UPA's most vociferous critic may script her own political decline in the state

West Bengal's Madame NO

By Aditi Phadnis / New Delhi, Business Standard, November 12, 2011, 0:28 IST

Later this month, Mamata Banerjee will have been chief minister of West Bengal for six months. Time for a balance sheet?

First, all the things she’s managed to get done — only because they’re easier to count. She’s taken some positive steps to revive the glory of the Presidency College of Kolkata, the institution that has given India some of its best thinkers. She’s managed to defuse the Gorkhaland crisis by offering a tripartite agreement, paving the way for the setting up of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) — an elected body for the Darjeeling hills.

But most of all, she has managed to establish a reputation as the most vociferous critic of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) within the UPA.

When the Centre increased the price of LPG earlier this year, Banerjee first resisted (“the Centre did not take us into confidence…” and so on). Then she took on a mien of martyred indignation (“the state government will bear the burden of the increase in LPG prices”) unconcerned about the fact that the state government’s finances are in no shape to take on the burden. She threatened to withdraw from the UPA over the current round of petrol price increase, only to recant later.

A Union minister has referred to Banerjee as a compulsive populist. It is hard to dispute this description.

Take her government’s attitude towards the price of electricity. West Bengal is considered a role model in power sector reform. The West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) was trifurcated as part of power sector reforms that began in 1985. In 2005-06, the state also corporatised transmission and distribution. There are three power companies in the state now, carved out of the electricity board that together showed a profit of over Rs 300 crore for 2010-11. The government did not privatise: and those employed by power companies (30,000 or so employees) are the only ones to get their salaries regularly because they don’t depend on the state government.

But things can change very fast. Demand for power has been rising and so has the price of coal in a state that depends mostly on thermal power. With the massive electoral victory in her pocket, Banerjee could have increased the cost of electricity in the first week of assuming power without any difficulty. Instead, after she took over as chief minister, one of her first meetings was with the power secretary and her bottom line was: electricity prices will not be increased. In Kolkata, the only area where a private sector entity provides power, the cost of electricity was increased in April 2011 in sync with the cost of coal, and it is likely to increase again. In the summer of 2010, West Bengal had a peak demand shortage of between 500 Mw and 700 Mw, which is expected to go up to between 800 Mw and 1000 Mw this summer. A perfectly healthy sector is going to be driven to sickness: because Banerjee doesn’t want to become unpopular.

But what she doesn’t realise is her troops are making her extremely unpopular. Somen Mitra, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP, took the unprecedented step of bypassing his own party to complain to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a letter about the activities of chit fund operators in Parliament — an important MP from his own party is a big chit fund “entrepreneur” and was admitted to the TMC by Banerjee only recently.

The biggest problem (although it is not clear if she sees it as such) is: Banerjee is TMC and TMC is Banerjee. Take her handling of the Maoist problem in the Junglemahal region. Subhendu Adhikari, described by TMC watchers as the man of the future, organised the TMC’s victory in east Midnapore. Adhikari ensured the Left was routed in this area using his supporters, but also the rather more persuasive powers of the gun. He is considered intelligent, popular and ruthless. In Banerjee’s dictionary this spells threat. So, she bypassed him and asked another leader Mukul Roy to handle the Junglemahal problem. Roy made no headway. So now Adhikari is back.

The thing is: no one knows who is in and who’s out. So the impulse is to ensure there is enough for dinner tomorrow, for who knows what might happen at breakfast today?

For the moment, Banerjee has little to fear from the parliamentary opposition. The Left Front’s disarray is embarrassing. Ill-health dogs former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, especially ahead of party meetings. The Left trade unionists are lethargic, missing even the opportunity to mobilise state government employees who are now beginning to get annoyed at the fact that their DA has not been revised because the state government doesn’t have the money.

But the challenges are snapping at Banerjee’s heels. West Bengal will see panchayat elections in 2012. How will the TMC fare? Will these elections represent the first glimmers of a Left comeback?

If Banerjee goes on like this, she will be the one to have scripted it!       

                                               

Is Centre shielding Mamata on Maoist issue?

By Marcus Dam

The Hindu, September 2, 2010

 

Two Union Ministers defending Mamata's remarks shows that Congress will go to any length to keep its alliance with Trinamool.

Successive comments by two senior Union Ministers within four days on certain remarks of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on the Maoist situation in West Bengal only go to show that the Congress is overtly keen on not upsetting the apple-cart and will go to any length to keep its alliance with its partner in the United Progressive Alliance government intact.

Not to be forgotten is the critical Assembly election in West Bengal due next year and the need for shoring up the rather wobbly electoral pact between the two parties in the State.

By stating in New Delhi on Wednesday that “there are some camps in some parts of West Bengal,” Home Minister P. Chidambaram virtually endorsed Ms. Banerjee's allegations about the existence of camps belonging to armed activists of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the Jangal Mahal region (forest areas spanning Paschim Medinipur, Bankura and Purulia districts) in the southwest of the State.

Mr. Chidambaram, however, chose not to mention the CPI(M) while making his observation, much as Ms. Banerjee might have liked him to.

