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.

CBI fails to track missing sisters, parents move HC

14 May 2012

biswabrata goswami
TAMLUK, 14 MAY: The CBI has yet to find three sisters who went missing more than five years ago. Their parents have moved Calcutta High Court for second time recently, to no avail.
Sabina Yasmin (17), Mousam Begam (15) and Meherjan Khatun (12) disappeared after they went to Kolaghat market in East Midnapore to do some household shopping on 11 November 2006. Their father, Mr Sheikh Marup Hossain, lodged a missing diary with the Kolaghat police the next day, but police failed to trace the victims even after 18 months.
"I suspected a few persons who could have abducted my daughters, but the police deliberately exonerated the suspected accused from the charges," Mr Hossain said. Later, Mr Hossain filed a case in Calcutta High Court, and Justice Mr Dipankar Dutta instructed the CBI to investigate the matter on 3 June 2008.
The CBI submitted a report in November 2009 before the High Court, admitting it had failed to recover the missing girls. But Mr Hossain insists that the CBI officials did not carry out any investigation into the matter before submitting their report.
Still, Mr Hossain did not lose hope. He filed a petition on 19 March before the High Court, urging the recovery of his girls. After hearing pleas, Justice Mr Ashok Kumar Das Adhikari admonished the CBI for failing to find the girls.
Mr Das Adhikari remarked that, if the agency had fulfilled its responsibility, the girls could have been recovered in no time. He asked the CBI to investigate the matter again afresh, and submit a report before the court within four months.
Mr Mamud Hossain, the saha-sabhadhipati of the zilla-parishad, said: "We have already written letters to the SP, the DGP and the home secretary, urging them to take action so that these three girls are recovered soon. I have also noticed them about the growing network of human trafficking racketeers in the district."

State asks school teachers to undergo training

28 April 2012

biswabrata goswami 
TAMLUK, 28 APRIL: The state government has instructed teachers who are not professionally trained to undergo teachers’ training through open distance learning (ODL) system within the period of two years.
Accordingly, a total of 2700 school teachers in East Midnapore alone will have to undergo teacher’s training through ODL system, said Mr Mamud Hossain, saha-sabhadhipati of zilla-parishad. The state government has already selected 80 schools across the state from where the essential teacher’s training will be given to all untrained teachers. In East Midnapore, 20 schools have been earmarked for this purpose.
The initiative has come after it was learnt that a high percentage of teachers failed in the National Teacher Eligibility Test conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education in 2010-11. According to a survey studied by non-government organisations, 21 per cent of teachers in schools were not professionally trained.

All blocks to have godowns

27 April 2012

biswabrata goswami
TAMLUK, 27 APRIL: The state government plans to build storage godowns in all blocks in the state within five years. This is meant to help with increased procurements of foodgrains, and to reduce the storage of grains in piles of sacks covered with waterproof materials.
 The state government has sent a circular to the district administrations, including East Midnapore's, asking them to locate sites. According to the circular, the godowns will be designed to ensure safe storage of grains for at least four months.
 "Identification of khas lands for setting up godowns in 10 out of 25 blocks in the district has already started," said Mr Mamud Hossain, saha-sabhadhipati of East Midnapore Zilla Parishad. "Blocks with high production of foodgrains and inadequate storage facilities are at the top of the priority list for godowns."
 According to the circular, the central government will provide financial assistance to the state governments for construction of new foodgrain storage facilities in rural areas. "Along with the agriculture ministry, the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution will extend monetary support for storage and maintenance of buffer stocks in the states," a senior administrative official said.
 Mr Sisir Adhikari, a Trinamul Congress leader and Union minister of state for rural development, said: "According to the ministry, if the plan is implemented properly, new godowns in rural areas will take extra storage burdens from food-producing blocks in the state. Our government has started mitigating the storage burden of food-producing districts across the state."
 Under the scheme, the Food Corporation of India will now give private entrepreneurs a guarantee of 10 years of assured hiring. A capacity of about 151 lakh tonnes is to be created in 19 states under the scheme, through private entrepreneurs and central and state warehousing corporations.
The government has finalised a plan for the construction of a storage capacity of 1.5 lakh tonnes in West bengal, said Mr Adhikari.

Eye on rural poll, CPM revs up

26 April 2012

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 26 APRIL: With an eye on the panchayat polls, CPI-M leaders in West Midnapore are planning to build a new foundation for the party, to transform it to meet the needs of the times.
The CPI-M leadership is all set to work with local parties such as the Jharkhand Party and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha to defeat the ruling Trinamul Congress.
Party leaders have the tough task of motivating activists when 95.6 per cent joined the party while the CPI-M was in government. They need to adapt.
In the 2003 panchayat polls the opposition Trinamul Congress and Congress was unable to field candidates in many panchayat areas. Now, it is the CPI-M that is facing this challenge ~ especially in the Junglemahal, Keshpur and Garbeta areas of the district.
In West Midnapore, the CPI-M has a majority in the zilla parishad, panchayat samitis and the gram panchayats. Yet the scene at the grassroots has gone through a sea-change since the 2011 Assembly elections. A senior district secretariat member of the party said elected CPI-M gram pradhans are being "coerced" into signing important financial proposals on rural development that they don't even support.
Party leaders allege that many block development officers are taking sides and pursuing the projects, ignoring the pradhans. They fear the Trinamul Congress might implicate the pradhans for corruption because the pradhans do not have control over expenditures.
Some party leaders want these pradhans to put in their papers and go on the offensive against the Mamata Banerjee government, well ahead of the panchayat polls. They are waiting for Alimuddin Street to take a decision on this issue.
The CPI-M won the polls in the last panchayat election in Jhargram subdivision, which is largely forested.    But, now most of the panchayats are virtually defunct due to the long absence of panchayat functionaries.  Hundreds of party members have had criminal charges slapped on them or are unable to return to their homes, a situation the Marxists didn’t face during their long stint in government.
"We have remained vigilant on the day-to-day developments in Junglemahal," said a CPI-M district secretariat member. "If the situation requires it, we will either support or make arrangements with the Jharkahand Party and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha to defeat the Trinamul Congress in the coming panchayat polls."
Party insiders said the party is going to hold extended panchayat sub-committee meeting within a few months to frame a strategy to win back the hearts of rural residents ahead of the crucial panchayat polls scheduled for next year.
Party insiders consider the meeting very important, as the party leadership is likely to adopt policies to stop the Trinamul Congress from gaining any further ground in the rural parts of the district.

