Demand for CBI probe into West Bengal chit fund scam

PTI,  December 18, 2013 17:06 IST

                       Left Party MPs stage a protest march demanding action in the Saradha                                          Chit Fund Scam at  Rajpath in New Delhi on Wednesday. Photo: R.V. Moorthy

NEW DELHI: A demand for a CBI inquiry into the chit fund scam in West Bengal and adjoining states was made in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday amid protest by Trinamool Congress members that the matter, which is subjudice, cannot be taken up in the House.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Prashant Chatterjee (CPI-M) said chit fund companies in West Bengal have cheated residents of the state and no action has been initiated against them.

He said a member of the House Kunal Ghosh was also arrested in this connection and demanded that a CBI inquiry be conducted on the issue, which was strongly opposed by Trinamool members Derek O’Brien and Sukhendu Sekhar Roy.

“We demand a CBI inquiry into the issue of chit fund scam. A member of this House Kunal Ghosh has also been arrested in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam,” Mr. Chatterjee said amid the din created by TMC members.

Raising a Point of Order, Mr. Roy said, “A subjudice matter cannot be taken up in the House,” while objecting to reference of TMC member’s name in the House.

Rejecting the Point of Order, Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien said it has already been permitted by the Chairman but said he will expunge any remark which is against norms or is unparliamentary.

Demand for CBI probe into West Bengal chit fund scam - The Hindu

ANHAD exposes Modi’s wrongs in West Bengal, shows film on malnutrition and graft in Gujarat

By Zaidul Haque, TwoCircles.net

14^th December, 2013

Kolkata: A press conference was held by Act Now for Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD) at Kolkata Press Club on December 10. It was presided over by Shabnam Hashmi and Dhruv Sangri.

The conference highlighted Narendra Modi’s miss-governance in his own state of Gujarat as he claims of bringing development to all of India. “People should know how are the people of Gujarat living now under Narendra Modi’s chief ministership. Gujarat ranks in worst position after Modi came to power. Every third day, a women is raped in Gujarat. Where is the development?” asked activist and chief functionary of ANHAD.

Shabnam Hashmi

Along with ANHAD member and Sufi singer Dhruv Sangari, Shabnam showed a short film titled `Kachcha Chittha’ an investigative series on Modi’s misdeeds. The film captures Modi’s expenditures for Sadbhavana Upvas. It also exposed the truth of Modi’s expenditure for his rallies.

Modi’s Sadbhavna Upvas cost was Rs. 50,000 excluding the costs of lightning was upto Rs. 1,80,000, Rs. 5,00,000 for hoardings, Rs. 20,00,000 for putting up tents.

While citing documentary evidence Shabnam said, “In 1995, when BJp’s government came to power in Gujarat 1995, the state loan was 10,000 cr which increased to Rs. 45,301 when Modi took office as CM in 2001. This whopping amount of loan increased to Rs. 2,00,765 cr upto 30 December 2012.”

“Out of 225 blocks in Gujarat, 57 are identified as undeveloped. In these blocks, 44.6 % infants in the category of below 5 years age are suffering due to lack of nutrition, 70 % suffer from Anemia and 40% are under weight. Moreover, out of 20 states with high anemia record Gujarat is at the top.” She is also said that the state of education is pathetic in Gujarat. In 8 districts of Gujarat vacancy of teachers has reached the number of 2494.

While quoting the census report of 2011 she also said that 29% people, which is upto Rs.1,75,00,000 of total population of Gujarat, do not get purified drinking water. Similarly, 32% of people were living under poverty line in 2001 which swelled to 39% by 2011, she said. She also mentioned the reports published by National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), Shabnam said that from 2004 to 2010 Gujarat is consistently ranking an all-time low in alleviating poverty.

“Only 12% Muslims have bank accounts in Gujarat out of which only 2.6% get loans. According to NSSO report, the percentage of Muslim employees recruitment in the last 12 years is nearly zero,” said Shabnam. She also said that 1958 cases related to Gujarat massacre are still now pending in Supreme Court, but only 117 persons are arrested. As far as attendance in state assembly is concerned, they have hardly met for 30-32 days.

ANHAD exposes Modi’s wrongs in West Bengal, shows film on malnutrition and graft in Gujarat

West Bengal: Father to marry off daughter after losing in gambling

PTI : Malda, Fri Dec 13 2013, 16:30 hrs

MALDA: In a shocking incident, a gambler has fixed his 13-year-old daughter's marriage to his neighbour after losing to him during a marathon gambling session at Krishnapur - Buritala village in Malda district.