The Trinamool leadership must have felt its stand similarly vindicated on Sunday when Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, at an event here, pointed out that he saw no contradiction between Ms. Banerjee's remarks on the death of Maoist leader Azad at a rally in Lalgarh on August 9 and the UPA government's “stated policy” on the subject.

Ms. Banerjee's utterances at the rally that she believed Azad's killing in an encounter with the Andhra Pradesh police on July 2 was improper, and her paying tributes to him raised a stir in Parliament subsequently.

But even in the face of the allegation that the Maoist leader was killed in a “fake encounter,” which the Centre denied, Mr. Mukherjee said that given the Andhra Pradesh government's explanation of the situation and the circumstances under which the killing took place, he did not think “that what she [Ms. Banerjee] has stated has any contradiction with the stated policy of the UPA government.”

A chest pain Ms. Banerjee developed when a lorry hit a car of her convoy that in turned brushed against her vehicle in what was alleged to be an attempt to “assassinate” her while she was returning from Lalgarh kept her away from Parliament and from facing the Opposition's flak for her remarks at the rally till she finally made an appearance in the Lok Sabha on August 19.

That the State's Criminal Investigation Department probing the incident has so far found little evidence to suggest that it was an “assassination attempt” is another matter.

In Mr. Mukherjee shielding Ms. Banerjee from accusations of her having links with the Maoists, and his assertion that just because the Trinamool is a constituent of the UPA does not mean that it cannot have an “independent opinion” seem hidden the imperative not to rub the Trinamool chief up the wrong way.

This, particularly, at a time when the Congress is only too eager to ensure that nothing comes in the way of its alliance with the Trinamool, which is by far the dominant of the two in West Bengal's political firmament. Needless to say, much of the Congress's fortunes in the Assembly elections depend on its relations with Ms. Banerjee's party.

Buddhadeb blames Centre for not releasing MGNREGA fund

BS Reporter / Kolkata September 1, 2010, 0:22 IST

West Bengal's Left Front government, already feeling the heat as 11 districts of the state remain drought-stricken ahead of the expected hustings next year, has trained its guns on the Centre for holding back crucial funds for alternative employment generation through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Act (MGNREGA).

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, speaking at the 51st anniversary of the CPI-led food movement here today, said that the Union government is yet to disburse the full amount of Rs 1,400 crore required for MGNREGA.

“I have written to the Prime Minister and told Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, but haven't received the amount yet. If they don't give the money, what will we (state government) tell the farmers? What will these farmers do without work?” he said.

Bhattacharjee, who visited some drought-affected districts of the state last week, had also earlier requested the Centre to send a team to review the situation in these afflicted areas.

Paddy-sowing has not been possible across about 11 lakh hectares in West Bengal, the country's largest rice producer, this year due to a 30 per cent deficit in rainfall.

Although the state government has decided to pump in an additional Rs 50 crore to salvage the situation, alternative employment remains of importance.

Mamata deployed RPF for Lalgarh rally, kept Centre, state in dark

New Delhi, 1st Sept. 2010 : When it came to security for her August 9 rally in Lalgarh in West Bengal, Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee, in addition to roping in trusted retired IPS officers, ordered the deployment of the Railways Protection Force (RPF) at the venue.

The RPF deployment was made without keeping the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and West Bengal Police in the loop and this has generated a lot of heat.

The RPF deployment, official sources told The Indian Express, was a violation of standard operating procedures governing the security of VIPs like Union Ministers. “It was completely against the directives of the Blue Book which lays down rules on how security should be provided to VIPs. The RPF presence at the rally was unauthorised,” the sources said.

Two RPF companies (around 200 personnel) were deployed for the Lalgarh rally. Senior RPF officials from the Eastern and the South Eastern Railways were also present there. The RPF personnel were present in the motorcade, at the ground where the rally took place and provided cover to the dais from where Banerjee spoke.

“Being a Central paramilitary force, the Railways Ministry required MHA clearance before deploying RPF in Lalgarh. No such permission was taken. The RPF should have coordinated with the state police since the latter was primarily responsible for Banerjee’s security. That too was not done, leading to a situation where the local police got sidelined, opening gaps in overall security,” sources said.

Last year, Banerjee declined to spare RPF personnel for election duties in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. It was only after a rap from the MHA that Rail Bhavan allowed the deployment of the force. On another occasion, Banerjee declined to clear a list of RPF officials nominated for a FBI-sponsored 12-day training programme on railway security in the United States because no official from home state West Bengal was on the list.

List of Trinamul Workers Killed: Bundle of Lies

KOLKATA: THE CPI(M) has altogether rejected as false the list of 83 Trinamul Congress (TMC) workers, presented by Ms Mamata Banerjee to the prime minister with the claim that these people were killed by the so-called Marxist violence in West Bengal. Addressing a press conference on December 8, the CPI(M)’s Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said the list contained the names of at least eight persons who are either not associated with the Trinamul Congress or are Leftist workers or are alive. He said the sole aim of Ms Banerjee was to somehow raise in the media the bogey of violence and deteriorate the law and order problem in the state, so that the centre is compelled to clamp the president’s rule in West Bengal.

