Don't see anyone's political colour, work for all: CM tells MLAs

KOLKATA: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked all the MLAs to ensure that the people irrespective of political affiliation should get the benefits of various schemes taken up by the state government.

She chaired the meeting of the Scheduled Caste Development Advisory Council at Nabanna on Wednesday afternoon. This was the first meeting of the council since she came to power for the third consecutive time in May.

"Remember you are the leader of your area. You should not see the colour while serving the people. Don't divide people into ABCD groups. It is your duty to work for all," she told the MLAs who are members of the Council.

It came up in the meeting that around 7 lakh applicants could not furnish documents that were required to get caste certificates. The matter was raised by Nakul Chandra Bairagi, chairman of West Bengal Namasudra Board.

It was decided that officials would conduct field visits of these applicants and talk to their relatives who would certify the applicants.

Banerjee said steps should be taken to ensure that there should not be any misuse. It is often found that people from general castes apply for SC certificates.

After coming to power in 2011, Banerjee took special initiative to issue caste certificates. Earlier, people had to run from pillar to post to get caste certificates. Special camps were held across the state and steps were taken to issue the certificates on the same day after verifying the documents.