TRINAMULI BOARD MAKES A MESS OF DEVELOPMENT ON MIDNAPORE EAST

KOLKATA: Coming to office with the slogan of a ‘change for the better,’ the Trinamuli Zillah Parishad (ZP) ha substantially proved the road to ‘change for the worse in the one year they have run the ZP. A brief run through the state-of-affairs of the various developmental schemes will leave no doubt about the clear non-performance of the new ZP.

The first instalment of the Indira Awas Yojana could not be utilised. No utilisation certificate could be submitted. Thus, the district has been, in addition, been deprived of the Rs 40 crore due to it in the second instalment.

The report states that in the past one year 8% of the houses could be set up, depriving the poor of residential structure. A total of fewer than 350 houses in c could be constructed in the ‘winds of change.’

Not even 50% of the funds allotted for the NREGA scheme could be utilised by the Trinamulis. The ZP was allotted Rs 22 core 55 lakh for NREGA out of which the ZP could utilise just under Rs 11 crore 11 lakh.

Thus, the available man-days have gone concomitantly down depriving the poor of livelihood. It work out that one person could work for just 16 days on an average per annum. There is a widespread allegation that thousands of rupees are being siphoned off through creation of bogus job cards.

The road network has been the subject of sad neglect. A mere four work orders have been issued for road construction in place of the expected 100-odd. The water supply project has halted depriving thousands of potable water. The stoppage of the water supply project also affects the irrigation work substantially negatively. All 32 schemes have been sent to the cold storage and a fund of Rs 3.5 crore lie idle.

The inaction of the ZP has concomitantly affected the Panchayat Samities (PS) and the Gram Panchayats (GP). Without proper monitoring the district is about to lose the honorific of ‘clean district’ or ‘Nirmal Zillah’ awarded to it by the central and state government. The work of constructing sanitary toilets has ceased to function. There is also wide manipulation in the preparation of the BPL list in this district under the new, anti-people dispensation of the Trinamulis.