Why is WB CM Mamata Banerjee silent?

TIMES NOW, 29 Oct 2011, 0937 hrs IST, AGENCIES

30 infants have died in 72 hours but that has still not prompted West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to come out and clarify on what her government is doing to stop babies from dying in government hospitals.

Thirteen newborns died in the Burdwan Medical College and four more at Kolkata's B C Roy Children's Hospital, which has witnessed a series of crib deaths, taking the toll in the two government hospitals in West Bengal to 30 on Friday.

Though the deaths have raised a question mark on the standard of healthcare in paediatric hospitals in the state, authorities claimed that it was not unusual.

Since Thursday, four babies died at the B C Roy Children's Hospital and 12 at the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, which also saw a death yesterday. "The one-to-three day-old babies were underweight and suffering from jaundice, encephalitis and septicaemia," Burdwan Medical College and Hospital Deputy Superintendent Tapas Kumar Ghosh said.

Deputy Director of Medical Education Susanta Banerjee and Health Commissioner Dilip Ghosh were sent by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to the hospital.

Banerjee said that there was no medical negligence in the death of the babies as they were referred in a moribund stage and that one or two deaths occurred daily. He said that in two and half months the number of beds would be increased to 190 from the current 60.

The Deputy Medical Superintendent of the hospital said the doctors did their best to save the lives of the babies at the hospital where 160 infants were being treated against its capacity of 60 beds.

At the B C Roy Children's Hospital, another four babies died taking up the toll there to 17 in the last three days. "Four babies, referred to us in a critical condition, died since yesterday," its superintendent D Pal said. There was "nothing abnormal or unusual" in the death of babies, mostly below one month, Pal said, as they were admitted in extremely critical conditions.

Pal said on an average, five infant deaths occurred in the hospital of the daily admission of nearly 300, mostly referred by district hospitals.

Noting that the hospital was overburdened with patients referred from district hospitals, Pal maintained that the best of care was given to the babies admitted.

The health department earlier gave a clean chit to the B C Roy Children's Hospital after an internal inquiry. The Director of Medical Education said no lapse was found in the treatment of the babies, who were brought in a moribund state.  


http://www.timesnow.tv/videoshow/4387550.cms

Sixteen more babies die in WB govt hospitals; toll 29

The Asian Age, 28 Oct, 2011

Four more babies died at Kolkata's B.C. Roy Children's Hospital, which has witnessed a series of crib deaths, besides 12 newborns in the Burdwan Medical College, taking the death toll in two government hospitals in West Bengal to 29 today.

Though the crib deaths have raised a question mark on the standard of medical care in paediatric hospitals in the state, hospital authorities claimed that it was 'not unusual'.

Twelve babies have died at the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital in Burdwan district and four at the B.C. Roy Children's Hospital here since yesterday, authorities said today.

"The one-to-three days old babies were underweight and suffering from jaundice, encephalitis and septicemia," Burdwan Medical College and Hospital Deputy Superintendent Tapas Kumar Ghosh said.

Doctors did their best to save the lives of the babies, but all were born with critical complaints at the hospital where 160 infants were being treated against its capacity of 60 beds, he said.

In Kolkata, at the B.C. Roy Children's Hospital, another four babies died taking up the toll there to 17 in the last three days.

"Four babies, referred to us in a critical condition, died in the hospital in the last 24 hours," its superintendent D Pal said.

There was 'nothing abnormal or unusual' in the death of babies, mostly below one month, Pal said, as they were admitted in an extremely critical condition.

Pal said on an average, five infant deaths occurred in the hospital of the daily admission of nearly 300, mostly referred by district hospitals.

Stating that the hospital was overburdened with patients referred from district hospitals, Pal maintained that the best of care was given to the babies admitted.

But The health department yesterday gave a clean chit to the B.C. Roy Children's Hospital after an internal inquiry.

Director of Medical Education Sushanta Banerjee said no lapse was found in the treatment of the babies, who were brought in a moribund state.

Demand coal royalty from Centre, Left’s Asim tells govt

Express News Service Posted online: Tue Oct 25 2011, 05:56 hrs

Kolkata : Amid Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s demand for a financial package from the Centre, Asim Dasgupta, the former finance minister in the Left Front government, on Monday said the state government should demand Rs 5,000 crore coal royalty from the Central government.

He said other states too have been getting coal royalty from the Centre and thus they cannot oppose the West Bengal government's demand. The state government's demand for a financial package from the Centre had angered other states like Gujarat and Tamil Nadu whose chief ministers, Narendra Modi and Jayalalitha respectively, had alleged step-motherly treatment by the Centre.

Addressing mediapersons in Kolkata, Dasgupta said the Centre has not given the state any royalty for the coal dug up from Bengal since 1991. “Moreover, there is a Supreme Court order on giving coal royalty to the states,” he added.

Dasgupta, who had been handling the state's finances for nearly two decades said the incumbent government has not highlighted the coal royalty while demanding financial aid from the Centre. He even termed that some of the claims made by the Mamata Banerjee-led government on the financial status of the state as “misleading”. “The total revenue receipt of the state government is Rs 65,848 crore of which 74 per cent and not 94 per cent, as claimed by the present government, is spent on paying salaries, pensions and interest,” said Dasgupta, who called the new government as “incompetent”.

