alipurduar: The response in Alipurduar has been massive in the letter collection drive for recovery of funds for the 100-day work, launched by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
During a public meeting in Baburhat, Alipurduar district, in April, Abhishek Banerjee had given a clarion call to the public. “Please write one crore letters urging pending amounts for the 100-day work scheme. I will recover the pending amount of money for the 100-day work from Delhi,” he had said.
The response has been overwhelming in Alipurduar. The collection of letters began in Alipurduar district on Wednesday. The TMC has set a target of collecting 300,000 letters solely from the Alipurduar district. On Sunday, MLA of Alipurduar, Suman Kanjilal, and TMC’s district general secretary, Bhaskar Mazumdar, were present at Balatari village of Chaporer Par Gram Panchayat, located near the Alipurduar Sadar block. Letters were being collected from households in the area on that day. Upon hearing the news of letter collection at the booth-level, people from the surrounding booths also came out to participate.
MLA Suman Kanjilal stated: “Since the initiation of the letter collection campaign, we have received an immense and overwhelming response. Those who have worked for 100 days in the villages but have not received their wages for the past two years are now applying for the recovery of their pending payments by providing their identification and job card numbers.”
Kanjilal further added: “We do not see any political color. Regardless of which political party the person at the booth belongs to, if they are hindered from working for 100 days, we will stand by them.
The Central government is blaming corruption in the 100-days work. We are also demanding punishment for the corrupt. However, the common people work for their wages. Why is the Central government depriving them of their rightful payment?”
Prakash Chik Barai, the Alipurduar district president of Trinamool, said: “We will visit almost 1,100 booths in the nearly 64 Gram Panchayats of the district. The workers at every booth of the party are actively engaged. With optimistic enthusiasm, we will be able to collect 300,000 letters very soon.”
Bhaskar Mazumdar, the district general secretary of Alipurduar TMC, said: “The common people are coming forward against the obstacles imposed by the Central government. The Central government is intentionally withholding people’s money. The common people have realised our intentions, and they themselves are coming forward to write letters to us. The collection of area-specific letters is ongoing in every Gram Panchayat of the district. On average, around 5,000 to 6,000 letters are being collected per day.”