For all-round development of the Scheduled Caste community, the state government is all set to form a Scheduled Caste Advisory Council on the lines of the existing Tribal Advisory Council (TAC).
On her North Bengal tour, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at the Bagdogra Airport on Monday and headed for Jalpaiguri where she attended a meeting of the Tribal Advisory Council.
"There is a large Scheduled Caste population in our state which includes 30 lakh SC students. We have to give impetus to their development," Banerjee said while addressing media after the TAC meeting held at the PWD bungalow in Jalpaiguri.
The state is also preparing a dictionary in Alichiki script for the Santhal community. "The dictionary will be completed within a month. We are giving a lot of stress in preserving and uplifting the unique culture, language and scripts of different tribal communities. We are trying to impart education to these communities in their own languages," announced Banerjee.
Waving off allegations of interference in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), Banerjee stated that in no way did the state interfere in the functioning of the GTA. "There are boards working for the development of different communities," she clarified.
"We want to increase the monthly stipend for SC students which is Rs 400 at present. However, the Centre is not cooperating with us. Earlier, a Union minister had assured that they would ensure the opening of seven closed tea gardens in Dooars. Till date, they have not done anything in this regard. On the other hand, we are implementing different schemes for the benefit of the workers in these closed tea gardens," added Banerjee.
The Chief Minister welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on Aadhaar Card.
"The Centre should first ensure that all citizens get their Aadhaar cards and then only issue such diktats. How can they say that citizens will not get pension or cannot withdraw their own money without Aadhaar cards," she added.
Incidentally, this is the second meeting of TAC, the first one was held last year in Jhargram. Tribal Welfare Minister James Kujur also attended the meeting. On Tuesday, the Chief Minister will be attending an administrative meeting of the Jalpaiguri district at 1:30 pm. The meeting will be held at the Art Complex. This will be followed by a meeting on private nursing homes.
Banerjee will also attend a government programme to be held on the grounds of the Sports Complex. She will announce a host of projects apart from inaugurating and laying the foundation stones of various other important projects. On Wednesday, the Chief Minister will attend an administrative meeting of the Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts at the Pintail village in the outskirts of Siliguri.
She will also announce the upgradation of Mirik block into a new sub-division of the Darjeeling district on Thursday. The announcement will be made by Banerjee at 3 pm fromAley Ground in Mirik.