Yechury said we have, on our part, got Ms Banerjee’s list verified and we found that this was the first list of its kind. It contained the names of some individuals who, according to Ms Banerjee’s claim, were Trinamul Workers whom the CPI(M) men killed. There is nothing new here. After the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the Sangh Parivar had made the claim that karsevaks had been killed in large numbers, and their list was also publicised, but they turned out to be alive. Associated with the BJP in the past, Ms Mamata Banerjee is following in the footsteps of its erstwhile ally and indulging in the same kind of disinformation.

Yechury said Ms Mamata Banerjee had submitted her list to the prime minister in response to our publicly made challenge that she submit a list of the Trinamul Congress workers killed in inter-party violence. But the facts given in her list are wrong. Yechury said Ms Banerjee’s striving is to somehow justify the patronage she is extending to the ‘Maoists.’ In the name of violence, she for long raised the bogey of deteriorating law and order situation in West Bengal so as to compel the centre to promulgate the president’s rule in the state. Though she now no longer demands imposition of article 356 in the state, but still her plea now is for deployment of the army there.

Yechury said we would like to ask the prime minister how he would try to reconcile the contradiction that while he has described the ‘Maoist’ violence as the biggest threat to India’s internal security, a senior member of his cabinet is openly extending patronage to the “Maoists.’ Yechury said we raised this issue in our memorandum submitted to the prime minister but we are yet to receive a reply. However, we are still hopeful about getting a reply from his side.

Below we are publishing the names and addresses of the eight referred-to persons who were either not associated with the Trinamul Congress or were workers of the Leftist parties or are alive. At least two of them were never in existence.

GLARING FALSEHOODS

The TMC has submitted a list of 83 persons as the “Murdered Trinamool Congress Workers.” The following points are notable.

1) At No 52 in that list is the name of Asit Sarkar. He is a renowned Maoist activist. He was with the PWG since 1988 and worked in Midnapore district. In 1996, he was their chief leader in the Jungle Mahal area; was involved in Keshpur-Garbeta operations; was widely known as “Mangal Singh” in Naxalite circles. He was arrested in 2003 and released in 2009 only. His sister, Rita Sarkar, is also a Maoist. Even Asit Sarkar never claimed his association with the TMC.

2) At No 48 of the list, the name is Md Alam of Sikharpur Rajarhat. He was killed in Skharpur on October 23, 2009. He was a resident of Bhangar and was watching a soccer match in Sikharpur, adjacent to Vedic Village, when the tension in the area spread around. Md Alam was killed when Ajijul Islam fired from his pistol. Ajijul alias “Khude” is the younger brother of Arabul Islam, TMC MLA and a close associate of Ms Mamata Banerji. Khude is absconding since then.

3) At No 73 of the list, the name is Shankar Biswas. He was a CPI(M) activist and a front ranking worker of the UCRC, the refugees’ organisation. He was killed near Taldi station in South 24 Parganas on October 26, 2009. On October 30, 2009, a large condolence meeting was organised by the CPI(M) which party leaders like Sujan Chakraborty and Shibdas Bhattacharya attended.

4) One Avijit Saha has been included in the list. He was killed in Madhyamgram of North 24 Parganas by two TMC activists.

5) As No 62, Yasin Ali Paik of Mayureswar, Birbhum, was included in the list. He was actually a child of two and a half years. He died because of chronic illness. How could a child be a “TMC worker”!?

6) At No 6 of the list, the name is Jaydeb Bag of Baruipur, South 24 Parganas. No one of that name was ever killed or even died in Baruipur.

7) At No 22, the name is Mira Nasin of Nandigram. No one of that name was ever killed. Even Abu Taher, top TMC leader of Nandigram, has denied the existence of any such person.

8) At No 71, the name is Shyamal Hazari of Bermajur, North 24 Parganas. No one of that name was murdered or died, according to the police record. In fact, no TMC activist of that name was ever there in that area.

Yechury seeks better Central coordination to tackle Maoists

NEW DELHI, 30 OCT, 2009: Contesting the claim that Maoists and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) were once allies, CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury on Friday said Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram should ensure better coordination between West Bengal, Orissa and Jharkhand to defeat Maoists instead of joining issues with his party.

“I don’t understand why the Home Minister has joined issues with the CPI (M). As far as the CPI (M) is concerned Central and State forces are jointly conducting operations against Maoist violence in West Bengal. On that there is no dispute at all. Our issue is that after Union Minister of State Shishir Adhikary informed the media that he had prior knowledge of the Rajdhani Express being stopped, this should be seriously investigated because he is a member of the Union Cabinet.”

“Even earlier, there were reports of political patronage by the Trinamool Congress (TC) to Maoists and this sort of statement by a TC Union Minister confirms the suspicion. This is the issue we want to bring to public notice,” the CPI (M) leader pointed out.

Drawing attention to the fact that most Maoist attacks in West Bengal took place along its borders, Mr. Yechury wanted Mr. Chidambaram to ensure coordination between the West Bengal, Orissa and Jharkhand governments, and through such joint efforts, overcome Maoist violence.

On the observation that the CPI (M) belatedly realised the danger of Maoism and it was once part of a joint movement with the Maoists, Mr. Yechury wanted the people making such statements to refresh their history.