Dasgupta said the total income of the state government stands at Rs 87,643 crore, and out of this 63 per cent is spent of salary, pensions and interest to the loans. He said the remaining, Rs 32,713, crore be spent by the state to meet various expenses.

Alleging that the incumbent government has not been able to manage the state’s finances effectively, Dasgupta said the Left Front government had borrowed Rs 5,000 crore from the open market last year, but the new government has borrowed Rs 10,000 crore in the same period this year. He also said that while last year the state government had been able to increase the tax collection to 29 per cent, this year the growth has been only 19 per cent against a target of 30 per cent.

He also rejected the government's claim that the state has “humongous” debt. The former finance minister said that while Bengal has a debt of Rs 1.92 lakh crore, other states like Maharashtra has a debt of Rs 2.36 lakh crore and UP has Rs 2.35 lakh crore as debts as on March 31,2011.

Asim data duel with Mamata

THE TELEGRAPH, Issue Date: Tuesday , October 25 , 2011

Calcutta, Oct. 24: Former finance minister Asim Dasgupta today opened a war of numbers with Mamata Banerjee by calling into question the data used by the chief minister to seek special assistance from the Centre to overcome Bengal’s financial woes.

During her meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week, Mamata had highlighted that the state government was left with only 6 paise from every rupee it earned to fund development and blamed the crisis on the Left’s 34 years of “misrule”.

“Out of one rupee, 94 paise are spent on salary and other responsibilities of the state. Only 6 paise are left for development. How will we do with such little money? The Centre has to think,” she had said in Delhi.

Dasgupta said that according to the financial statement (Abstract of the Annual Financial Statement 2011-12 and Trends of Expenditure and Growth Trajectories) tabled by his successor Amit Mitra, the state’s outgo on salaries, pension and interest payment constituted 74 per cent of the revenue receipts.

No one from the government was available to explain the accounting Mamata had used to arrive at the 94-paise figure.

“I don’t know how the figure of 94 was arrived at,” Dasgupta said.

“If the Centre extends help to the state government, it will be good. But what was said while seeking extra assistance was misleading and incomplete,” he added.

Dasgupta has held several news conferences in the past five months to rebut Mamata’s claim that the Left’s misrule had plunged Bengal into bankruptcy. On all such occasions, the attempt was to defend the Left record and its policies by rolling out economic data.

Today, he went on the attack, first questioning the numbers that form the basis of Mamata’s strident demand for special central assistance, the absence of which even after five months in power appears to be frustrating her. Non-Congress states have opposed a special package for Bengal, alleging this would amount to discrimination against them.

“This government had set a target of 30 per cent growth in tax revenue collection, but till now the growth has been only around 19 per cent. In the corresponding period, we had achieved a growth of around 29 per cent last year,” said Dasgupta.

The former finance minister also mentioned that the new government’s market borrowing had touched Rs 10,000 crore — the highest among all states — in the five months of the current fiscal year while the Left Front had restricted it to Rs 9,500 crore for all of 2010-11.

“Government employees have not received even one instalment of the dearness allowance this year,” he said. The issue of arrears and DA for government staff is sensitive as the state employs over 10 lakh people.

‘Unfit to drive’, 156 fire engine drivers hired by Left told to take a retest

Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay

INDIAN EXPRESS, Posted online: Thu Oct 20 2011, 02:37 hrs

Kolkata: The West Bengal government has ordered a retest for a batch of 156 engine drivers of the Fire Service department who got their jobs about eight months ago after going through all necessary tests.

The order was issued by Indevar Pandey, Principal Secretary, Fire department, some time back after Director of Fire Services Gopal Bhattacharya wrote to the government that 27 of the 156 drivers, who were recruited during the fag end of Left Front rule, were not fit to drive fire engines and were recruited without proper tests.

Since the 27 could not be singled out, the fire department called all the 156 for a retest of their driving skills.

“The tests are going on. I will not say anything more on this,” Bhattacharya told The Indian Express.

The move, however, has not gone down well with a section of officials believing that it could lead to complications.

“If any of the drivers goes to court, the government would be in a fix as they were taken in after all the tests, including medical. Apart from that they are in service and have been receiving salary for the past eight months. How can you take a retest now? What will you do if any of them disqualifies,” asked one official.

In another mysterious development, the complaint sent by Bhattacharya to the Secretary was on Wednesday found missing from the file.

“This must have been an insider job, somebody is trying to shield the man or group of men who were responsible for those appointments during the Left Front government,” said one official.

The Fire Department is facing a leadership crisis as Pandey, who handles two other departments as well - Home (Personnel) and Disaster Management — hardly finds any time it.

“He never sits in his office in the Fire Department. Many projects and plans have fallen. The department is in doldrums,’’ an official alleged.

Coal shortfall hits steel production in West Bengal

IANS, Oct 18, 2011, 02.48pm IST

KOLKATA: Production in the secondary steel sector of West Bengal has fallen as heavy rains have prevented the state-run Coal India Limited (CIL) from supplying enough of the vital raw material.

The sector expects to be further hit because there will be no e-auction of coal for it this month. It is on hold to divert the raw material to power stations. These auctions are a 'lifeline' to the secondary steel sector.

Coal supply to power and steel plants are badly affected as the coal giant was unable to meet its target in the first half of the current fiscal, the output falling short by around 20 million tonnes (MT) due to adverse weather conditions.