The father, a compulsive gambler, was locked in a gambling bout with local youth Sukumar Mandal on December 1. After losing everything, he put his girl at stake, and again lost.

The two families started making wedding plans immediately after that.

The marriage has been fixed for January 22 next and the engagement ceremony on December 9 was attended by villagers and relatives.

The girl, a Class VIII student, had stopped attending school after she was engaged to the man, who is double her age.

When contacted, Habibpur BDO Arnab Roy told PTI he had sent a team to the village, bordering Bangladesh, on Thursday to get the details.

The team will meet him on Friday and he has requested members of 'Çhildline', an NGO dedicated to children's welfare, to be present at the meeting.

The BDO has also informed the district social welfare officer about it.

The BDO said all out efforts would be made to stop the marriage as early marriage is a punishable offence.

Roy said illiteracy was the reason behind the incident and efforts would be made to make both the families aware about the drawbacks of child marriage and that it was a punishable offence.

Political insensitivity followed gangrape in West Bengal

Mamata Banerjee accused the protesters as being Maoist sympathisers

• By Archisman Dinda, Correspondent
• Published: 21:00 December 15, 2013

Kolkata: At a time when the Nirbhaya case was reaching its logical end in Delhi, the gangrape and murder of a 20-year-old girl returning home after appearing for a university examination at Kamduni village in North 24 Parganas district on June 7 shocked the state. West Bengal held the dubious record of the highest incidents of crime against women for the second consecutive year in 2012, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

This case was similar to the Nirbhaya case in many ways: the girl’s father, a rickshaw puller, insisted on educating his daughter and had even refused marriage proposals. He forced people to wake up to the alarming crime situation in the state, demanding justice and protection for women.

However, people were stunned by the reaction of West Bengal’s first woman chief minister Mamata Banerjee. They wanted to see that Banerjee who, as leader of opposition, was always the first to reach any spot and stand by people in the hour of crisis. When she finally made that “secret visit” to the victim’s house 10 days after the incident, Banerjee lost her cool with the women there who were shouting slogans demanding security and justice. She accused them of beings Maoist and Communist sympathisers and of trying to kill her during the visit. Political appeasement followed, as the victims’ brothers were offered jobs and other compensation. But they refused, demanding justice, making the government look more pathetic in the eyes of the public.

Banerjee promised justice in 30 days, and in trying to keep with the timetable, the police filed an incomplete chargesheet earning the wrath of the court. This gave the culprits more time and denied the victim swift justice. The main accused, Saiful Mollah, and the other seven — Ansar Ali, Shamimul Ali, Amirul, Bhola Naskar, Amin Ali, Nur Ali and Gopal Naskar — were eventually tried under sections that carry life imprisonment.

Political insensitivity followed gangrape in West Bengal | GulfNews.com

Rocket, not to Mars but in pockets

ZEESHAN JAWED AND MEGHDEEP BHATTACHARYYA

THE TELEGRAPH, Wednesday, 6^th November, 2013

Calcutta, Nov. 5: Vegetable prices have rocketed up to 175 per cent this Bhai Phonta compared with their rates during the festive season last year.

While the prices of onion have doubled in the past 12 months, those of brinjal have almost trebled.

Although prices tend to move northwards during the festive season — from Durga Puja to Chhat — because of a spurt in demand, sources in the agricultural marketing department termed this year’s escalation “unprecedented”.

In an attempt by The Telegraph to capture the extent of price rise, the rates of a select set of vegetables from various Calcutta markets were considered over the past two days and were compared with the prices last year.

The prices of most vegetables were found to have shot up by 80 per cent on average.(See chart)

“I spent Rs 310 on vegetables today. This is the highest I have paid in recent times…. Something must be wrong,” said Sreemoyee Banerjee in Salt Lake’s CA market today.

The chief minister has of late criticised the Centre for failing to contain price rise. Mamata Banerjee had set up a task force to keep prices of essential commodities in the state in check. She had said her government was the only one to have set up such a team.

But the prevailing vegetable prices suggest the task force has failed.

A member of the task force attributed the price rise to untimely rain and the recent floods in the two Midnapores, Howrah and Hooghly, which affected crops across hectares.

