Will take measures to resolve erosion issues in phases, says Sabina Yeasmin
KOLKATA: Forty-year-old professor from Malda Sabina Yeasmin is not a greenhorn in the world of politics. But this time, being the only woman minister from the minority community, Yeasmin has been entrusted with greater responsibilities by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
After winning from Mothabari Assembly constituency by 55,956 votes, Yeasmin has been made the Minister of State for two crucial departments — Irrigation and Waterways and North Bengal Development. She had defeated BJP's Shyamchand Ghosh.
Having taken the pledge to fulfill people's expectation following the directions of the Chief Minister, Yeasmin is committed to end people's woes in Malda district arising due to river bank erosion. The only minister from Malda, Yeasmin is aware of the pain of those who lost their homes to soil erosion. Like a true lieutenant of the Chief Minister, she is focused on finding a permanent solution to the decades-old problem.
"The Centre hardly cares about common people's problems. So, repeated requests of the state government to address the problems of river erosion, mainly in Malda, have fallen to deaf ears. In such a situation, the state government will take measures to address the same in phases," the newly-appointed minister said, after holding meetings with senior officers of the state Irrigation and Waterways department in this regard. She is working hand-in-hand with the department's minister Saumen Mahapatra.
Earlier, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had also accused the BJP-led Centre of not taking steps to check flood-like situation and river erosion. Banerjee had assured that the state government would take up the tasks in phases. As MoS of the North Bengal Development department, Yeasmin would be holding meetings with senior officers of the department on May 18 or 19. She was elected three times – 2011, 2016 and 2021 – from the constituency. But during the first two times, she got elected as a Congress MLA. She was also appointed as MoS Labour in Mamata Banerjee's Cabinet in 2011.
But she had to resign as ties between Congress and Trinamool Congress (TMC) got severed. She later joined TMC in 2018 after getting inspired by the development work of Banerjee's government. A professor in Prof Syed Nurul Hasan College at Farakka, Yeasmin was introduced to politics by TMC Rajya Sabha MP Mausam Benazir Noor's mother, Rubi Noor.
Yeasmin, who also has a history of students' politics, had become the Sabhadipati of Malda Zilla Parishad (ZP) in 2008 and got the ticket to contest as a Congress candidate from Mothabari in 2011 when she was continuing as the ZP's Sabhadipati. Her father was also a member of the ZP. While talking about development of Malda, she said her main reason behind joining TMC was to ensure further development of the district and she would approach the Chief Minister for augmentation of infrastructure of the silk park at Moudipur.
A well-equipped food processing park would also generate employment opportunities in the district, which is known for its mango and litchi plantations.