Against the target of 196 MT, largely due to heavy rains the Maharatna company could produce only about 176 MT of coal from April to September.

Steelmakers said the coal crisis for the steel sector will aggravate further with CIL's recent decision to offer four million tonnes of additional coal by e-auction to the power sector in October.

"Plants in West Bengal are on the verge of closing down due to acute coal shortage," Kolkata-based Shyam Steel director Lalit Beriwala told IANS. "We have been particularly facing severe shortage of coal for the last six months because of short supply from the CIL."

Beriwala said the state was currently producing at half its installed capacity.

"No new coal linkage has been given for the last four years in the state," he said.

He said prices of coal distributed through e-auction were very high; moreover, no trader should be allowed in the e-auction because they tend to jack up prices.

The coal distribution policy in the country has to be changed, he said.

On CIL's decision to put on hold the e-auction for the month of October, Beriwala said it will aggravate the coal crisis for steel producers as they purchased a bulk of coal through this medium.

"Now 70 percent of the steel plants will be closed down in West Bengal. I do not know what will be the fate of industry in the state if the government does not take any action," he added.

Another major steelmaker in the state, Jai Balaji Group, said it had resorted to more coal import from abroad.

"For the last few months, we have been facing severe shortage of domestic coal supplied by CIL and its subsidiaries," Jai Balaji Group chairman and managing director Aditya Jajodia said.

"Due to that our coal import has been increased by 25 percent. As a result cost of steel production has soared by about 40 percent," he added.

Jajodia said CIL's decision on e-auction of coal was a "negative development". "It will hurt steel sector as a whole," he added.

Santosh Bajaj of the Merchants' Chamber of Commerce ( MCC) said the steel sector in the state was facing supply as well as demand constraints.

"Bengal steel plants are facing a raw materials crisis, more in the recent times, because of the short supply in coal. Demand for steel is low because of low spending on infrastructure. If demand was high then the base price would have been higher. It would have ensured good profit for steel makers," Bajaj said.

Moreover, according to him, steel producers are also facing a working capital crisis as interest rates are too high.

"Financially they are in a pathetic condition," he added.

Low foodgrain production in high-yielding states: Study

BUSINESS STANDARD / New Delhi October 17, 2011, 1:09 IST

Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Karnataka have shown high-growth momentum in agricultural foodgrain production during the last five years and have the potential to contribute significantly to India’s foodgrain basket.

The share of these low-foodgrain yielding states in the total foodgrain production of India have improved from 17.4 per cent to 19 per cent during 2002-06 period over 2007-11 period.

However, the contribution of the states with high-yield foodgrain production like Punjab, Kerala, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh to the national basket has declined from around 41 per cent to around 38 per cent during the same period, a study conducted by PHD Chamber Research Bureau said here today.

Jharkhand posted 40 per cent growth in the foodgrain production during the last five-year-period (2007-11) over the previous five-year period (2002-06), growing from 2.28 million tonnes (mt) (annual average) in 2002-06 to 3.20 mt (annual average) during 2007-11 period.

Similarly, Rajasthan posted a foodgrain production growth of 21.84 per cent over the same period, growing from 12.62 mt (annual average) in 2002-06 to 15.38 mt (annual average) during 2007-11.

Foodgrain productions in Karnataka and Maharashtra have also grown at impressive rates of 24.09 per cent and 22.3 per cent, respectively, the PHD Chamber study said.

The green revolution effect of high-yield agrarian states like Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh seems to be fading. The foodgrain production growth in these states has reached a saturation point, the study pointed out.

Punjab, the significant contributor to the foodgrain production of India where per hectare yield is also highest in the country (4,148 kg/hectare), has registered around eight per cent growth in the last five-year period (2007-11).

Foodgrain production in West Bengal (2,561 kg/hectare) and Uttar Pradesh (2,260 kg/hectare) have grown at modest (-)2 per cent and eight per cent, respectively, the study added. Kerala with 2,896 kg/ hectare foodgrain production has grown at a disappointing (-) 10.9 per cent.

It is a matter of concern that the states with high yield of foodgrain production like Punjab, Kerala, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh have registered a declining trend in the growth of food grains.

Their contribution to the national basket has declined from around 41 per cent in 2002-06 period to around 38 per cent during 2007-11 period. In comparison to this, the share of the low-yielding states including Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Karnataka have improved from 17.4 per cent to 19 per cent during the same period, according to the study.

On the contrary, states with low-foodgrain yield per hectare, which have not been exploited to the fullest, have registered high-growth potentials during the period, the study said.

West Bengal madrasas see conspiracy in Mamata’s affiliation offer

Submitted by admin4 on 16 October 2011 - 4:00pm

By Zaidul Haque, TwoCircles.net

Kolkata: In a setback to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s move to please Muslims, a representative body of private religious madrasas in the state has rejected Mamata’s offer of affiliation to 10,000 madrasas. West Bengal Rabeta Madaris-e-Islamia Arabia rejected the offer saying there is a conspiracy to bring religious madrasas in political fold.

“Muslim should be aware of the government recognition offer for Islamic madrasas. Most of the Islamic madrasas in West Bengal are following the syllabus of Darul Uloom Deoband and Mazahir Uloom Saharanpur. Any madrasa run by Rabeta will never take Government recognition announced by the Chief Minister of West Bengal,” said Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani, Chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband.