“Till a few days ago, there was hardly any harvest in the villages because of heavy rain. The supply dropped, the demand kept rising. The severe mismatch pushed up vegetable prices,” he added.

Another official said hoarding by a section of traders, who form the supply chain between the farmer and the retailer, was also responsible for the price rise.

Middlemen — known as phore in markets — operate in almost all sectors. They play a key role in the supply chain, which makes them eligible for gains from the trade.

According to an official of the agricultural marketing department, the “activism” of the task force is limited to Calcutta markets. But the hoarding usually takes place midway, between the supply of vegetables from the districts and the markets.

Lack of preparation in handling a sudden shortfall — as had happened in the case of potato — is another reason for the spiralling prices, the official said.

“During the Left rule, the government used to buy 12 per cent of the total potatoes in cold storages…. Given the annual production in the range of 90 to 100 lakh tonnes, this would have meant around 10-12 lakh tonnes with the government. A sudden shortfall could have been handled with this,” he added.

The Left government also had an agreement with other potato producers like Punjab and Uttar Pradesh to bail out Bengal during the festive season. In 2009, Bengal bought 10,000 tonnes of the tuber from Punjab.

The government yesterday had promised to provide potatoes at Rs 11 a kg to retailers in 20 Calcutta markets to be sold to consumers at Rs 13. But the potatoes arrived so late, the retailers had left by then. The Jyoti variety was not available while the Chandramukhi sold at Rs 24 a kilo.

Rocket, not to Mars but in pockets.

Rocket, not to Mars but in pockets

Cut off Congressmen's hands: Anubrata Mondal

Debajyoti Chakraborty, TNN Nov 8, 2013, 05.50AM IST

KATWA: On July 17, ahead of the panchayat polls, Trinamool Congress's Birbhum district chief Anubrata Mondal had asked people to burn the houses of independent candidates and beat up policemen if they came to their rescue. The result — large-scale arson and the alleged murder of a rebel Trinamool candidate's father, Hriday Ghosh.

On Wednesday, Anubrata stepped beyond Birbhum, and threatened in Katwa: "If Congress workers continue to tear flex and hoardings of chief minister Mamata Banerjee or beat up Trinamool supporters, our supporters will cut off the wrists of the Congress workers."

On Thursday, the party's national secretary Mukul Roy backed the formidable Trinamool boss in Birbhum. "This is symbolic. It does not mean that Trinamool will attack or kill anyone," he said. Roy also tried to draw Gandhiji's parallel, though it wasn't clear what he meant by it.

Earlier in July, the chief minister tried to defend Anubrata in the Assembly saying , "What is his fault? He has already clarified to the DM (district magistrate) that he did not mean what he said." Anubrata had then said it was a slip of tongue. The clean chit from his party supremo didn't give any succour to Anubrata then. A Birbhum court that ticked off police for not doing its job tagged non-bailable charges against him.

The script is the same this time around. Three Congress leaders of Katwa, including the Katwa Municipality vice chairman, switched ranks to Trinamool Congress in Kolkata on Thursday. In 2009, Congress had swept the Katwa municipal polls 19-0 . Trinamool has been eyeing for a toehold in the Katwa Municipality. Anubrata is also a Trinamool observer for Burdwan, and hence is steering the party's efforts here.

Katwa Municipality vice chairman Amar Ram, former councillors Samindranath Banerjee and Jony Choudhury joined Trinamool on Thursday. Amar claimed that since 1995, the Congress-run Katwa civic board didn't take up any development work. He also complained of Congress workers attacking their supporters that triggered Anubrata's sharp retort. Rabindra Nath Chatterjee, Katwa's Congress MLA, said that he is not bothered what Anubrata Mondal has said. "We have strong base here and such threats will have little effect," he claimed.

Now consider this. Minister of state for railways Adhir Chowdhury had said a near-similar statement in a public rally in Berhampore on October 27. Adhir had then said, "You (Trinamool and police) like to threaten us. But we don't care. I will smash your heads if you try to terrorize my party supporters and activists." This prompted Murshidabad district magistrate Y Ratnakar Rao to report about it to the State Election Commission ( SEC) on November 1. The police then lodged a case under section 171C of the IPC (undue influence at elections ) and Adhir had to appear in court and take bail.

Anubrata, however, is luckier.

