The Mamata Banerjee government on Tuesday sent two top bureaucrats — P.B. Salim and Rajesh Kumar Sinha — to Murshidabad to assist riot victims, amid reports that relief distribution was not proceeding properly, leading to discontent among those affected by the communal violence in Samserganj.
A source said Salim, chairman and managing director of the West Bengal Power
Development Corporation (WBPDCL), and Rajesh Kumar Sinha, disaster management secretary, had been directed on Monday to immediately move to Murshidabad, take charge of relief distribution and address the alleged lapses on the part of the local administration.
Salim reached Murshidabad on Tuesday and completed his first round of visits to the affected areas, assessing the needs of those who had lost their homes and livelihoods. An official said Sinha was expected to reach Samserganj by Wednesday.
A villager said the administration began providing cement and other construction materials on Tuesday to repair the burnt or damaged houses. Villagers who had returned on Sunday, after fleeing to Malda, repeatedly said their damaged houses needed urgent repairs, as they were filled with ashes and remnants of the violence.
“The district administration failed to distinguish between victims of floods and riots. They must understand that the relief needs differ from family to family. Simply providing basic relief is not a solution,” a source said.
Subhamoy Mondal, a resident of Betbona, said: “The relief efforts gained momentum from today (Tuesday).”
Samserganj and Dhulian municipality areas witnessed intense violence on April 11, stemming from the protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act. The unrest resulted in three deaths and damage to the properties and homes of over 100 people in multiple pockets along Murshidabad’s border with Malda.
A local TMC leader noted that if the district administration had acted promptly after the violence, those families whose houses had been burned down would not have been forced to leave their village.
“If the administration had taken care of the affected people and arranged safe shelter and community kitchens right after the violence, those families certainly would not have left their homes. The optics of the exodus are not only unfortunate but have also given the Opposition ammunition to attack our government,” said the leader.
A source in the ruling dispensation said that, taking advantage of lapses in the relief efforts, several Sangh parivar outfits entered the area to offer support, causing concern among Trinamool leaders in Samserganj.
“We believe that, after receiving ground reports about the shortcomings in relief distribution, the state government finally sent the senior official (Salim) here. Though delayed, it was a good decision,” said another TMC leader.
Salim, accompanied by Murshidabad district magistrate Rajarshi Mitra, Jangipur police district chief Ananda Roy, and other officials, visited several violence-affected areas in Samserganj and Dhulian.
Dhulian is well-known for its bidi industry, and several prominent figures in the area, including TMC lawmakers such as Jangipur MP Khalilur Rahaman and Sagardighi MLA Bayron Biswas, are associated with it.
The gaps in relief efforts became evident on Tuesday when local businessmen, mostly bidi factory owners, had to raise funds for Hindu victims. A team led by MP Rahaman reached out to at least 250 affected families and provided them with support ranging from ₹10,000 to ₹50,000, depending on the extent of the property damage.
“All of us local businessmen, especially those from the bidi industry, raised funds to support the homeless. We provided aid for repairing homes and replacing essential items damaged in the unfortunate attack,” said the Jangipur MP.
A senior state government official said: “Had the local administration taken proper care of the victims, such crowdfunding wouldn’t have been necessary. We’ve also heard that local people are contributing money to support their neighbours.”