(L-R) Chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani, Maulana Siddiqullah Chowdhury, Principal Mazahir Uloom Saharanpur Maulana Sahid, Prof of Jamia Sahi Muradabad Mufti Salman.

Addressing a press conference here on 13th October, Maulana Nomani said “If Government wants to do something leave targeting Madrasa. Madrasa should have right to go their own way, destination Islamic Education.”

“Religious Madrasa should not take any Government Assistance. In Sachar Report we have seen only 4% Madrasa students. The rest are going to school or modern education centres. Government should take care of schools not Muslim-run Islamic Madarsa. Madrasas are teaching Islamic lesson. We have right to teach Islamic Education and build Islamic Educational Institution to our choice, which stated in Indian Constituency. We will abide Indian Constituency not State run Government Rule,’ Maulana Nomani roared.

He and other leaders of West Bengal Rabeta Madaris-e-Islamia Arabia questioned the affiliation offer of the CM by raising the issue of the number of madrasas in the state. They said the largest madrasa body Rabeta is running only 700 madrasas. So how will the govt get 10,000 madrasas in West Bengal?

Maulana Siddiqullah Chowdhury said the declaration of recognition to 10000 Madrasas by Mamata Banerjee led West Bengal Government is totally fake. Because there are not 10000 madrasas in West Bengal right now. It is a conspiracy against Islamic education, he said.

In reply to a question about Mamata’s claims that 90% of Muslim development issues has been covered successfully, Chowdhury said, the people of West Bengal knows well, they are doing nothing. This is a totally fake propaganda.

Principal of Mazahir Uloom Saharanpur said: If Madrasas are willing government assistance then Islamic Lesson might be dropped. So, Muslims should keep distance from Government Affiliation.

These eminent clerics and heads of renowned madarasas in the country were speaking at a press conference called at the end of two-day conference (12-13 Oct) of madrasas called by West Bengal Rabeta Madaris-e-Islamia Arabia at Jamia Islamia Madani near Dumdum Airport in Kolkata.

The conference was attended by around 700 Madrasas from 19 districts of the state. Eminent figures who featured the conference were Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani (Chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband and president of All India Rabeta Madaris-e-Islamia Arabia) Maulana Shahid (Principal of Mazahir Uloom Saharanpur), Mufti Salman (Professor of Jamia Shahi Muradabad) and Maulana Yusuf (Gujarat Darul Uloom). The conference was presided over by Maulana Siddiqullah Chowdhury.

From deferent districts of West Bengal lots of Islamic clerics and teachers attended the conference.

Some important points discussed at the conference:

1. To make good relation among Madrasas and should take care to build up coordination.

2. Rabeta Members will have an eye on Anti-Madrasa campaign

3. To increase quality of learning system-- Madrasa concern has to be taken special care.

4. To save Islamic Culture we have to spread benefit of Islamic education in the society.

5. Darul Uloom Deoband and Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind advised to keep safe distance from Government Financial help to run the madrasa. Madrasa should follow as usual process to collect donation form Muslim Community, society.

6. Govt of West Bengal declared to give the government affiliation to the 10000 Madrasa in West Bengal. This is the conspiracy to manage the Madrasa in political outfit. So, Madrasa should not take any government recognition. 

'Mamata failed to deliver on promises to Maoists'

Last Updated: Sunday, October 16, 2011, 11:31 

Ashok Jiban, Jhargram: Spokesperson of the People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), Ashok Jiban, has said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has failed to deliver on the promises she made to the Maoists before the state elections.

While reacting to recent statements by Mamata Banerjee, Jiban said: "She (Banerjee) talked about peace during her visit here. We also want peace and for making the environment conducive for peace she will have to keep her promises and then the process of continuous discussions will bring back permanent peace here."

 

He also said that the Maoist prisoners arrested during the conflicts must be released as was promised earlier.

"First we want withdrawal of the security forces, then we want the unconditional release of all the prisoners and withdrawal of false cases. In the past, when the CPI(M) established a new government, they released prisoners without any condition. Uttar Pradesh government also released prisoners on her birthday, recently the Orissa government also released prisoners and the military junta government of Myanmar controlled by Army also released 6300 prisoners. They all didn't establish their respective governments with any promises but the Chief Minister of West Bengal made these promises before the elections," he added.

Jiban also said that Banerjee's call to the Maoists to give up arms is a farce as there are other gangs controlled by political parties, which need to be disbanded.

"The Chief Minister said that the rebels have given up arms. But the people don't have any arms. It is in the hands of the CPI(M)'s Harmad. It is in the TMC's (Trinamool Congress) Bhairab Bahini's hands. Arms are also in the Maoist's hands, but Maoists are not like the Harmad and Bhairab gangs because they have their own ideals. They should not be compared with these gangs under any circumstances. But these gangs attack villages regularly so their arms must be seized first," he asserted.

ANI

Congress says ministers not being allowed to work in Bengal

INDIAN EXPRESS, Posted online: Fri Oct 14 2011, 09:20 hrs

Malda : Congress, which runs an alliance government with the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, today alleged its ministers were not being given a free hand to work in the state and warned against "undermining" the party's importance.