Cut off Congressmen's hands: Anubrata

Potato vanishes from Kolkata markets

TNN Nov 5, 2013, 02.06AM IST

KOLKATA/CHINSURAH/MIDNAPORE: It's not often that you see potatoes - or any vegetable - being sold under police guard but that's what happened in Manicktala market on Monday as potatoes disappeared from Kolkata's bazaars.

Most potato traders didn't even open shop on Monday morning and the few who did had little to sell. The largest selling Jyoti variety had vanished - the government wants retailers to sell this at Rs 13/kg. Chandramukhi potato sold for Rs 20-22 and even that disappeared quickly. Buyers at very few markets had the option of newly harvested potato - at Rs 40 a kilo. Not quite the post-Diwali pre-Bhai Phonta surprise they wanted.

This was largely the picture all over the state on Monday. Potato stocks didn't move out of cold storages and major wholesale markets in Hooghly, Bankura, West Midnapore and Burdwan remained closed.

Tuesday will be just as bad. Cold storage owners say traders haven't submitted mandatory requisitions for Tuesday. The new crop from Punjab's Hoshiyarpur and Una has just started entering Kolkata but it isn't enough.

Manicktala market was witness to bizarre scenes on Monday as hundreds stood in queue in front of a truck to buy potato at the government-approved rate. A team of policemen, with an armed officer, kept watch.

A few metres away, potato shops were deserted. Some traders slept on the benches, next to stacks of empty potato baskets. "Unless we receive supplies, what can we sell," said one of them, looking sleepily at the crowd jostling in front of the truck.

The potatoes were available in packets of 3 kg and 5kg. The queue often got disrupted when someone would ask for more. Then, the police would step in. "The government is providing you potatoes at the cheapest rates. Why do you want all of it yourself?" thundered an officer, who later identified himself to be from Enforcement Branch.

Another officer, in Kolkata Police uniform and a revolver in holster, directed the queue. Even the heat of the afternoon, the queue stretched to outside the market. When asked where else they would sell the government potatoes, the man handing out the packets said: "Many markets in north Kolkata. We'll go to Salt Lake tomorrow..." He was cut short by the one taking the money: "Don't expect normalcy before Wednesday. We can't make Bhai Phonta any sweeter for you."

There is more than enough potato in cold storages but things won't improve until Wednesday when the government is expected to move in and get these stocks released to the markets. On Tuesday, the government will send two trucks, carrying 2,000kg potato each, to the KMC markets department, which will send them to municipal markets in five zones. "KMC will sell it to retailers at Rs 11/kg, allowing them a profit of Rs 2/kg," said Tarak Singh, mayoral council member, markets.

The police crackdown on black marketing continues. Seventeen traders were arrested in Midnapore and Hooghly for allegedly selling potato at higher rates.

Potato vanishes from Kolkata markets

West Bengal’s ban on vegetable exports is retrograde

ET Bureau Nov 4, 2013, 04.37AM IST

KOLKATA: Mamata Banerjee has imposed a ban on export of vegetables from Bengal, creating shortages, particularly of potatoes, in the north-east and in some neighbouring states.

This not only works to the disadvantage of farmers in her own state but also against the idea of India as one coherent economic and political entity. If Punjab were to clamp down on export of wheat and rice from the state, Maharashtra of onions and Gujarat of petrochemicals, the result would be loss and chaos. Such bans are irrational and anti-national. Banerjee should lift the ban.

This does not mean that state governments should play passive observers as artificial shortage crimps their citizens' consumption of vegetables. On the contrary. State governments can and must launch a concerted intelligence drive to locate missing onions and potatoes, crack down hard on hoarders and bring the hoarded stocks to the market swiftly. There have been minor rain-induced problems in production and transport but initial estimates are that the onion crop in the current marketing year would be as much as 15% higher than the output of 16.3 million tonnes registered in 2012-13.

The structure of the onion market is extremely skewed and amenable to abuse by a few large traders, found a study commissioned by the Competition Commission of India, published in October 2012.

Some speculate the current shortage is the result of political manipulation, in which onions have been bought up, secreted away in empty flats, to feed anti-incumbency passions in a key consuming state like Delhi. Since farmers receive as little as Rs 5 a kg, the outlay on sequestering a million tonnes for a month is the cost of financing Rs 500 crore, if the principal onion traders cooperate. The governments of Maharashtra and Karnataka should actively get to the bottom of the onion shortage.

