ITI project shifted from Kakuria due to land problems: Debnath

West Bengal's minister of state for Land and Land Reforms, Swapan Debnath on Sunday clarified that the proposed Industrial Training Institute (ITI) at Kakuria would be shifted to neighbouring Begpur due to land problems.

Denying reports published in a section of media that the ITI had been shifted because he had trailed by 700 votes from Kakuria panchayat in the recent assembly elections, Debnath who is also minister of state for Micro and Small Industries, said he had been "misquoted".

Inaugurating a branch of a cooperative bank in Shahajpur village under Kakuria panchayat on Saturday, the minister was quoted as saying that in the last four years, the Mamata Banerjee government had allocated Rs 17 crore, built colleges, water supply projects, roads and bridges and yet he had trailed by 700 votes in Kakuria.

He was quoted as having said, "Wherever there was development, people had blessed Mamata Banerjee but why did people here not think even once? I have decided to shift the proposed project to neighbouring Begpur." 

Debnath had won by over 37000 votes from Purbasthali-Dakshin constituency, defeating his nearest Congress rival Abhijit Bhattacharya.