"Congress party workers are not being given a free hand in the state despite being an alliance partner. This should be protested against," said senior West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee leader Abdul Mannan.

"The Trinamool Congress government should work for the betterment of the people of the state and this has to be done jointly with the Congress," he said, addressing a party panchayat function here.

Addressing the gathering, WBPCC chief Pradip Bhattacharya said, "Congress' importance as an alliance partner should not be undermined and should be judged realistically."

"Workers must learn to shed their frustration and work for the party," he added.

Don’t include Dooars, Terai in GTA: Tribal leaders

Last Updated: Wednesday, October 12, 2011, 15:37

Chalsa (WB): Adivasi leaders of Dooars and Terai in West Bengal today met state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and said they would not allow any area from the two tribal regions to be included in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration formed recently.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha had demanded at the time of the GTA agreement that some mouzas of the two adivasi regions be included in the authority. While Dooars has 98 mouzas, Terai has 123.

The Dooars lies on the foothills of the eastern Himalayas around Bhutan while Terai is the area near the Siwalik range, the lowest outer foothills of the Himalayas.

Representatives of various adivasi organisations like the Toto Kalyan Samiti, Bodo People's Forum and Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad in a meeting with the Chief Minister here put forward three alternatives. 

Either an authority on the lines of the GTA to be named as Adivasi Territorial Administration for the two regions be formed, an Adivasi Autonomous Council be created or both the regions be included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

They also submitted some memorandums containing their demands to the Chief Minister.

Mamata said she needed some time to consider their demands.

PTI

Centre committed to Katwa thermal power plant: Shinde

Farakka (West Bengal), Sep 28 (PTI): The Centre today said it is committed to setting up the Katwa thermal power project in West Bengal.

"NTPC will set up a power plant in Katwa. I also announce that we will offer 50 per cent of the capacity to the state," Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said here today.

He was speaking at the inauguration of full-load commercial operation of NTPC''s 500 MW stage III unit at Farraka.

With the addition of 500 MW, the Farraka thermal power plant''s total capacity increased to 2,100 MW.

Shinde''s assurance brought new hope to the power project, which is mired in problems of land acquisition, although he asked the state government to arrange for land and water.

State power minister Manish Gupta, who was also present at the event, said that the government would offer full cooperation and support to Centre’s power projects in the state.

The West Bengal Power Development Corporation is supposed to transfer the 1,320 MW thermal power project to the NTPC which has acquired only 458 acres out of 1,100 acres required for the project.

NTPC Chairman Arup Roy Choudhury also expressed hope, saying the new land policy favours government support of infrastructure projects.

"We are also ready to pay the land owners directly the price the WBPDCL had paid. We need the original land owners'' list from the government," he said.

Gupta called for permission for setting up hydel power projects in the northern part of the country and in Bhutan.

Meanwhile, NTPC is targeting to reduce share of imported coal for Farraka plant to 10 per cent from 20 per cent by increasing domestic coal supply.

CPI (M) Keshpur Zonal office set on fire by Trinamool hooligans

27th September, 2011

West Midnapore: More than hundred Trinamool hooligans with firearms attacked CPI (M)'s zonal office at Keshpur in West Midnapore district Tuesday morning. Trinamool activists, who were taking out a rally near the office, attacked Comrade Jamshed Ali Bhavan building; they barged into the office premises, ransacked it and set the ground floor on fire. Near about 45 party workers are trapped on the second floor of the office then. The incident happened before the police force deployed there. But they didn’t intervene or resist Trinamool attackers. After Rapid Action Force rushed to the site, Police had to resort to lathi charge to control the crowds.

The attack was launched allegedly after some CPI (M) supporters were seen with arms at the office. This could not be confirmed. Actually, after the last assembly election police and Trinamool hooligans two times searched Keshpur Zonal office with the allegation that there were lots of arms inside the party office. But they didn’t find anything.   

This time story was slightly different. On Monday, there was a clash between two factions of Trinamool Congress at Mirpara village of Keshpur left one dead and several injured. A group of TMC supporters at Panchami received information that one Ajmera Biwi was attacked and her home ransacked at Mirpara village. When some local leaders reached the spot at around 2:30pm, they found the other faction waiting for them with arms. The armed group also belongs to Trinamool. Soon an altercation followed and the new group opened fire. Sheikh Samiyet (18) was critically wounded after two bullets hit him. He was rushed to Midnapore Medical College where he succumbed to his injuries. Among the injured were Roshan Khan (35), Moinuddin Khan (28) and Jalal Khan (40). All three were hit on their legs by stray bullets.

Trinamool West Midnapore district President Dinen Roy, however, refused to see it as an intra-party clash. But SP Midnapore (west) Praveen Tripathi said, "There was violence between two groups. Bullets were fired, villagers were attacked. We have reports of several injuries and one person have been killed. We have arrested three people in connection with the violence. The role of political parties is under scrutiny."

Actually, these two groups belongs to Chitta Garai, Trinamool block president of Keshpur and Asish Pramanik, who contested as TMC candidate of Keshpur in last assembly election.  There was palpable tension at Panchami village were the two factions have been at loggerheads. The bone of contention between the two warring factions is over the controlling of the locality. But after the incident Trinamool state leadership want hushed up the factional war. After their instructions, late on Monday evening, the TMC members started a demonstration in front of Keshpur police station demanding a thorough search in the erstwhile CPI (M)-dominated villages that have huge arms in store. And in the morning they attacked CPI (M) Zonal Office.

