Bengal to be divided into two more administrative divisions

The state government on Monday decided to set up two more administrative divisions and to have districts under each division to be restructured.

Partha Chatterjee, state Parliamentary Affairs and Education minister, said that the decision to set up two more divisions, namely Malda and Midnapore, was taken in Monday’s Cabinet meeting considering that it would ensure better implementation and monitoring of projects.

So far, there are three administrative divisions in the state – Burdwan, Jalpaiguri and Presidency. There were seven districts each under Burdwan and Jalpaiguri division and six under Presidency division.

With the formation of two more administrative divisions, there will be only three to four districts under each division. Under the newly formed Malda division, Murshidabad, Malda, North and South Dinajpur districts will be included. Four districts – Bankura, Purulia, East and West Midnapore – will come under the other newly formed Midnapore division.

Kolkata, Howrah, Nadia, North and South 24-Parganas will fall under Presidency division, with its headquarters in Kolkata. There will be three districts – Burdwan, Hooghly and Birbhum – under the Burdwan division. Burdwan division’s headquarters is in Hooghly’s Chinsurah. Jalpaiguri will have four districts under its jurisdiction, namely Darjeeling, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar.

Each of the division is headed by a divisional commissioner. For this purpose, divisional commissioners of both Malda and Midnapore divisions will be posted soon.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet has also taken the decision to increase the annual grant under Sikshashree scheme for schedule caste (SC) students from Class V to VII.

Students of all the three classes will be getting Rs 750 every year. Previously, an SC boy studying in Class V used to get Rs 500 every year, while a class VI and VII student used to get Rs 650 and Rs 700 every year.