Development of Digha, Sankarpur gets boost

20 April 2012

biswabrata goswami
DIGHA, 20 APRIL: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee's plan to transform the state's popular sea resort ~ Digha ~ into a more popular tourist destination, like Goa, seems to be moving at a good pace. The Digha-Sankarpur Development Authority (DSDA) is planning to set up an ethnic spa and health club on 3.5 acres of land near the beach at Digha.
The DSDA has already floated a tender inviting applications from single entities, joint ventures or consortiums having technical expertise, financial capability and operational experience in a related sector on a design-build-finance-operate-transfer basis for a period of 30 years.
The state government, meanwhile, has asked Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) to prepare a "pre-feasibility study" for setting up of a ropeway from Old Digha to New Digha. "We have requested the IL&FS to start a pre-feasibility study in this regard. The study is to examine things starting from availability of land to safety measures,” said Mr Soumen Pal, executive officer of the DSDA. Mr Pal said that the 7.5-km long proposed ropeway will not only attract tourist but also serve as an urban transportation facility, which will eventually ease the load on the roads.
Talking about the development plans, Mr Pal said: "Survey works on a sewerage and drainage system in Digha have already been completed by the state public health engineering and urban development departments. A proposal to build an advanced sewerage and drainage system in Digha has also been sent to the state government.” “With the rise in the numbers of tourists, the pollution level has also risen. Digha, which was once called the 'Brighton of the East', has turned into a garbage-filled spot with plastic littered everywhere. But, this will no longer be the scene of Digha when the sewerage and drainage system is introduced," said Mr Ashok Bishal, a Trinamul Congress zilla parishad member.
Following the chief minister's recent visit to Digha, the administration has taken steps to develop infrastructure and include Tajpur within the DSDA in an attempt to develop the Digha-Mandarmani-Tajpur area as a tourism circuit like Goa. In addition, the state government is taking steps to renovate and widen at least three roads in the area. “Works for transforming the existing Digha bypass road into double lane have already been started and a fund of Rs 60 lakh for lighting the beach with LED lamps has been sanctioned,” said Mr Pal. The state government has also set up a separate police station at Digha railway station to look after law-and-order situation of 11 railway stations falling under its jurisdiction. This apart, the Digha Science Centre, one of the satellite units of the National Council of Science Museums, Union ministry of culture, has recently opened two new galleries to attract more tourists.

Maoists plan to re-launch movement

16 April 2012

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 16 APRIL: Maoists plan to re-launch their movement with “renewed vigour” as a part of their regrouping process in Junglemahal.
The rebels recently held a secret meeting at Kanimohuli village in Jamboni in Jhargram which borders neighbouring Jharkhand. The meeting was held on Saturday when the rebels had called a 48-hour bandh in districts along the inter-state borders of Jharkhand, Bengal and Odisha demanding a hike in prices of kendu leaves, a source of livelihood for tribals in summer. According to sources close to the organisation, those present included Maoist central committee leader Prasanta Bose alias Kishanda; Sabyasachi Panda, a newly-appointed leader for West Bengal; the party's state secretary of Odisha, Ashim Mondol alias Akash; and Jayanta, a resident of a village which is near  Kanimohuli. This apart, many other leaders who are active in Jharkhand had attended the meeting, a Central Intelligence agency officer said.
As Maoists are now on the defensive in West Bengal following the death of their Politburo leader Kishenji in an encounter with the security forces in November last, they have now consolidated themselves in Jharkhand and Odisha. To reactivate their movements in Junglemahal, the rebels had earlier held a similar meeting at Laboni forest in Belpahari in West Midnapore where senior leader Kishenji had led the meeting.
Sources in the Intelligence agencies said: “The rebels in Saturday's meeting had mainly concentrated their discussion on the re-establishment of their bases among the tribal populace in Junglemahal. They have come to a point that they will not launch any individual killing, if there is no need to do it.”
Admitting this decision, a Maoist leader said: “We will now give priority on vital issues which mainly concern poor people, farmers and tribals. This time, we will launch movement for the sake of Junglemahal people and obviously the movement will be carried out peacefully.” The rebels are demanding a 20 per cent hike in the prices of kendu leaves, which are used for manufacturing bidi. Two types of kendu leaves are sold: dry and raw.
At present, raw kendu leaves are priced at Rs 60 per bundle and the dry leaf at Rs 120. Each bundle contains 2,000 leaves. Sources said Maoists are demanding that the government pay Rs 70 and Rs 140, respectively, for every bundle of raw and dry kendu leaves.
Meanwhile, as Maoist-hit states like Jharkhand and Odisha have stressed the need for a coordinated action against the rebels, the West Bengal government has already sent the elite CoBRA (Combat Battalion for Resolute Action) force, especially trained for jungle warfare, from Junglemahal.
The decision to assist the neighbouring states was taken recently based on the fact that Maoist activitiy in Junglemahal is not so strong now as it was in the past three years.