West Bengal Left Front Chairman and CPI(M) state secretary Biman Bose strongly condemned the attack. He said, ‘Many workers have been injured. Around 45 of our workers have been locked inside the first floor. The miscreants are trying to set the office ablaze.’  Biman Bose said, ‘After the assembly election Trinamool and Police force jointly attacked, ransacked, set fire more than 600 hundred of our party offices. Our 40 comrades killed. TMC govt. and party launched a Political vendetta against us. This should be stopped immediately in a democratic system.’

Missing a historic chance

By Praful Bidwai

Monday, September 19, 2011 

Did India snatch defeat from the jaws of victory during its prime minister’s first visit to Bangladesh in 12 years? The answer is largely yes, although the visit also registered some gains. On balance, the Indian leadership squandered a historic chance to overcome mutual distrust and transform the India-Bangladesh relations to a point where they reflect the potential for exemplary cooperation between the two neighbours, with huge benefits to both and to the South Asian region.

The visit’s biggest vitiating factor was West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who adopted an unreasonable and parochial stand on sharing the waters of River Teesta and pulled out of the trip. Could her obstinacy and temperamental behaviour have been anticipated? Was enough groundwork done to prepare her for an equitable sharing of the river’s waters? There are two divergent accounts of this. One says Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s representatives, including National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon, tried hard to convince Banerjee that the interests of her state, in particular, the North Bengal districts, were being taken care of in the Teesta agreement with water shared in a 52:48 ratio between the two countries. Banerjee first agreed, but suddenly raised micro-level issues, such as sharing the flows during the lean season. During that season, West Bengal, she insisted, would concede no more than 25 percent of the flow at a barrage called Gazaldoba, which lies 90 km inside Indian territory. Menon took this proposal to Bangladesh for discussion.

But meanwhile, Banerjee abruptly decided to boycott the trip. She is reportedly extremely keen to build a base for her Trinamool Congress party in North Bengal, where the Left and the Congress are traditionally strong. According to the second account, the Central government failed to reassure Banerjee sufficiently, and could have done so had it worked harder on the larger picture. At that picture’s centre is the historic wrong India committed by unilaterally diverting the waters of the Ganga by building a barrage at Farakka in 1975. This was grossly unfair in and of itself. Worse, the diversion caused enormous losses of food and fisheries production in Bangladesh for almost two decades. According to Ashok Swain of Sweden’s Uppsala university, Farakka changed the river’s hydrology, “disrupted fishing and navigation, brought unwanted salt deposits into rich farming soil, [and] affected agricultural and industrial production ...”, causing an annual loss estimated at 2 to 2.5 percent of the GDP. This is equivalent to the effect of the entire Information Technology sector being taken out of the Indian economy! Even worse was the human tragedy, including large-scale displacement, destitution and forced migration.

Farakka became a symbol of Indian domination and stoked anti-Indianism in Bangladesh, which the Right cynically exploited. Anti-Indianism entered the mainstream. Banerjee could have been persuaded to understand the importance of undoing this blunder. She might even have comprehended the inequity of the current Teesta water-sharing pattern, under which India reportedly has access to about 32,000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water during the lean season for eight million people, while Bangladesh must make do with just 5,000 cusecs for 20 million. Unfortunately, such a focussed effort was not made. Even if it had been, it’s conceivable that Banerjee would still have been obstructionist – for wholly narrow, short-term political reasons. As a last resort, the Centre could have asked for more time to negotiate a satisfactory Teesta accord, and still tried to get Banerjee on board. That didn’t happen. The Teesta failure is a huge setback to the cause of radically reforming Indo-Bangladesh relations.

Singh’s Dhaka visit was billed as a game-changer, which would pave the way for a Bay of Bengal community, including Burma, and provide greater linkages with Nepal and Bhutan, thus promoting South Asian integration. It would also greatly facilitate transit and trade between India’s northeast and the mainland. Transporting 45 percent of all goods to the region through waterways, roads, rail and air links via Bangladesh would yield enormous savings in fuel and time. The advantages of developing this backward and restive northeast cannot be overstated. India must reverse the damage by negotiating fair and equitable agreements on all the shared rivers with Bangladesh as quickly as possible. India must acknowledge that Bangladesh has legitimate concerns about some Indian dam projects such as Tipaimukh in Manipur. These must be addressed in a cooperative spirit. The Bangladesh government has acted positively on India’s demands on transit and security. It has refused to provide sanctuaries to insurgent groups from the northeast, enabling the agreement now being reached with the United Liberation Front of Asom.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has gone out of her way to meet Indian requests, often at the risk of being branded unacceptably pro-Indian. India should do more than reciprocate all this. Indian policymakers need to remind themselves of the Gujral Doctrine, a worthy principle which held that India’s dealings with all her neighbours barring Pakistan must go beyond strict reciprocity, to generously unilateral gestures. (I would argue this should apply to Pakistan too, especially in trade and people-to-people exchanges, but that’s another matter.) The Gujral Doctrine created goodwill for India, and helped counter the charge that India has a Big Brother-like attitude towards its smaller neighbours and doesn’t hesitate to interfere in their internal affairs, as it did by sending troops to Sri Lanka, imposing an embargo on goods going to Nepal, and militarily intervening in the Maldives. It’s imperative that India rectify not just the image, but the object (its relations).