The Centre should issue strict warnings against the tendency to play the populist card displayed by the Bengal CM. At the same time, it has to initiate action to clean up the structure of agri-marketing, which today serves middlemen at the expense of farmers and consumers.

Soon, photo I-cards must for buying acid in West Bengal

By Sabyasachi Bandopdhyay : kolkata, Indian Express, Wed Nov 06 2013, 10:42 hrs

Buyers of any kind of acid for any purpose will now have to produce photo identity cards at shops, as the government is going to introduce stringent rules to control sale and possession of acid.

The rules include providing compensation of Rs 3 lakh to an acid attack victim, free medical treatment for them and reservation of beds for them at government hospitals, to name a few.

The state is amending Poison Act of 1919 to frame these rules. The draft rules, prepared by the Home Department, are now with the law department for vetting.

The government has taken this initiative following a directive from the Union Home Ministry to all state governments in September. The MHA did this in the wake of a Supreme Court directive to the central government to control sale and possession of acid.

Though no official figures are available, according to statistics provided by various NGOs and academic institutions, more than 150 attacks took place in India in the last 10-12 years. In West Bengal, in the last 10 years, 50 such attacks took place.

"We have framed new rules to control sale of acid. Photo-identity cards will be a must while purchasing acid,'' a Home Department official told The Indian Express.

In Kolkata, acid is sold at hardware shops and hardly any enquiry is done ahead of their purchase.

While a 750-ml bottle of nitric acid is sold for Rs 60, a bottle of similar quantity of sulphuric acid costs Rs 50. And a-500 ml bottle of Hydrochloric acid costs Rs 22. First two kinds are mostly used by mischief mongers.

"We usually do not sell acid to absolutely unknown persons but sometimes it is not possible to know the identity of the buyer. If the government introduces photo ID cards, it will be good for us,'' Arun Karmakar, a shopkeeper at Dum Dum told The Indian Express.

SFI leader's death: Govt sits on rights body suggestion

TNN | Oct 29, 2013, 04.47 AM IST

KOLKATA: The Mamata Banerjee government is sitting on the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC) recommendations yet again.

The WBHRC directed the government to pay Rs 10 lakh as compensation to the bereaved family ofSFI leader Sudipto Gupta, who was killed in police custody while being taken to Alipore Jail. The government didn't take any action on the August 26 order on the plea that the matter is lying with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

The SFI leader died on April 2 while being taken to the Presidency jail along with other protesters. The very next day, WBHRC took up the case suo-motu on media reports. During inquiry, the commission found that police had used a bus to take the protesters to jail and it was being driven by a driver who did not posses a driving licence. Subsequently, the commission directed the state to pay the compensation.

However section 35 (I) of Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 states: "The Commission shall not inquire into any matter which is pending before a State Commission or any other Commission duly constituted under any law for the time being in force." WBHRC members wondered how could the NHRC take up the matter when it was being probed by the state body.

According to sources from the state secretariat, the government had written to the NHRC about a month ago, asking for clarification from the commission as to whose order - NHRC or WBHRC - the government should follow as the matter was being taken up by two agencies. The NHRC took cognizance of the matter in May on the basis of two separate complaints filed by two NGOs, while WBHRC took cognizance of it suo-motu on April 3, a day after the incident. In fact, WBHRC communicated the same to NHRC on April 3 itself.

WBHRC received a communication from the government on September 12 saying that since the matter was being taken up by the NHRC, the state was in no position to implement the state human right's commission recommendations at this stage. Subsequently, this communication was placed before the full bench of the commission by registrar Rabindranath Samanta. WBHRC then wrote to NHRC saying that since it took cognizance of the incident prior to NHRC, it had no locus standi to investigate the matter fresh.

Manna Deys family upset with Mamata, refuses funeral in Kolkata

Aparajita Ray, TNN, Oct 24, 2013, 07.43PM IST

BANGALORE: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee called the late Manna Dey's younger daughter Sumita Deb around 11am on Thursday, asking to allow her government to host a grand funeral for the legendary singer.

She sent her representative, Kalyan Banerjee, MP from Kolkata, to pay tribute to the music maestro who had made Bangalore his home for two decades, and convince the bereaved family to allow the cremation to be performed in Bengal.

