Bengal’s BJP government on Monday announced two judicial commissions to investigate the allegations of institutional corruption and atrocities against women on the previous regime’s watch, indicating the panels would start sending recommendations soon and action would follow.
“Union home minister Amit Shah had promised two judicial commissions, one on institutional corruption and another on atrocities against women,” chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said at Nabanna. “The state cabinet has approved the proposal to set up the two commissions. They will start working from June 1.”
Two retired Calcutta High Court judges, Justice Biswajit Basu and Justice Samapti Chatterjee, will respectively head the commissions probing institutional corruption and atrocities against women.
K. Jayraman, a 1997-batch IPS officer, has been appointed member-secretary of the corruption commission while 1996-batch IPS officer Damayanti Sen is member-secretary of the atrocity commission.
“These two officers did not get due appreciation from the previous government,” a bureaucrat said.
“The new government has entrusted them with the responsibility of finding out the irregularities that occurred during the tenure of the previous government. Both officers are capable enough to do so.”
Suvendu said the commissions’ phone numbers and the addresses of their portals would be made public so that people could lodge complaints.
“The judicial commissions will look into fresh complaints, old complaints and even complaints on which the final reports have been submitted,” he said.
“In case of institutional corruption, all the public representatives – from panchayats to government departments – will come under the commission’s purview. Once we get the commissions’ recommendations, we shall lodge FIRs and initiate further action.”
Suvendu listed some of the areas that could come under the corruption commission’s ambit: “Irregularities that took place during (Cyclone) Amphan (of May 2020); the funds misappropriated under the Awas Yojana; the irregularities relating to public health engineering schemes….”
He added: “Similarly, incidents like RG Kar, Sandeshkhali and Hanskhali, where atrocities on women had left the state and the country shocked, would be looked into by the judicial commission on atrocities on women.
“Based on the recommendations of the commissions, the government will ensure that the criminals are brought to justice.”
Administrative sources said Suvendu believed that popular anger at alleged Trinamool corruption and the atrocities on women on its watch had helped bring the BJP to power. Apart from that, he was focused on fulfilling his party’s election promises.
Water MoU
The Suvendu government has signed an MoU with the Centre to implement the Jal Jeevan Mission-2 in Bengal, with the Union government supposed to provide about ₹39,000 crore so that piped water can reach every household inthe state.
At the MoU signing event, Union Jal Shakti minister C.R. Patil said the Centre had given ₹37,500 crore to the previous government, but it could only provide 97.5 lakh connections out of the targeted 1.77 crore.
“The majority of the work was done on paper, and it did not reflect on the ground, with the villagers not getting water,” Patil said.
Annapurna Bhandar
The state cabinet has cleared a proposal to start the Annapurna Bhandar from June 1. Under this scheme, women who received benefits under the previous government’s Lakshmir Bhandar will get ₹3,000 a month.
Agnimitra Paul, the women & child development & social welfare minister, said Lakshmir Bhandar beneficiaries would be transferred to the new scheme without having to apply afresh.