Agartala, Feb. 5: Union minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises Giriraj Singh, who had triggered a countrywide furore by asking all those who questioned Narendra Modi's candidature as Prime Minister to migrate and settle in Pakistan, lambasted Tripura's Left Front government on law and order.
Giriraj said Tripura has an elected government but "no governance or administration". "Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar issues verbose statements on Rohith Vemula's suicide or so-called intolerance, but the law and order situation here is pathetic. Incidents of crime against women happen daily," said Giriraj speaking to the media.
During his two-day visit to the state, Giriraj had gone to GBP Hospital, Agartala, to see a 14-year-old rape victim and spoke to her family members. He was accompanied by BJP state president Biplab Deb and other leaders. He directed the state president to donate Rs 50,000 to the victim's family for her treatment.
"The rape of this innocent girl was widely reported. But the chief minister, his cabinet colleagues or, for that matter, any other CPM or regional party leaders could not find time to visit the girl in hospital or meet her family though the incident happened at Chachu Bazar in Mohanpur subdivision, an hour from the state capital," said Giriraj.
He called for political change in Tripura and the removal of the CPM-led government through "democratic process of election". He also expressed concern over the quality of health service in the state, saying he had a first-hand experience of the state of health service while visiting the GBP Hospital.
During his visit to the state, Giriraj also held a meeting with bankers in the government-run Prajna Bhawan auditorium yesterday. While addressing the programme, the minister for industry and commerce Tapan Chakraborty made critical comments on the failure or unwillingness of the banks to sanction loans to applicants for Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP). Tapan said only Tripura Gramin Bank (TGB), Tripura State Co-operative bank (TSCB), SBI, UBI and United Commercial Bank had sanctioned a few hundred cases of loans while the rest had not sanctioned a single loan.
Taking up the issue, Giriraj Singh chided bankers for their failure to sanction loans for the PMEGP and directed them to be pro-active in the matter. He also expressed disappointment over the credit-deposit (CD) ratio in Tripura.
"The CD ratio at 40 per cent here is much lower than the national average of more than 60 per cent. You must improve things, otherwise having so many nationalised banks is meaningless," said Giriraj.
He said unless the CD ratio improved, he would be forced to draw the attention of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to the shape of things in Tripura.