However, sources said Manna Dey's family ignored the Bengal CM's request and continued the rituals and cremation at the Hebbal crematorium here. Sumita was also not willing to talk to the West Bengal CM, they added.

The family was said to be upset with the apathy shown by the Mamata government in helping the singer's family during his five months of stay in hospital.

Sumita Deb told reporters the family had pleaded with the chief minister and Kolkata police commissioner to help them, when the funds set aside for his treatment were allegedly siphoned off by Dey's nephew. However, there was no response from them.

She said she hadn't rejected the offer to take the body to Kolkata but only decided to go ahead with the cremation, as everything had been arranged. "He was a simple man with great ideals, and would have preferred it this way."

Manna Dey's family had alleged that his nephew had withdrawn Rs 12 lakh from the joint account he shared with his uncle, jewellery and a watch valued at Rs 15 lakh from a locker.

"She didn't come forward to show any concern for the family which was going through a tough time in the five months and 10 days when he was undergoing treatment," Sumita said.

Manna Deys family upset with Mamata, refuses funeral in Kolkata

TMC Govt in West Bengal conspiring against me: Chowdhury

Last Updated: Sunday, October 27, 2013, 15:59  

Murshidabad (West Bengal): Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has claimed that the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) Government is conspiring against him and the Congress Party. 

Interacting with media at the Murshidabad District headquarters, Chowdhury said the West Bengal Government is trying to frame him for the June 2011 murder of TMC leader Kamal Sheikh and for attacking the District Magistrate's bungalow in Murshidabad with the help of 14 Congress workers in 2012. 

Chowdhury had applied for anticipatory bail in the second case in September this year. 

In the Kamal Sheikh murder case, a warrant was issued by a court in Behrampore and follows a charge sheet filed by the police in the murder case on September 26. 

Sheikh was killed by some miscreants in Murshidabad's Gorabazar area in 2011. 

Chowdhury's lawyer Pijush Ghosh said his client's name was in the charge sheet and the court accepted police's prayer and issued a warrant. 

"It's a cognizable offense and he can be arrested," he said. 

Trinamool Congress leader and Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee said the warrant is not a political matter. 

He was quoted by media, as saying earlier: "The court has issued some order and accordingly, the law will take its course. We won't comment on what he (Chowdhury) is alleging. He may allege anything but this is a court's order and not our party order. How can the government defy court's order?" 

But the Congress has called the move to arrest Chowdhury "a vendetta" since Murshidabad was his stronghold which Trinamool was trying to influence. 

"It is a plan of the TMC to weaken the Congress, as within a month, there will municipality elections in the district. The Congress, however, is prepared for every challenge," Chowdhury said. 

ANI

First Published: Sunday, October 27, 2013, 15:59

TMC Govt in West Bengal conspiring against me: Chowdhury

West Bengal floods and the blame game

By INDRANI DUTTA

THE HINDU, KOLKATA, October 21, 2013

It is indeed a tragedy that 17 lives should be lost in the recent floods in West Bengal, even as the trail of death and devastation left by the mighty Cyclone Phailin was hemmed in, in a manner that has attracted wide acclaim.

It is also ironical that an organisation like the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), described by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as one of the temples of modern India, found itself in the dock, accused of causing a disaster it was mandated to control.

Last week, just as the country heaved a sigh of relief that there was no major loss of life due to the monster cyclone, in West Bengal, people and their habitats were getting submerged under the gushing waters from the DVC and Jharkhand.

Caught unawares amid Durga Puja festivities, the West Bengal government simultaneously launched a rescue operation, and a tirade against the DVC and Jharkhand government, even shooting off a letter to the Prime Minister labelling the disaster as man-made.

The truth lies elsewhere.

The DVC came into existence in July 1948 as a multipurpose river valley project. Among its primary mandates were flood control, irrigation, and generation, transmission and distribution of power.

It controls floods mainly through four dams constructed in 1959. Their present storage capacity is 0.73 million cubic feet. All these are in Jharkhand, which had given land for these projects although it is not the targeted beneficiary.

These dams help check the mighty Damodar river which floods large parts of south Bengal when in spate during monsoon. The DVC, whose command area lies in a crescent through south Bengal and Jharkhand, is co-owned by the State governments of West Bengal and Jharkhand, and the Government of India.

The ageing DVC dams have helped moderate major and minor floods in 1959, 1961, 1973, 1978 and 1995, although their capacity has been reduced over the years.