Naxalites were a small section of activists who had separated from the CPI (M) in 1967 and the party was the prime target of their “mindless attacks” in the late 60s and 70s. The violence died down after the Maoists were ideologically following a campaign conducted by the CPI (M).

According to the Maoists, the CPI (M) was providing legitimacy to bourgeois democracy and must be weakened or eliminated. Though born in West Bengal, the Maoists could not sustain the movement because the Left Front government addressed the basic issues of the people.

The present lot of Maoists have been brought from outside through political patronage by the TC, Mr. Yechury alleged.

West Bengal give most jobs to disabled under NREGA

New Delhi: Left-ruled West Bengal have emerged as the top state in implementing the Centre's ambitious flagship programme NREGA for the disabled. According to the latest official estimates, West Bengal has provided work to as many as 29,714 disabled people in 2009-10 followed by Chhattisgarh where 13,763 people have been given work.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) promises 100-day guaranteed unskilled manual work to every rural adult with an aim to alleviate poverty in such areas. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, announced that the scheme will be rechristened as Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh has acquired third position in providing jobs to 9,787 disabled, followed closely by Marxist-ruled Tripura at 8,485, Gujarat at 6,994 and Maharashtra at 5,423. Rajasthan, where the highest number of people was provided jobs in the current fiscal, could engage only 2,271 disabled people even as a total of 9,384 physically challenged people registered for work under the flagship programme.

Karnataka has provided jobs to a total of 3,722 disabled people, followed by Tamil Nadu at 1,851 and Kerala at 983. A total of 2,680 disabled people have been given jobs in Jharkhand. As many as 4,410 disabled people have been registered for work under the Act in Bihar.

However, the state government has so far provided jobs to only 38 of them. Compared to the figures of 2008-09, the statistics of the ministry show an increase in the participation of disabled people under the programme in the current financial year.

During the financial year 2008-09, a total of 1,46,855 people were provided jobs under NREGA across the country and then too West Bengal was at the top of the list of the states followed by Madhya Pradesh.

“West Bengal needs to declare CPI (Maoist) an unlawful association”

NEW DELHI, JUNE 23: While the Centre has listed the CPI (Maoist) as a terrorist organisation, there is still need for the West Bengal government to declare the outfit an “unlawful association,” highly placed sources in the Union Home Ministry said.

Underlining the fact that the laws in force make a distinction between a “terrorist organisation” and an “unlawful association,” the sources said a terrorist organisation is defined in Section 2(1)(m) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967.

It means an “organisation listed in the Schedule or an organisation operating under the same name as an organisation so listed.”

The Schedule to the Act listed 32 organisations and it included CPI(Marxist-Leninist), People’s War and Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), all its formations and front organisations.

Once the Centre includes an organisation in the Schedule and lists it a terrorist organisation, that order will apply throughout India. Penal action can be taken against it, or a member or supporter of, or a fund raiser for it anywhere in India.

On the other hand, the sources clarified, the concept of an unlawful association is “very different.”

Under UA(P)A, ‘unlawful association’ is defined in Section 2(1) (p), and it means any association which has for its object any unlawful activity. “Unlawful activity” is defined in Section 2(1)(o) as any action which is intended to bring about secession of a part of the territory of India from the Union or which incites secession or which questions the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.

While UA(P)A is directed against unlawful associations that support secession, the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1908 has a very different objective. It is directed against associations which encourage or aid persons to commit acts or violence or intimidation. The power is vested in the State government to declare an association as unlawful if the object of the association is interference with the administration of the law or interference with the maintenance of law and order or if the association constitutes a danger to the public peace.

The sources said once an association is declared an “unlawful association” under Section 16 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1908, Section 17, 17A, 17B, 17C and 17E are attracted.

Broadly, these provisions provide for offences and penalties. It will be an offence to contribute or solicit a contribution to an unlawful association or manage an unlawful association. The offences are cognisable and non-bailable.

Further, the State government will acquire special powers under Sections 17A, 17B and 17E.

“It will be seen that the scope and application of the Criminal Law Amendment Act is very different – and much wider – than UA(P)A. Besides, the former Act vests power in the State government; UA(P) A vests the power in the Central government,” sources said.

The West Bengal government has been advised by the Union Home Ministry to act under Section 16 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act and declare CPI (Maoist) as an unlawful association, the sources said.

Centre bans CPI (Maoist)

Hope West Bengal government will also do so: Chidambaram

NEW DELHI, JUNE 22: The Centre on Monday banned the Communist Party of India (Maoist), terming it a terrorist organisation. It invoked Section 41 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against the extremist outfit.

The CPI (Maoist) came into existence following the merger of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), the People’s War Group (PWG) and the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC).

The ban came two days after West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee met Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram in the backdrop of violent incidents in Lalgarh and the ongoing operation by the police and the security forces to reclaim the area.

The Chief Minister had said that his government would give a “serious thought” to banning the CPI (Maoist) as advised by the Home Minister.

The ban was to avoid any ambiguity though all formations and front organisations of the PWG, the MCC and the CPI (ML) came under the purview of the ban.

In September 2004, the CPI (ML) and the MCC announced their decision to merge and named the new organisation CPI (Maoist). There was some opposition to the merger and some elements in the two organisations continued to function independently.

