Kolkata: Alluding to Union Home minister Amit Shah and his party, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Tuesday, said, “they” do not know the culture of Bengal.
Mamata was reacting to her party MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay’s statement where the latter drew her attention towards Shah’s remark that North Kolkata had constructed Ram Mandir before Ayodhaya’s Ram Mandir opened its gate for visitors. The Union minister said this while inaugurating the Santosh Mitra Square Puja on Monday.
“They don’t know about our culture. Why did Lord Rama invoke Goddess Durga untimely (Akal Bodhon)? He did that to defeat demon Ravana,” Banerjee remarked.
During the virtual inauguration of Amra Sakal Palli Samiti in Alipore, she asked Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister, and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim not to use the word “Bustee” (slum) any longer. Instead, she suggested using “Prayas” or “Uttaran”. Banerjee also slums can instead be referred to as ‘Uttaran 1’, ‘Uttaran 2’ etc.. Hakim told Banerjee that he would take the necessary steps in this regard.
She also enquired whether the slum dwellers have received “Thika tenancy rights”. Hakim confirmed they have. Under the new rules which came into effect after the state government amended the West Bengal Thika Tenancy (Acquisition and Regulation Act), a Thika tenant is now considered a leaseholder and a sub-tenant an assignee. Most slums in Kolkata are situated on Thika lands which the government had acquired from zamindars post-independence while allowing the tenants to continue to occupy these lands.
The 2019 amendment has allowed these tenants to become lessees, thus giving them the right to develop their homes on these lands. This also allowed them to secure bank loans to build houses on a small area of land; up to 3 cottahs. In Kolkata, there are about 2000 acres of Thika tenancy land. As a first step towards making it easier for Thika tenants to obtain no-objection certificates (NOC) against a sanction plan for building their homes.
Banerjee virtually inaugurated many Puja pandals which include Md Ali Park, College Square, Bagbazar Sarbojanin. She invoked Goddess Durga through incantations in Sanskrit while inaugurating various Puja pandals.
Banerjee said that she was unable to physically visit the Puja pandals due to her leg-related ailments. She, however, confirmed her presence on the day of the mega carnival on Red Road on October 27.