The Durgapur Barrage, and its irrigation and navigation canals in West Bengal’s Bankura and Burdwan districts play a major role in the State’s flood control mechanism. They were built by the DVC and handed over to the State government for operation and maintenance. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s has charged the DVC and Jharkhand government with frequent discharge of water, which was flooding vast tracts of her State, adding that this was being done without adequate notice.

INDIFFERENT

Experts say that the buck should stop at the door of the successive State governments in West Bengal, including the present one, which has turned a Nelson’s eye to issues like de-silting the Durgapur Barrage — whose storage capacity is vastly reduced due to lack of maintenance. A day’s notice is given by the DVC and there is a 48-hour gap between the notice and the water actually reaching the flood-prone areas in Bengal. The same cannot be said of the Jharkhand government, which often releases water without adequate notice. The quantum of the release from the DVC and Jharkhand dams is linked with the actual amount of rainfall which does not come with much advance notice.

This year, the rainfall was particularly heavy in this region, which is unusual for this time of the year. Some flooding due to release of water is unavoidable and proactive measures, rather than reactive ones are called for. But it is the West Bengal government’s duty to protect its people from a ‘routine phenomenon.’ Playing politics and a high decibel blame-game is not the best way to do that.

West Bengal floods and the blame game - The Hindu

WBHRC report indicts TMC government, police in Presidency University attack case

By Indrajit Kundu  

India Today, Kolkata, October 22, 2013 | UPDATED 22:26 IST

KOLKATA: The West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC) on Tuesday finally came out with its observations on the April 2013 attack on Kolkata's prestigious Presidency University. 

In a scathing indictment of the Mamata Banerjee govt, the report blames 'police inaction' for the incident. The report clearly states that the ruling Trinamool Congress students wing TMCP was squarely responsible for the incident and that there was 'no provocation that came from within the University'. It also states that the police inaction was deliberate, as those on rampage belonged to the student wing of the ruling party.

WBHRC in its recommendations has asked the state govt should 'formulate suitable guidelines for dealing with cases of unlawful activities by the students in educational institutions'. In a scathing indictment, the report states that the police's 'failure to discharge duty' had resulted in serious erosion of values and vitiated the atmosphere in many educational institutions of the State.

The WBHRC had taken suo-moto cognizance of the incident that had shocked the entire students' fraternity in the state. The commission had formed a one-member committee headed by former Presidency principal Prof Amal Mukherjee. In his report, Mukherjee had claimed that the attack had a clear 'political motive', that it was done by 'outsiders' having specific political affiliations, that SFI was the main target of the attack, and that it was in 'retaliation to the attack on Bengal CM in Delhi the previous evening.'

OBSERVATIONS:

The Commisison finds that on 10.04.2013 the said University was peacefully conducting its teaching. The classes were also going on peacefully.  Around 1 O'clock a group of outsiders carrying TMCP flags and shouting slogans assembled at the main gate of university which was kept locked that time. 

Thereafter, the Registrar came out of the Vice Chancellor's room to receive a call on his cell phone when he heard a tremendous hue and cry coming from the gate and he rushed to the gate to find that the processionists had broken open the gate and entered the University campus. 

This version of the Registrar has virtually been corroborated by the Commissioner of Police and also by the Sub Inspector of Police, Sadhu Ch. Singha who was on the spot.  Sadhu Ch. Singha deposed that two of the processionists were trying to scale the university gate and were trying to tie the TMCP flags on the gate.

His findings are that at the time of the alleged incident, the situation in the University was peaceful and no provocation came from the University. These two findings tallied with the version of the police.

Mukhopadhyay gave details of the slogans which were raised by the processionists and from which it appears that they were angry with the SFI supporters in view of some incidents which happened in Delhi in which the Hon'ble Chief Minister of West Bengal was allegedly obstructed.

Professor Mukhopadhyay also held in the course of enquiry that one Shri Partha Bose, a Corporation Councilor of TMC was found standing with the unruly processionists who wanted to break open the University gate.

From the video footage shown to Professor Mukhopadhyay and the statement of Constable Sanjit, he came to hold that no brickbat was thrown from inside the University.

