Behrampore, April 23: Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee admitted here today that Muslims in both Malda and Murshidabad are still a ?neglected lot? and need the special attention of the government.

The government would seek assistance from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development to improve the lot of Muslims in these two districts, said Bhattacharjee who was on a day?s visit here to lay the foundation stone of an industrial estate on a 11-acre plot.

?While in Murshidabad 64 per cent of the total population is Muslim, in Malda their population is 53 per cent. In the two districts, the Muslim community is a majority and we have to improve its lot,? said the chief minister who also inaugurated an office of the West Bengal Small Scale Industries Corporation and a shopping complex in the town.

The chief minister said he had asked Webcon to conduct a survey on the feasibility of setting up industries in the two districts. ?Webcon has submitted its survey report to me. On that basis, the government has asked the WBSSIC and the West Bengal Minorities Financial Development Corporation to work to improve the situation in the two districts.?

Bhattacharjee?s statements come four months after he had promised to take steps for the development of Malda and Murshidabad, during the district conference of the CPM in January.

Observers said the assurances by the chief minister are aimed at wooing minorities for the elections to the municipalities to be held next month. The CPM had fared poorly in Malda and Murshidabad in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections and subsequent polls.