Ensure people are not deprived of basic amenities, says Mamata
Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday is learnt to have virtually instructed district magistrates, secretaries of various departments and representatives of urban local bodies to ensure people are not deprived of basic amenities.
She is scheduled to hold a meeting with the chairmen of all urban local bodies on Monday so that interventions can be made at the administrative level to ensure more amenities.
Banerjee is learnt to have instructed that basic amenities such as drinking water, roads, waste management are properly taken care of.
The results of the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections were not so satisfactory for the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in various municipalities, including in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation area.
Soon after Banerjee’s administrative meeting on Thursday, the former Union Finance minister P Chidambaram called upon her at Nabanna. Both of them were tight-lipped after the closed-door meeting but Nabanna sources said that it was a “courtesy call” after the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections where the INDIA bloc threw a tough challenge for the BJP.
Meanwhile, during the administrative meeting, she expressed her displeasure over a generation of exorbitant electricity bills in different offices of the state government. Banerjee urged the department heads to ensure that lights, fans and other electrical gadgets are switched off when not in use.
Further, she reprimanded the Kolkata Police Commissioner as well as the Bidhannagar Police Commissioner, directing them to be proactive in preventing encroachment on government lands. Recently, she advocated zero-tolerance against the grabbing of government lands and directed the administration to take immediate measures to free such lands. Chief Secretary B P Gopalika directed the departmental heads and the district magistrates to submit details of all government lands by Friday.
It is learnt that the Chief Minister’s office (CMO) in the recent past has received complaints related to illegal occupation of land and in some cases, allegations have surfaced that the character of land has also been altered.
Banerjee also expressed her dissatisfaction over the work of the state Land and Land Reforms department when it comes to the distribution of land patta for the refugees.
Sources said Banerjee was also upset over the fire incident at the iconic Hollong bungalow. “The bungalow was closed for tourists then how did the short-circuit take place,” Banerjee had said in the meeting. A prima facie enquiry has indicated a short circuit in the air conditioner.