Mr. Chidambaram said the merged organisation would continue to be listed as a terror organisation. “When I looked into the matter a couple of days ago, I said that may be the position in the law. In order to avoid any ambiguity, let us add the CPI (Maoist) by name in that schedule of the Act.”

Many States, including Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, had declared the CPI (Maoist) an unlawful association. Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu had done so under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

“When I had a discussion with Mr. Bhattacharjee, I advised him to ban the CPI (Maoist) under Section 16 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1908. That power is available with the State. I did not change my view. I still think that West Bengal should declare the CPI (Maoist) an unlawful association,” he told journalists.

Asked about the Left parties’ opposition to the ban, Mr. Chidambaram said the Left had taken a view which was not that of the West Bengal government. “I hope distinction between the party and the government is still there in this country. I expect that the Chief Minister will look into the matter.”

Deploy forces in troubled areas: Centre to West Bengal

New Delhi: PTI June 17, 2009 13:21 IST

With West Bengal Police virtually withdrawn in troubled areas in West Midnapore and adjoining districts, the Centre today asked the state government to deploy all its forces there while assuring it of providing more central forces if it is necessary.

The Home Ministry has advised the state administration to deploy its own forces in full strength as "maintaining law and order is primarily the responsibility of the state government", a Ministry official said.

"The central paramilitary forces have been sent only to assist the state police," the official said. The Centre also advised the West Bengal government to deploy the East Frontier Rifles, Special Armed Police and the regular armed police to deal with the situation arising out of Maoists and tribals virtually taking over some of the villages like Lalgarh. Three CPI(M) workers were also shot dead in Banksole in West Midnapore district today.

Around 1,300 central paramilitary forces have already deployed in the troubled areas while 300 more are on their way. "We have kept ready some more central forces to be sent to West Bengal if necessary," the official said. Of the 1,300 deployed forces, 700 have been deployed in West Midnapore district, 300 in Purulia and 100 in Bankora.

At least 200 additional forces have reached West Bengal yesterday and 300 more will be reaching today. Maoists put up a shield With paramilitary forces planning a crackdown on Maoists who have laid siege to two police station areas in West Midnapore district, tribals backing them have put up a three-tier human shield.

Maoists put up a shield

"The Maoists have formed a three-tier human shield with women and children in the vanguard, men behind them and armed Naxals forming the rearguard," a senior police official involved in the drawing up strategies against the agitators told PTI here.

The police have withdrawn from camps fearing looting of arms with the tribals under the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities demolishing and torching empty camps in the past few days, he said.Maoist action squad leader, known as Bikash, and his men were patrolling roads between Lalgarh and Belpahari armed with AK47s, he said.

Last night the tribals set ablaze CPI(M) party offices in Lalgarh and Belatikri and dug up roads leading to Lalgarh from Dharampur, Goaltore and Pirakata to prevent entry of central forces.The digging up of roads and felling of trees was a tactic deployed since November last year by the tribals when they went on the warpath after police raids on their homes.

Law & order situation deteriorating in WB: PC

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi, June 17: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday cautioned that the law and order situation in West Bengal was deteriorating fast, in the wake of Maoists resorting to violence in the state’s West Midnapore district and adjoining areas.

Chidambaram stated that the Centre had dispatched enough paramilitary forces to the troubled areas and assured of more forces if felt necessary. He however hit out at the Left Front government in the state, saying: “We are getting an impression that a section of the government wants to act while the rest doesn’t, fearing the consequences.”

The Home Minister’s remarks came after his ministry asked the state government earlier in the day to deploy all its forces in the troubled areas in the wake of the West Bengal Police virtually withdrawn from violence-hit West Midnapore and adjoining districts. The Home Ministry has advised the state administration to deploy its own forces in full strength as "maintaining law and order is the primarily the responsibility of the state government", a ministry official said. "The Central paramilitary forces have been sent only to assist the state police," the official said.

The Centre also advised the West Bengal government to deploy the East Frontier Rifles, Special Armed Police and the regular armed police to deal with the situation arising out of Maoists and tribals virtually taking over some of the villages like Lalgarh. Three CPI(M) workers were also shot dead in Banksole in West Midnapore district today. Around 1,300 central paramilitary forces have already deployed in the troubled areas while 300 more are on their way. "We have kept ready some more Central forces to be sent to West Bengal if necessary," the official said.

Of the 1,300 deployed forces, 700 have been deployed in West Midnapore district, 300 in Purulia and 100 in Bankora. Two-hundred additional forces reached West Bengal yesterday and 300 more will be reaching today. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has reportedly told the ruling Left Front partners that 500 Maoists - 100 of them fully trained in combat and 400 others semi-trained - had sneaked into Lalgarh from the neighbouring state of Jharkhand.

Laying down the blue print for the paramilitary forces, Bhattacharjee said as the ultras were now trying to expand their operations, the immediate effort would be to confine them to Lalgarh. "We will test their patience. There will be no attacks on them immediately but once their (ultras') patience wears thin, they are bound to attack and then the police and the CRPF will launch a counter attack," a leader present at Wednesday's Left Front meeting quoted the chief minister as saying.