As India-Bangladesh relations go, it is not enough for New Delhi to rest on the small gains made through the various agreements signed in Dhaka on the land boundary, biodiversity conservation, economic cooperation, and a $750 million loan for trade infrastructure, etc. India must correct the huge imbalance in bilateral trade, with a deficit of $4.5 billion vis-à-vis a country that’s 15 times smaller in economic size. Readymade garments make up 80 percent of Bangladesh’s exports. In 2008, India started giving “duty-free” access to them, but still levied a countervailing duty of 4 to 12 percent, thus taking away with the left hand what was given with the right hand. The garment quota was raised from eight million pieces to 10 million last year, but Bangladesh exhausted this year’s quota in the first six months.

India still has 480 items on its “negative” trade list for Bangladesh. But if all these were to be given true duty-free access, it would cost India a paltry $5 million loss in revenue, according to a 2008-09 estimate by the Centre for Policy Dialogue in Dhaka. Such access would greatly boost investment, growth and employment in Bangladesh, with immense benefits for regional integration. India must develop imaginative strategies in trade, economic and cultural cooperation, education and action to combat climate change. Bangladesh is one of the world’s most climate change-vulnerable countries. Parts of India’s East Coast are equally vulnerable. Cyclone Aila, which devastated large swathes in Bangladesh and India’s Sunderbans, showed this in 2009.

As a precondition for this change of stance, India must stop seeing itself primarily as part of the global Big League and relate seriously to the South Asian region to which it belongs, geographically, culturally and strategically.

The writer, a former newspaper editor, is a researcher and peace and human-rights activist based in Delhi. Email: prafulbidwai1@yahoo.co.in

 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=68341&Cat=9

Mamata Banerjee and our disappointment

Syed Badrul Ahsan

THE DAILY STAR, Wednesday, September 7, 2011

OP-ED

Ground Realities

There is little question of the pre-eminence Mamata Banerjee holds in Indian national politics, a place she has earned over the years through, first, her active role in the Indian National Congress and then in her own Trinamul Congress. She was a leading voice of dissent in West Bengal (recently renamed Paschimbanga) until she ran the Left Front out of power in the state in May this year. Equally significant has been her role in two union governments, in which she has served as minister for railways both times. Her present role as a crucial coalition partner in the UPA government in Delhi is a reality the powers that be in India do not ignore, for reasons which are only too obvious.

It was therefore only natural for everyone in Bangladesh to have been enthused by the thought that Mamata Banerjee would be on the team Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would lead to the talks with the Bangladesh government in Dhaka. As chief minister of a state with which Bengalis on this side of the political frontier have shared culture, indeed heritage and for a long time a state of unified politics (until the vivisection of the subcontinent in 1947), she certainly could have looked forward to a warm welcome from us. Now that she has decided not to be in Bangladesh with her nation's prime minister, we are truly saddened and genuinely surprised.

Our surprise is there because her refusal to be in Dhaka has given a sudden battering to our expectations. Where we had expected that Ms. Banerjee would play a major role in ensuring that the people of Bangladesh and the people of Paschimbanga shared the waters of the Teesta, as they have shared so many things throughout their long association in history, we are now left handling a situation where we must scramble to undo some of the damage she may have done to the future of India-Bangladesh relations. Clearly, the chief minister is unhappy at the way the Manmohan Singh government has been conducting negotiations with the Bangladesh government, with the probable terms of the deals Delhi and Dhaka mean to reach on key issues of common interest. By opting out of the trip to Dhaka, she has likely pushed back an opportunity for Bangladesh and India to inaugurate a new, more mutually beneficial relationship between each other.

We understand that Mamata Banerjee is miffed at the union government's failure to take her on board as it has sought to hammer out a deal with the Bangladesh government. The government, she has reasons to feel, would not have dealt with a Left Front administration (had it been in office) the way it has dealt with hers. She puts it across to people that the Indian prime minister has kept her in the dark about the negotiations in Dhaka. That, again, is rather a far-fetched idea, seeing that it would be politically naïve, even suicidal, on the part of the Delhi authorities to ignore a critical state, one with which Bangladesh shares much more than rivers and a border, as they go into hammering out a deal with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government. The extent to which Ms. Banerjee's feelings may have been misplaced is borne out by the fact that the union government kept her fully apprised of what it meant to do in Dhaka. Senior government functionaries were in touch with her three times and kept her posted on the details of the draft agreements to be discussed with the Bangladesh authorities. That only upholds the collegial attitude the Manmohan Singh administration has adopted in governance. Where the Trinamul is concerned, the prime minister has been particularly careful, especially since he needs the Banerjee government's support on any deal with Bangladesh over the Teesta waters and especially again because the Trinamul Congress happens to be a key element in the ruling coalition in Delhi.

