011

biswabrata goswami
TAMLUK, 18 NOV: To boost cashew trade, the state government is planning to implement the Cashew Nut Cluster Zone Project at Contai in East Midnapore. The government also aims to expand the project to other parts of the state.
Three years ago, the Left Front government had taken up an initiative to popularise the trade amongst farmers, but it failed to implement the project following objections from traders. The traders had alleged that many fake traders had been included in the shareholders’ list.
Crisis in the industrial sector in Vietnam and Brazil, major competitors of India in the cashew nut market, had inspired the state government to take fresh initiative for expanding the cashew nut producing area.
Officials of the state industry department said the move would enable the state to export more cashew nut from the next financial year. To meet the growing demand, the state food processing industry and horticulture department is planning to reactivate the cashew nut cluster zones comprising East and West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts.
“Due to Maoist problem in parts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia, the overall trade in the sector has drastically fallen in the past three years. But, the state government is now planning to reactivate the trade as the demand is growing in the international market," said an official of the state horticulture department. "Although the demand in the traditional markets like the USA, Europe, Japan, and Australia is stagnating or showing slow growth, consumption in other Asian countries is growing fast," the official said.
According to horticulture officials, India exports cashew nut primarily to the USA, Europe, Japan and Australia. The demand for Indian cashew nut has gone up as both Vietnam and Brazil have failed to meet the global demand. This has also led to a rise in the prices.
Maharashtra, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are the major cashew nut producing states in the country. Though in comparison with the average cashew nut production in India, which stands at 0.65 ton per hectare, West Bengal produces one ton cashew nut per hectare.
“But with the increasing demand in the global market, there is a huge scope for the farmers to treat it as a commercial crop here. So, we have planned to spread our cashew nut producing area by 200 hectares from 1.32 lakh hectares this year through various projects under the National Horticulture Mission," said an official.
Apart from this, the horticulture department will supply high-yielding variety of cashew to the farmers. The high-yielding variety, brought from Maharashtra, will produce cashew weighing between 8 and 10 gram, which has great demand in the international market, said an official of the department.
For speedy implementation of the "Front Line Technology Demonstration in Cashew", financial assistance to the tune of Rs 30,000 per hectare will be provided for a period of three years for conventional method of cultivation. In case of organic farming, the assistance will be to the tune of Rs 40,000 per hectare.
The department will also provide Rs 30,000 per hectare for three years for inter-cropping.
According to reports, around 450 cashew nut units (small and medium) are active in the Majna area of Contai and more than 50,000 people are engaged in this sector.

Maoists plan to strengthen students’ front

15 November 2011

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 15 NOV: Maoist rebels, who are active in parts of Junglemahal in West Midnapore for the past three years, are now planning to strengthen its students’ organisation, called Chhatra Samaj, to mobilise tribal students to fight for their rights and welfare activities.
The reactivation of Chhatra Samaj is being seen as a part of a comprehensive strategy taken by the Maoists to revive its now defunct mass organisations, which had helped spread radical activities.
Information collected from different sources indicates that the Maoist strategy is to gain a foothold among the tribal populace in the forest areas first before spreading their activities to other parts of the state. The Maoist area committees, consisting of five to seven armed rebels, have already completed the task of identifying the issues on which movement can be launched.
According to local residents, some area committees in Jhargram have decided to take up the issue of corruption at the Centre, lack of facilities for students, scarcity of teachers in tribal residential schools, unemployment problem among educated tribal youth, withdrawal of security forces from Junglemahal and release of political prisoners from different jails.
“Though the Maoists are virtually engaged in guerrilla war against the security forces in Junglemahal, they are now trying to strengthen its various mass organisations, including the students’ front, to launch mass movement against the state government with an eye to mobilise more people from different sections of the society," said a local resident.
Sudam Kisku (name changed on request), a Class VIII student in Jhargram, said: “Some elders of my locality have asked me to lead the Chhatra Samaj in our school. They have asked me to encourage students about the demands and revolutionary activities of the Maoists."
Asked about the activities of the Maoist-backed students’ front, Mr Alok Rajoria, additional superintendent of police, Jhargram, said: “I am aware of the existence of Chhatra Samaj, but it is still not operational here."
A senior police officer in Salboni, who often leads operations against the rebels, said: “The students who are involved with Chhatra Samaj mainly act as informers of the Maoists. But, it is very difficult to arrest them as they are all students.”
A Maoist leader, who declined to reveal his identity, however, said: “Every political party has several mass organisations. So, we have also built many frontal organisations for different sections of people.”
Reports of several Intelligence agencies reveal that more than 1,000 tribal students are associated with the Chhatra Samaj, but this students’ front is active mainly in Jhargram sub-division of West  Midnapore. 
Experts on Maoist insurgency, however, said: “Maoists have built students’ front in the tribal area, but they are trying to bring them into the arm struggles which are absurd in respect to the present socio-economic pattern. Students may raise their voice against some social issues, including their demands, but they will not be involved in armed struggles with the Maoists."

