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.

Development projects fail to lift Junglemahal

16 May 2012

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 16 MAY: The state's much-hyped development projects for tribal people seem to have brought little qualitative change in lives of the people in Maoist-hit Junglemahal in West Midnapore.
If one goes through figures of the house-listing and housing census-2011, the statement holds true. The census finds an increase in the number of families who walk more than half a kilometer to fetch drinking water during the past decade.
According to the state's house-listing and housing census-2011, as high as 36.5 per cent of total households were found to be travelling more than 500 meters from their homes to get drinking water compared to 30.4 per cent of total households in 2001.
If the percentage is converted into actual figures, a total of 4,10,884 families had drinking water sources more than 500 meter from their houses in rural areas of the district. It means these families have become vulnerable as far as access to drinking water is concerned.
“This figure is obviously high when any one goes through rural fringes of Junglemahal. There are several areas in Belpahari, Banshpahari and Kantapahari where tribal people walk more than a kilometer to fetch drinking water,” said Mr Ashok Mahato, a social activist.
During the past one decade, the growth in number of such households has gone up by more than 11 per cent - helplessness has become more acute.
Less than two months after assuming power, chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced a list of development projects for the region. All tribal families in Jangalmahal have been declared BPL (below poverty line), and families with an annual income of up to Rs 42,000 would be able to purchase rice at Rs 2 a kg. She promised to upgrade the heath care system and pledged to address the drinking water crisis. She also announced major projects in the field of education, including the establishment of a Central agricultural university, and new colleges.
Miss Banerjee also announced that 10,000 young people from the region would be recruited in the police force as special constables, home guards and national volunteers.
“But all her development projects seem to have brought little qualitative change in the lives of tribal people in Junglemahal," said Ramu Murmu, a resident of Khattadhara in Belpahari.
According to local residents, the census does not reflect the exact distance people travel for drinking water. In remote areas like Khattadhara, Simulpal, Dulongdiha and others, the situation is worse. Womenfolk walk around 5 km to draw drinking water, said Lakshmi Mandi, a resident of Dulongdiha.
Mr Mahato said: “The people walk for miles to fetch drinking water, but it does not mean that people are getting quality drinking water. Had the quality parameter been taken into account, the figure would have been much higher.”
Access to water is limited to people in a few urban locations. The house-listing and housing census-2011 finds that there has been a decrease in the number of families travelling more than half a kilometre for drinking water in urban areas.