The question, ours, is then simple: given the facts, why did the Paschimbanga chief minister pour cold water, in that clichéd manner of speaking, on a bright new promise that looked about to open up a shining new dawn for the people of Bangladesh and India? That matters had been discussed with her, that the political system India is governed by affords little room for the centre to bypass state governments on anything of either a domestic or international nature, is a truth that does not come into question. And yet Mamata Banerjee, clearly for reasons that she has not spelt out, reasons we suspect have to do with domestic Trinamul politics in her state, has now pushed the entire gamut of Delhi-Dhaka negotiations into a bad state of uncertainty. We cannot but reflect on whether Jyoti Basu or Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee would do what Mamata Banerjee has done. Basu remains a hugely loved figure in Bangladesh. Bhattacharjee has always been aware of the historicity of the links which have consistently kept the two Bengals in a state of firm bonding.

Our disappointment at Mamata Banerjee's withdrawal from the negotiations in Dhaka is deep. Even so, we keep hope going -- that Manmohan Singh and Sheikh Hasina will yet strike a deal which will reinforce the links between their countries, that they will give a new meaning to history through injecting new substance and impetus into its various and varied contours.

The writer is Editor, Current Affairs, The Daily Star. E-mail: bahsantareq@yahoo.co.uk

Manmohan says Mamata assented to Teesta deal

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addresses the 

media on board his special flight to Delhi on Wednesday.

By Praveen Swami

THE HINDU, September 8, 2011 (On Board air india one)

Indian negotiators still unaware of West Bengal's special objections to water deal, highly placed sources say.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that the West Bengal government assented to a strategic water-sharing agreement with Bangladesh before backing out of it over the weekend — and thus forcing India to resile on its international commitments.

Dr. Singh said he had consulted with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for over a month on the details of the treaty, asking National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon “to seek guidance from her.” “I was told that all technical details were sorted out,” Dr. Singh told journalists on-board his flight home from Dhaka.

Last week, the Trinamool Congress raised objections to the draft treaty at a meeting of the Cabinet's Political Affairs Committee. “I again sent Shankar Menon to visit Kolkata,” Dr. Singh said. “He had a meeting, and what the Chief Minister said, and what Mr. Menon understood, he took to Dhaka, and the arrangement was made.”

But, Dr. Singh continued, “some other factors came up and therefore Ms. Banerjee said that she will not accompany me to Dhaka. “It was only subsequently,” he insisted, “that I learned her disagreement was on account on what we were attempting to do on the Teesta.”

Indian negotiators, a highly placed government source told The Hindu, have still received no explanation for West Bengal's eleventh-hour decision to reject the draft water-sharing treaty — making it impossible for them to explain the country's stand to their Bangladesh counterparts or to lay the foundations for an alternative agreement.

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed said on Tuesday night that New Delhi and Dhaka had “reached an understanding on water-sharing in the Teesta and Feni rivers” — the first official acknowledgment of just how close negotiators were to closing a deal.

The agreement, diplomatic sources told The Hindu, envisaged that India would be entitled to just under half the Teesta's waters, and called for both sides to carry out joint studies on how much was available before setting up a bilateral body charged with administering the treaty.

However, New Delhi was forced back out of the deal just hours before the Prime Minister's arrival in Bangladesh, after Ms. Banerjee refused to travel with him to Dhaka. Ms. Banerjee has made not offered an explanation of precisely what objections she has to the proposed treaty, but sources in her party said the draft presented to Bangladesh differed from the one she discussed with Mr. Menon.

The Prime Minister declined to discuss Ms. Banerjee's claims, saying he did not want to “enter into a disputation.”

The troubled Teesta

Even though farmers in Bangladesh will be the immediate beneficiaries of the Teesta treaty, it has huge implications for India. The treaty, which will provide a template for agreements to share the waters of 53 rivers with Bangladesh, will also help India establish principles for pressing its claims to rivers originating in China.

India and Pakistan began talking about the Teesta's waters soon after Independence. The talks went nowhere. In 1961, India adopted unilateral plans to build a barrage on its side of the border, raising concerns downstream.

Following more years of failed talks, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a consensus statement in 1976 which directed both countries to arrive at a “fair and expeditious” agreement. Even though the India-Bangladesh joint rivers commission held over a 100 meetings, a deal could not be hammered out.

Bangladesh completed construction of the Dalia barrage, the country's largest irrigation project, in 1979. The Dalia project was intended to use the Teesta's waters to irrigate some 540,000 hectares of land in the country's northern rice-growing heartlands. From 1985, the 4,500-km canal network meant to carry the Teesta's waters to farmers opened its gates.

The farmers got the water they desperately needed — but then, just a few years later, the canals ran dry.

In 1993, farmers in West Bengal began to get water from the Gazoldoba barrage in Jalpaiguri, which India had built on the Teesta. The Indian project supplied water for 228,000 hectares — farmers who used their votes to ensure that their needs were met before Bangladesh.

From 1996, scholars Yoshiro Higano and Muhammad Fakrul Islam have noted, India's “exclusive control of the Teesta's water in the dry season at Gazoldoba made the Dalia barrage useless.” In the monsoon, they said, releases of water from the barrage caused “floods and bank erosions, leading to serious suffering”.

In 1997, though, a draft treaty on the Teesta was hammered out, a year after the former West Bengal Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu, helped steward a landmark treaty on the Ganga. “He was a great man,” the Prime Minister acknowledged today.

Little progress was made in the decade and a half since, breeding bitterness in desperately-poor Bangladesh where farmers are hit by crippling water shortages in low-rainfall years.