Mamata flayed district officials for failing to make 'Kisan Mandi'

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday flayed district officials for failing to make a single 'Kisan Mandi' fully operational in the backward district. BJP had made a dent in Purulia in the May rural polls this year. "Tell me why not a single 'Kisan Mandi' has become fully operational in your district.

What is the reason behind it ?" Banerjee asked an official in an administrative meeting in Purulia district. The official replied that it was taking time to make the 'Kisan Mandis' fully operational as all the farmers do not like to come to the place for locational reasons. Besides, there are infrastructural issues.

To this Banerjee said Kisan Mandis should come up at a place which will be convenient for farmers, where they can bring the agricultural produces for sale and have facilities like cold storage. The chief minister also expressed dissatisfaction over the distribution of Kishan credit card among the people in Purulia district and said banks should be more active to facilitate it. When informed that 66,000 Kisan credit cards remained to be distributed among the poor in Purulia, she urged the official of a PSU bank present at the meeting to speed up the process.

The district official present claimed that the cards had been dispatched from their end to banks. When told by the government official that 36,000 Kisan credit cards have only been distributed so far, Banerjee asked the district magistrate to involve the district cooperative bank in the process to fast-track the same.

Pointing out that a sizeable portion of farmland in Purulia is not favourable for the cultivation of paddy crops, she said if such land cannot be used for alternative farming, the farmers, including tribals should be employed in 100 days' work scheme.

She expressed happiness that Purulia district had been occupying the number one position in respect of 100 days' work project for successive four years in the past and called for more involvement of people in such project. The chief minister also asked for speeding up work for the road link to the proposed place of the airport at Charra in Purulia district.

"An airport is needed for better connectivity," she said and called for setting up an industrial park. Told that there was the possibility of drought in Purulia this year, Banerjee called for chalking out an action plan to fight the situation. She suggested appointing a nodal officer to monitor the situation in drought-prone districts like Purulia and Bankura.

Banerjee called for bringing the tribal communities more under the state-sponsored housing projects and asserted her government wanted that various social welfare schemes of the government reach a cross-section of underprivileged people. But one family should not get the benefit of all the schemes even if it filled the criteria.

"There should be the distribution of social welfare and social security schemes like in a proper manner so that one single family does not get all the facilities like 'Kanyashree', 'Shikshasree', 'Sabujsathi' and 'Awas Yojana' projects, as it will deprive others. She asked the police officials present to keep a tab on movement of 'outsiders' in the Ayodhya Hills area in Purulia district.

"We have information that some outsiders are visiting the area.

Please keep your surveillance strong," she said. Banerjee also asked the officer-in-charge of Raghunathpur police station in the district to ensure there were no extortion activities in the area where industrial units were coming up.

(With inputs from agencies.)