Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Wednesday that his government would meet the promises made by the BJP in the election manifesto, and the branch secretariat in Siliguri would function in a full-fledged manner as he reached out to the residents of north Bengal which backed the party since 2009.
“North Bengal supported us in the past one-and-a-half decades, as the first victory came in 2009 (when the BJP won the Darjeeling Parliament seat). We will meet the aspirations of north Bengal residents who have voted for us in large numbers. Our government will also meet the promises we made ahead of the elections,” Suvendu said after landing at the Bagdogra airport on his first visit to north Bengal as the
chief minister.
Touching on the promises in the election manifesto that four prominent central institutions would be set up in north Bengal, Suvendu said: “We will establish an AIIMS, an IIT, an IIM and a cancer hospital in north Bengal. These institutions will come up in four different districts of the region, and the state government will earmark the required land.”
During the election campaign, BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, had iterated that if the BJP was voted to power, those central institutions would come up in north Bengal. Added to these, they had also promised a fashion institute for the region.
On Wednesday, Suvendu asserted that his government was sincere in utilising Uttarkanya, the branch secretariat built by the Mamata Banerjee government in Siliguri.
“We want Uttarkanya to run in a full-fledged manner. The north Bengal development minister (Nisith Pramanik) will sit there once a week and meet common people, elected representatives and administrative officials at different time slots,” he announced.
“I will come to north Bengal once a month, not for a visit but to work. The chief minister, other ministers and state government officials will sit at Uttarkanya once a month,” Suvendu added.
During Mamata’s tenure, questions were raised by various quarters, and even by Trinamool Congress insiders, over the functioning of Uttarkanya.
“The branch secretariat was opened with much fanfare, but eventually, it was found that no major administrative work was being carried out from there, and people had to travel to Calcutta for various tasks. The BJP is aware that the north Bengal residents are discontented with the defunct Uttarkanya, and now, it seems the new government wants to change it,” said a political analyst.
Later, while speaking at the administrative review meeting of five north Bengal districts (Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Darjeeling and Kalimpong) in Uttarakanya, the chief minister advised the attendees to practise austerity in the wake of the disruption in the fuel supply through the Hormuz Strait.
“The MLAs can share cars, and so can the government officials, to reduce fuel consumption,” he said.
After the meeting concluded and Suvendu returned to Calcutta, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista and Siliguri MLA Shankar Ghosh highlighted some of the key issues discussed at the meeting, where the two were present.
“He (the chief minister) insisted on steps to increase revenue collection and reduce non-productive expenditure and sought eradication of institutional corruption. The chief minister also said there had been corruption in the (Trinamool-run) Siliguri Municipal Corporation and a probe would be conducted,” said Ghosh.
According to Bista, Suvendu emphasised strong coordination among the police, administration, and the legislators in handling different issues, including natural disasters.
“He also passed an instruction to issue the pending NOCs (no-objection certificates) required from the state’s side for different infrastructure projects. He said a decision would be made after the monsoon on pending polls to some municipalities,” said the MP.
The chief minister asked officials of the Tea Board and the administration to follow the “Assam model” for the welfare of workers. “He said the central assistance of ₹325 crore lying unutilised will be spent for the tea garden workers of north Bengal,”
Bista said.