However, speaking to a Bengali news channel over phone, a top Maoist leader Bikash - now camping in Lalgarh - threatened to "strongly resist" paramilitary forces if they were attacked. Lalgarh has been on the boil since last November when a landmine exploded on the route of the convoy of Bhattacharjee and then central ministers Ram Vilas Paswan and Jitin Prasada. Police arrested some school students and allegedly harassed tribal women following the landmine blast. In protest, angry tribals dug up roads, virtually cutting off the zone from the rest of the district. They also demanded a public apology from the police for the alleged excesses against them. The area has witnessed continuous clashes between cadres of the ruling Left and the Maoists.

Central team to submit 'Aila' impact report to Home Minister

New Delhi June 09, 2009: The Central team, which visited West Bengal to assess the damage caused by cyclone 'Aila', will submit its detailed report to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram.

The 11-member central team, visited West Bengal to take stock of the post Cyclone Aila situation. The team during its three-day visit surveyed a large part of cyclone-ravaged South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts in southern West Bengal and Darjeeling hills. The central observers Tuesday took an aerial view of the marooned Sundarban Islands.

Later they held a high-level meeting with state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta, Chief Secretary Ashok Mohon Chakraborty and other senior government officials at the state secretariat Writes’ Buildings. On the basis of the team’s report, the central government will announce its compensation package for the cyclone-affected people of the state.

Meanwhile, the state’s Left Front government has demanded Cyclone Aila be declared as a national disaster and sought the central government’s help to carry out the rescue operation in the delta region. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has asked for Rs.1,000 crore of funds to provide relief to thousands of cyclone victims in the state. Dasgupta rushed to Delhi and submitted a memorandum to the central government on the state’s demands.

The team, which returned to the capital today after a three-day tour, visited all cyclone-affected districts, including South and North 24 Parganas and the Darjeeling hills and took stock of the damage caused to the people and their livelihoods.

"They are now compiling all the inputs and submit the report to the Home Minister within a day or two," a Home Ministry official said. On the basis of the report, the Centre will announce its compensation package for the cyclone-affected people of the state.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today assured the Rajya Sabha that "the Centre will do everything in its power to provide purposeful relief to West Bengal". Observing that a Central team has already visited the state, Singh said, "I have been in touch with the Chief Minister and there will be no laxity in meeting the need of relief and rehabilitation".

Central Govt plans to lease out three units of National Jute Corp

New Delhi, Jun 09, 2009: In the first such move in India’s chequered public sector history, the government is considering leasing out three production units of National Jute Manufacturers Corporation Ltd (NJMC) to private companies. NJMC has been sick since 1994 and had a negative net worth of over Rs 6,250 crore by 2007-08.

NJMC has six jute mills in West Bengal and Bihar. The units that are proposed to be leased out are Kinnison and Khardah in West Bengal and RBHM in Bihar. The remaining three factories-National, Alexandra, Union in West Bengal-are to be closed, according to the proposal of the textiles ministry, which administers operations of the company.

“Reviving the sick NJMC is in our priority list. We have proposed to lease out three of its units, while the other three are to be closed. We will take the proposal to the Cabinet at the first instance,” textiles secretary Rita Menon said. The company also has a sick subsidiary in Kolkata, Birds Jute & Exports Ltd, but its fate is not yet clear.

The entire proceeds from the lease rent and sales of the units will be used to offset the financial assistance given by the government to the company, another senior official in the ministry said. The units that are proposed to be closed have land assets worth Rs 310 crore, he said. The government has given Rs 1,210 crore to the company, including Rs 675 crore to settle the VRS claims, Rs 275 crore to offload the dues and liabilities and the balance for wages and salaries.

NJMC, set up in 1980, is under the supervision of Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) since 1994. The BIFR has recommended winding up of the company in the same year, but the case went into litigation and as per the latest information, the Appellate Authority for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction has put a stay on the BIFR order.

The company stopped production in 2004-05 due to non-supply of power after it failed to pay the pending bills. At that time, it had accumulated losses of around Rs 4,000 crore. However, in 2008-09 it resumed production but is manufacturing a small quantity of sacking only.

Under the revival proposal from the Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises (BRPSE), the government had offered voluntary retirement scheme to the employees of the company. A total of 16,000 class IV employees and workers availed of the scheme. NJMC currently employs 250 officers and 18 clerical staff. At the end of 2007-08, the company recorded a net loss of Rs 487.13 crore and a negative net worth of Rs 6,254.62 crore.

11-member Central team to assess cyclone Aila damage

KOLKATA,5th June: An eleven-member team of Central officials will be arriving in the city on Saturday to assess the damage caused by the storms brought about by cyclone Aila on May 25.

They visit the areas in West Bengal’s South and North 24 Parganas districts and the Darjeeling hills in groups. They will later hold meetings with the local administration and the State government, Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta said here on Thursday.

While the Army has been called in for the second time since the storms to assist in relief operations in the areas of South 24 Parganas worst hit by the disaster, the government has sought technical advice from it for restoration of the damaged embankments in the region.

Three boats of the Navy have been pressed into service to facilitate the sending of relief supplies to victims marooned in some of the affected areas, a Defence spokesperson said. Ten teams belonging to the Army had gone to the region to distribute food packets and water pouches. The death toll has mounted to 137.

