Addressing a public rally at Al-Ameen Model School Papuri ground in Nanoor, Birbhum, Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee recalled her association with the area and that she would visit the district as a child.
“I hail from Birbhum. I used to come to my village in Birbhum when I was a young child. I used to come here after exams for a month. I am very well accustomed to the way of village life. Birbhum is a very fertile land.” She said with local candidates from the area Bidhan Chandra Majhi, Kajol Sheikh, Sheikh Sahonawaz, Naresh Bauri, Chandranath Sinha, Abhijit Sinha and Ashish Banerjee on stage.
Recalling an incident at Nanoor when she was the railway minister, she said: “I was the rail minister and was in Delhi when I got to know that at Nanoor 11 Tapashili brothers were murdered brutally. I boarded the Rajdhani Express. I knew that I had to get down at Durgapur and travel to Nanoor by road. Rajdhani Express didn’t stop at Durgapur previously. From that day when I got down at Durgapur, it became a stoppage for Rajdhani Express. I sent Gautam Bose, my personal assistant, to Nanoor to find out the condition of the dead bodies. He came back and told me that the corpses were not even covered with a white cloth. I instructed him to help their families personally,” she recalled.
Mamata added that that was the trigger when she decided to start a scheme which would ensure the last rites of the deceased can be performed with dignity, and the family of the deceased does not need to beg. Today, poor people get financial assistance of Rs 2000 to perform the last rites of their loved ones with dignity under Samabyathi scheme
The Chief Minister listed the developmental works done in the district by her government. “Several bridges have been built. Birbhum and Burdwan are now well connected. We have built Baul Bitan and Rangabitan to boost tourism. We have built the Biswa Bangla University. Around Rs 400 crore have been spent. We have also built an ITI college. An Eklavya Model School has been established. In Bolpur, a super speciality hospital has been built. Child care has been given special emphasis. We have set up a blood bank, fair price medicine shop, diagnostic centre and mother-child care hub,” she said.
Several big to medium drinking water projects are ongoing here. Rs 61 crore has been spent. Roads have been developed. Industrial parks and Karmatirthas have been developed. We are building malls in every district. Two floors of these malls will be reserved for the women of SHGs where they can sell their products. In Bolpur, we have established a women-run police station, farmers’ market, Sufal Bangla outlets, Patha Sathi and bus terminus. A check-dam has also been built over Kopai river in Kankalitala, she spoke about the steps taken by the govt.
Talking about the various schemes started by the govt, she added: The government procures paddy from farmers. We procured around 54,00,000 metric tons of paddy. The procured paddy is distributed through Khadya Sathi scheme for free. Both potato and paddy cultivators are insured by the government. If their produce gets damaged, they get compensated. Farmers don’t need to pay any premium. We bear the cost. Farmers with more than 1 acre of land get financial assistance of Rs 10,000 per year. Farmers who have one katha land get Rs 4000 as financial assistance per year. Now landless labourers will also get Rs 4000 financial assistance. Electricity bill of up to Rs 2000, which farmers used to pay to the power department for irrigation, has been waived off.