The human rights of the students certainly include the right to continue their studies in a peaceful atmosphere and the University authorities are also entitled to run the institution without being disrupted by such acts of hooliganism leading to destruction of their properties and leading to a total anarchy in the campus which posed a serious threat to the life and limbs of its students, teachers and members of the non-teaching staff.

Police was informed before the incident, in the course of the incident and police was present throughout the incident when the processionists went berserk in the University campus destroying properties, shouting slogans, assaulting students, chasing girl students at will for about an hour. Strangely enough no arrest was made even though the local Police Station was at a distance of less than one kilometer.

All these offences were committed with impunity by the intruders and the police was inactive. Any ordinary man of normal prudence will think that the police was inactive only because the processionists were carrying flags of TMCP which is the students' wing of the party in power.

In our opinion a major clash did not take place as the students of the University did not retaliate and were effectively controlled by their teachers. They were at the receiving end throughout the incident.

We do not think that for non-escalation of the situation, the Officer-in-Charge, Jorasakho Police Station deserves any credit. He miserably failed to discharge his duties possibly because he found that the rampaging students belong to the TMCP, the students wing of the party in power.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

The State Government should formulate suitable guidelines for dealing with the cases of unlawful activities by the students in educational institutions.

Even though law is clear, such guidelines are required to be made as police often fail to discharge their duties according to law to tackle unlawful activities by students in educational institutions.

This has resulted in serious erosion of values and vitiated the atmosphere in many educational institutions of the State. Instances of lawlessness by students are on the increase and these things must be curbed not only to protect the human rights of innocent students and helpless teachers but also to maintain the purity and sanctity of these institutions.

It must be remembered that the existing infrastructures in our educational institutions are inadequate and we can ill afford to deplete them further.

Education is the most cardinal factor in social development and without education all other rights are like writs in water. Those guidelines be framed by the State Government within two months from the date of communication of the order.

In so far as the inaction of the Officer-in-Charge of Jorasanko Police Station is concerned, the Commission refrains from making any recommendation as he has already been reprimanded by the higher authorities.

The State Government is requested to inform this Commission about the action taken on the basis of the recommendation as stated in (a) above within a period of two months from the date of communication.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/wbhrc-report-indicts-tmc-government-police-in-presidency-university-attack-case/1/319654.html

Writers’ Buildings temporarily dethroned as West Bengal’s seat of power

The State Secretariat will move to Howrah while renovation work is carried out at Writers’

For the first time in its history, the buzz of power that reverberates in the corridors of Writers’ Buildings, the West Bengal Secretariat, will fall silent as much of the Secretariat, including the Chief Minister’s office, will move to a new address on the other side of river Hooghly on Saturday.

Though the shift is temporary, the Trinamool Congress’s decision to relocate as many as 11 of its departments out of the historic building in the heart of the city has generated much curiosity.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced on August 7 that the relocation would take place as the historic structure, which she said had turned into a “tinderbox,” needed to be renovated and restored.

On Saturday, thousands of State government employees along with the Ministers will shift to the Howrah River Bridge Commissioners (HRBC) Building, a 14-storied high-rise on the banks of the Ganga in the Howrah district.

The entire process of restructuring the HRBC Building, christened ‘Nabanna’ (new crop of paddy), and that of renovating and restoring Writers’, which was constructed in the early 18 century, is estimated to cost the State Exchequer about Rs. 200 crore.

The HRBC Building, which was conceived and set up during the tenure of the previous Left Front government, was to have housed a garment park; now instead it will be the new seat of power of the State government.

A glance at the history of both pre and post- Independent era shows that Writers’ was in private hands till the East India Company bought it in 1854. It has since been one of the most important pieces of architecture in the city and a major landmark.

Historian P.T. Nair said the reddish, customised emulsion that forms Buildings’s exterior was used to bind the red bricks during its construction. That gave the structure, both Gothic and Regal, its trademark red colour.

Like many State employees used to working there, who rue their new address mainly because of infrastructure bottlenecks and lack of facilities such as drinking water, Mr. Nair is also unable to reconcile to the decision to shift the State Secretariat to Howrah.

One consolation could be the State government’s assurance that all statutory bodies concerned will be consulted during the process of restoration and renovation work.

The Department of Architecture at two prominent institutions — Jadavpur University and Bengal Engineering and Science University — have been given the task of preparing a detailed report on the structure’s restoration.

Writers’ Buildings temporarily dethroned as West Bengal’s seat of power - The Hindu