New land acquisition policy to be introduced

New Delhi, June 05, 2009: President Pratibha Patil today said the government would reintroduce the Amendment Bill to the Land Acquisition Act and the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill in the forthcoming budget session of Parliament.

If the Bills are enacted, it will not only help in better implementation of infrastructure and industrial projects, but also safeguard the interests of farmers. That is because both the Bills contain clear guidelines to be followed while acquiring land, like compensation package and the quantum of land to be acquired.

“It will be our endeavor to have these Bills reintroduced and enacted in the budget session of Parliament,” Patil said in her speech to joint session of the Parliament.

Both the Bills were mooted in the backdrop of violent protests across the country in 2007 against acquisition of land by state governments for industrial projects in West Bengal, Haryana, Maharashtra as well as Goa. Many of these projects were related to special economic zones (SEZs).

The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill limits the role of the government in land acquisition for private projects. Broadly, this Bill allows government to acquire only 30 per cent of the land for private projects, while the rest will have to be bought by the developer himself. Moreover, land rights will be extended to tenant farmers, artisans and those indirectly drawing sustenance from the land in question. Also, compensation could be in the form of jobs and equity shares in the company that has bought the land.

The Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) Bill lays down guidelines on how the people affected by projects will have to be rehabilitated and the contours of compensation packages. In addition, this Bill also seeks to set up a National Rehabilitation Commission.

Experts point out that delay in enacting both these bills has impacted government projects, especially in infrastructure sector.

A recent assessment by the government had revealed that about 60 projects related to the Indian Railways, 20 power plants and 40 road projects were help up due to land related problems.

VAT panel to meet Pranab by mid-June on GST

New Delhi, June 3, 2009: Confident of meeting the schedule of introducing the Goods and Service Tax in the beginning of the next fiscal, state finance ministers will meet the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee around mid-June on various issues relating to the new tax system.

"I am very happy to know that the Union Finance Minister would be having interactions with state finance ministers on many matters, including GST, and so it will be in the middle of this month we will have the meeting on the GST," VAT panel Chairman Asim Dasgupta said here. He exuded confidence that GST would be introduced in the beginning of the next fiscal, as scheduled.

"As you know, the scheduled target date for introduction of GST is April one 2010 and we want to stick to it," Dasgupta, who is West Bengal's Finance Minister, said. When asked whether he is hopeful of meeting the deadline of April one, 2010, he said,"of course."

Right now, only broad structure of GST, which would replace excise duty, service tax at the Central level and VAT at the state level has been agreed upon between the Union Government and states. It has been agreed that the new tax system would have two structures, one at the state level and another at the Centre. However, its exact rate and items to be brought under it still remain to be decided. Also, legislative action would have to be completed after an agreement is reached between the Centre and states on various aspects of GST.

"When I say it is the beginning of April one, 2010, that means before that there are certain legislative actions required and implementation starts from April one, 2010," Dasgupta said.

Before GST is introduced, its draft structure would be put on the website and interactions would be held with traders and industry to incorporate any changes in the final tax system.

"Before that (April one, 2010), we will put on the website what is the strucutre...We will have detailed interaction not only with the industry, but with the traders at the national level, at the state level also," he said.

By the time GST is introduced, Central Sales Tax (CST), which is a tax imposed on inter-state movement of goods, has to be brought to zero since it distorts the very purpose of GST of making India a common market. CST currently stands at two per cent.

When asked whether he saw any difficulty in reducing CST by the Centre to one per cent this fiscal and zero by next fiscal, Dasgupta said, "I can make any comment only after the meeting of the Empowered Committee (of state finance ministers on VAT)."

West Bengal demands Rs 1,000 cr for Aila-hit areas

New Delhi, June 02: West Bengal on Tuesday demanded at least Rs 1,000 crore from the Centre's National Calamity Contingency Fund immediately to step up relief work in the wake of the damage caused by cyclone Aila. 

After submitting a memorandum to Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram in this regard, state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta expressed hopes that the Centre would soon send a committee to assess the damage caused by the cyclone, so that the required funds from NCCF can be obtained.

 "After this meeting, it appeared that Chidambaram will form this central team very quickly," Dasgupta told reporters here. He said the central team will visit cyclone-affected parts and make a recommendation to the home ministry. To a query over Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's demand that funds should be routed from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh through gram panchayats instead of the state government, Dasgupta said, "I do not comment on everybody's comment."  Dasgupta said the total requirement for relief works is huge, estimated at Rs 1,934 crore. 