Mobile network to get better in Junglemahal

8 November 2011

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 8 NOV: The telecom department has decided to broaden the scope of the strategic mobile communications in Maoist zones to set up a strong intelligence-based network in these areas. Now the remotest areas in Junglemahal of West Midnapore, affected by acute Left-wing extremism, will soon be covered under a mobile loop.
Plans are afoot to include an additional 18 remote districts across the nine Maoist-affected states, including Purulia and Bankura districts of West Bengal, which are part of the famous 8,000 sq km Maoist corridor in West Bengal, a senior official of the telecom department in Kharagpur said.
"The mobile coverage plan has virtually doubled for security reasons. Originally, the government was focusing on Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, but now it is looking at a potential 78 Maoist-hit districts across the nine states. As a result, we will require multiple operators in each of these states," the official said.
"The availability of mobile network in remote fringes of Junglemahal is very vital for setting up a strong intelligence-based network. In Junglemahal, many areas are still outside the mobile network range which virtually hampers easy accessibility into the areas. So, decision to broaden the scope of strategic mobile communication will help the security forces to set up its own intelligence unit even in remote areas," a senior police officer who deals with the Maoist insurgency in Junglemahal said.
Lack of economic development and absence of decent telecommunication links has intensified the Maoist problem in these regions. "The rebels often take shelter in areas where the telecommunication facilities have not reached. Currently, driven out by the security forces, the Maoist’s action squad leaders are hiding in remote areas of Belpahari, Banshpahari and Kantapahari of Jhargram. But it becomes very difficult to trace the rebels hiding in such these areas where telecommunication does not work," said the police officer.
A CPI-M leader in Jhargram said Maoists prefer to keep communication alive through messengers. "They don’t depend on the mobile-connectivity. But when they want to communicate with their higher ranking comrades, they go to the nearby towns and use new cell-numbers," he said.
According to the latest master plan, as many as 15 districts in Orissa, 14 in Jharkhand, 10 in Chhattisgarh, eight in Madhya Pradesh, seven in Bihar, two each in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh and one each in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, have been identified as territories affected by acute Left wing extremism.
The telecom department will ask a minimum two operators to roll out mobile networks in remote areas of the Maoist-hit states by early-2012. It has also decided not to reserve any slot for BSNL after it declined to participate in the project without 100 per cent Central compensation, a telecom department official said.

Jute growers await hike in MSP

4 November 2011

biswabrata goswami
TAMLUK, 4 NOV: In a bid to aid farmers in areas of West Bengal, including East Midnapore, where jute is cultivated, the Centre is planning on hiking the minimum support price (MSP) for raw jute.
"The Centre is planning to hike the MSP for raw jute after considering Miss Mamata Banerjee's recent request for a bonus of Rs 400 a quintal for the current jute season in her meeting with the National Development Council in Delhi," said an official at the state Agriculture Marketing department.
The Opposition leader in the Assembly, Mr Surjya Kanta Mishra, also submitted a deputation with the state agriculture minister regarding the same matter.
He said that farmers in the state are reeling under the pressure of rising agricultural products, including fertilisers, and that they are getting sub-par prices for their products, primarily rice, jute, and potatoes.
East Midnapore farmers are dissatisfied with the jute minimum support price (MSP); they are blaming the Centre for fixing the jute MSP rate below the market price.
The chief minister earlier held a meeting with Jute Corporation of India Ltd. (JCI) officials, at which she had offered the additional price and urged them to start procuring jute at the enhanced price. The state will continue to cover the additional amount until the Centre enhances the MSP.
The JCI's current MSPs vary from district to district: farmers get Rs 1,700 for a quintal of jute in Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri, Rs 1,713 in South Dinajpur and Malda, Rs 1,725 in Murshidabad and Rs 1,738 in Nadia, Howrah, Hooghly, Burdwan, East and West Midnapore and South and North 24-Parganas.
“Farmers are virtually rotting in their fields because they are being deprived of the minimum support price of paddy and jute. Some are even burning their jute crop in frustration. If things continue like this, suicides might also take place,” said a Communist Party of India-Marxist leader. A senior agri-marketing official said, “Proper marketing of agricultural produce is critical for the development of the sector in the state. The state government plans to introduce a three-tier marketing facility within the state, with the primary tier catering to the rural population.”
The sector faces a number of major challenges, the officer added, including poor connectivity, a lack of warehousing facility, and the prevalence of middlemen.

