CM orders steps for bettering lives of tea garden workers; AIIMS, IIT to come up in north Bengal

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has announced plans to establish an AIIMS, an IIT, and an IIM in the northern part of the state, improving regional infrastructure.

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday said that an AIIMS, an IIT and an IIM will be set up in the northern part of the state, while ordering steps for qualitative development of the lives of tea garden workers in the region.

The BJP's election manifesto for West Bengal promised the establishment of an AIIMS, an IIT and an IIM in North Bengal.

Briefing reporters on Adhikari's first administrative meeting here in north Bengal, BJP's Darjeeling MP Raju Bista said that the CM also stressed the need for improving healthcare infrastructure in the region.

He said that Adhikari, who took oath as the chief minister of the first BJP government in West Bengal on May 9, assured the people that an AIIMS would be set up to ensure proper healthcare in north Bengal.

''Apart from the AIIMS, an IIT, an IIM and a cancer hospital will be set up in north Bengal,'' Bista said.

These institutes will come up in different districts of the region.

''The CM has also directed that no objection certificates (NOC) for various development projects be issued by the authorities without delay,'' the MP said.

Bista said that Adhikari has also asked for special initiatives for development work in the border areas near Bangladesh and Nepal.

He said that with more than five lakh directly employed people and 20 lakh indirect beneficiaries of the tea gardens dotting the northern districts of the state, the chief minister stressed the betterment of the condition of tea garden workers.

''The CM asked the Tea Board chairman and other officials to study the Assam tea garden worker welfare model and asked them to come up with pointers on what would be the issues involved in implementing the same here,'' Bista said.

New labour law will be implemented in the tea gardens in the future, and betterment of the workers' lives in line with that in Assam will be ensured, the BJP said.

''The CM has ordered implementation of the Centre's Chai Srameek Yojana, which was blocked by the previous TMC government for the last three years,'' he said, adding that Rs 350 crore worth of benefits are pending to Bengal's tea garden workers under the scheme.

He said that the CM has assured tea garden workers living inside the gardens that they would be given land rights, and the welfare schemes launched by the previous government will remain in place.

''The CM has announced that the 'VB G RAM G' scheme, under which 125 days' job guarantee is given, will be implemented in West Bengal from June, replacing the earlier 100-day job guarantee MGNREGA scheme,'' Bista said.

He said that Adhikari stressed that the new government will ensure preservation of the culture and languages of north Bengal.

''The CM said land has been allotted for fencing of the international border with Bangladesh,'' Bista said.

Asserting that there will be zero tolerance for illegal activities that allegedly thrived during the TMC rule, the CM called for steps to stop drug peddling in the region, the MP said.

''The CM also spoke to Urban Development Minister Agnimitra Paul over large-scale irregularities in Siliguri Municipal Corporation and asked her to visit the city and speak to the local MP and MLAs in this regard,'' Bista said.

Siliguri MLA Sankar Ghosh said that the CM asked the civil and police administration to work fearlessly and sought cooperation of all ''to take forward the new government's perspective.''.

The CM said the government is committed to give jobs to the next of kin of the BJP workers who lost their lives in violence during the 15-year TMC rule, according to Ghosh.