Mamata wants Centre not to give money to Bengal for cyclone relief

NEW DELHI. 30 May 2009: The feud between resurgent Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee and the CPI(M)-led government in West Bengal has escalated, spreading to the issue of central assistance to the state for the damage caused by the recent cyclone.  The Trinamool leader and railway minister plans to ask Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not to accept West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's demand for Rs 1,000 crore in central assistance to help his state repair the damage caused by cyclone Aila. Meanwhile, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee held a meeting with the CM on Friday in Kolkata, on the cyclone issue.  The move follows Bhattacharjee's letter to the PM on Thursday. Early on, the PM had called up the chief minister to inquire about the extent of devastation and had promised to help.  Banerjee's demand can put the Centre in a bind. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who believes in playing by the book, has an excellent rapport with the West Bengal CM, during the UPA's last tenure when Left partnered the government. In fact, she has also decided to demand a probe into how the disaster management fund has been spent and would ask the Centre to have direct interactions with district magistrates in the state, it is learnt.  But getting around the Trinamool wall will not be easy. Mamata has crucial numbers in Lok Sabha and is known for stubbornly sticking to her positions even in the face of widesspread opposition. As a matter of fact, she is said to be upset with Pranab Mukherjee for meeting with Bhattacharjee. Banerjee had met Mukherjee on Thursday over the cyclone relief issue.

THIRD FRONT SHALL DOMINATE THE LOK SABHA RESULTS: BIMAN BASU

KOLKATA, 28th MARCH: A reality now, more than ever, rather than a theoretical compose the Third Front with the Left in the van shall direct the shape of the Lok Sabha that shall be formed after the Lok sabha election. This was Biman Basu, state secretary, Bengal CPI (M) at the massive convention of Left student-youth in Kolkata at a packed indoor Stadium in the afternoon hours of 28 March, the anti-unemployment day.

Biman Basu said in clear tones that both the bourgeois alliances, one led by the Congress the other by the religious fundamentalist BJP, were breaking apart in front of their own eyes, and they stand helpless. The Third Front gains strength continuously and is spreading its political wings across a larger and ever larger footprint across India.

Explaining that it had been the Left students-youth organisations that had commenced observing the anti-unemployment day from back in 1973, the speaker said that the young generation of the Left had also played an exemplary role in the struggle against quasi-fascism and lumpen terror that Bengal bled under during the 1970s. The relevance of 28 March shall continue to be relevant until an end was wrought of exploitation, deprivation, and the ruling class control over the means of production.

Extending his arguments into analysing the massive economic recession that has slowed down production and has resulted in billions of people losing job especially in the capitalist world, the Bengal LF chairman said that more than a hundred million young men and women stand to lose employment in India itself over the next year or so. By 2020, the rate of unemployment itself shall reach 30% in the sub-continent. In just over a decade’s worth of time-scale India shall be burdened with the presence of eleven crore jobless youth.

As we speak today, said the senior CPI (M) leader, India has lost 1.5 million men and women in the organised sector alone. Five lakh people connected with the once-lucrative ornaments trade and calling has become without a viable means of livelihood. The sunrise Info-Tech industry is expected to shed 50 thousand jobs, come the next half-a-year. BPO will see 2.5 lakh jobs go down the drain, adding to the burden of joblessness.

The country groans under misery of the financial kind because of the fatuous way the ruling classes have clung to the capitalist path and has seen the light at the end of the tunnel in ‘globalisation.’ The Left has cautioned the people during the earlier Lok Sabha polls against the expected facet of the Congress policy of towing the economic policy of the NDA régime, and that proved disastrous for the nation, especially for the toiling masses.

The Left has lent its outside support to the UPA governance strictly based on the few pro-people aspects of the CMP, aspects that the Congress did not follow while selling the nation downstream to imperialism and its lackeys. This resulted in the correct decision of the CPI (M) and the Left in withdrawing support.
Biman also mentioned the u holy alliances that had come together in Bengal against the CPI (M) and the Left Front. As he put, the masses shall bid good night to the forces of darkness whose surreptitious alliance was forged not in the broad day light but in the darkness of the night. Biman was also thoroughly critical of the way the opposition had suddenly started to shed what were clearly tears of sham and falsity for the adivasis.

The opposition was also playing the Communal card as dangerously as the young stalwart of the BJP was doing with imp unity at the national level—and getting away with it. Biman called upon the youth to be politically active in dealing a blow to the hopes and evil ambitions of the opposition in the Lok Sabha polls all over Bengal. A win in Bengal for the CPI (M) and the Left would improve the prospects that much more for the Left-led Third Front. Student and youth leaders, too, addressed the vast gathering, a gathering that was big enough to take a long time to disperse.

Third Front's prospect brightening, says Buddhadeb

Siliguri (WB),28th March : With the desertions of certain partners in the UPA and NDA, the prospect of the Third Front faring better in the Lok Sabha polls is "brightening fast", West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said on Sunday. "The poll prospect of the Left-led Third Front is brightening fast and it will form the government at the Centre," he said in a party workers' meet at Bidhannagar, about 35 km from here.

Mr. Bhattacharjee criticised the Congress for negotiating with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha on seeking the hill organisation's support for its candidate Dawa Narbula in the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat. "It is pathetic to see that the Congress has kept aside its political stand to bag one seat," he said.

The CPI(M) leader ruled out any division of West Bengal to create Gorkhaland as demanded by GJM. "The state government is ready for further development of Darjeeling Hills, but there must not be any separation," he said.

He criticised Opposition parties for creating controversy over acquisition of farm land to set up industry in West Bengal and said they had been constantly opposing development in the state.
Blaming the Congress for rise in prices of essentials, he alleged 180,000 farmers had committed suicide during the UPA rule on account of its anti-poor policies.