Nayachar finally to get eco-tourism & industrial hub

28 October 2011

biswabrata goswami
HALDIA, 28 OCT: The state government has agreed to allot 350 acres to Mr Prasoon Mukherjee-promoted Universal Success Enterprises (USE) for setting up an industrial park and eco-tourism infrastructure at Nayachar, an island on the Hooghly river off Haldia in East Midnapore.
Of 350 acres, the state government has agreed to give 250 acres at the industrial town of Haldia and the rest 100 acres will be provided at a place near Panagarh in Burdwan, said an official of Haldia Development Authority (HDA) under which jurisdiction the major land will fall.
In August this year, the state government had announced the scrapping of a proposed PCPIR project at Nayachar island. The project was scrapped on environmental grounds and at the same time, the state government had assured that an eco-tourism project would come up in its place.
“The government will not allow a chemical hub in the state because of threat of air and land pollution and also since it threatens the livelihood of fishermen,” Mr Partha Chatterjee, the state industry minister, had said. He also announced that the island would be developed for eco-tourism and the interests of fishermen inhabiting the island would be protected.
Mr Mukherjee, who had come to an agreement with the erstwhile Left Front government to construct a chemical hub at Nayachar, had sought compensation to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore after the Left Front government transferred 54 sqkm in Nayachar to a joint venture between Mr Mukherjee’s firm and the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) to conduct feasibility studies. But, later Indonesia’s Salim Group, which was to be one of the key investors in the project, pulled out and USE became the sole private investor in the Nayachar project.
After the Trinamul Congress came to power earlier this year, the chemical hub project was scrapped and replaced by the eco-tourism one. Mr Mukherjee agreed with the Trinamul Congress’ views on Nayachar project and submitted a new project proposal, which envisages setting up an industrial park and infrastructure for eco-tourism, besides a power plant.
“A revised agreement for the projects at Nayachar island is to be signed, and the draft, which is ready to furnish, envisages 250-350 acres being given to USE as viability gap compensation,” a HDA official said.
Meanwhile, people who deal in fishing business, however, said: “Nayachar is around 5.6 metres above the average mean sea level and regularly hit by tidal waves as high as 4-5 metres. The ground stands risky for any sort of industrial project and unless the proposed project has definitive water disposal plan to deliver the residue wastes downstream which will not harm the marine lives, it will be difficult to maintain the environmental and ecological balance of the island.”

Schools flout RTE Act with impunity

25 October 2011

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 25 OCT: The rules of Right to Education (RTE) Act have been laid down but not everyone is in a mood to follow them. Several prominent schools in West Midnapore have been flouting the rules with impunity in the absence of any guideline and a mechanism to enforce the provisions of the Act.
The state education minister has clearly stated that stringent action would be taken if any school, irrespective of affiliation to any board, flouts the rules and conducts admission test. Even schools till Class VI come under the Act. Concerned over this, the district inspector of schools (secondary) in East Midnapore has already issued a notice (no. 613-S-dt 21.10.11) to all schools asking them to follow the RTE Act properly, while no notification has been issued from the part of West Midnapore yet.
This apart, students and parents from the economically-weaker sections of society are still finding it tough to use the RTE Act effectively. Instances of alleged expulsion, mental harassment and misbehaviour have been reported against some private un-aided schools. In rural areas of the district, especially in Junglemahal, several school owners and principals are not even aware of the guidelines. “I had to shell out Rs 25,000 as donation, besides the usual funds and fee for admission of my son in a leading school of Midnapore town,” said Mr Rathin Basak (name changed on request).
Similarly, a leading school in Midnapore has been conducting a test for students seeking admission in Classes V, VI, VII and VIII. A teacher of a leading school in Kharagpur said their school had no official word on the new directions and hence had gone ahead with the entrance test for classes under eighth standard.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) recently slammed the state government for not implementing the RTE Act in the state. The statement also said the state had not yet prepared the rules of the Act. This is so “even though the last three years have seen allocation of up to Rs 4,000 crore for implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in the state,” it said.
Some parents of students in Midnapore alleged that many schools in the districts are deliberately conducting admission tests, while no action has been taken against the school authorities yet. Concerned over the matter, the Chhatra Parishad plans to submit a memorandum to the district inspector of schools (secondary) on Thursday with a demand for immediate implementation of the Act in every school.