| Calcutta, May 25: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee and finance minister Amit Mitra will meet Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday to discuss the state's financial health and ways to put the Bengal economy back on rails. "We need to talk to the Union finance minister to work out ways to put the economy back on its feet. So, our state finance minister and I will be meeting Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday with this end in mind,'' Mamata said this afternoon at Writers' Buildings after chairing her second cabinet meeting. Chief secretary Samar Ghosh and finance secretary C.M. Bachhawat will attend the meeting at Mukherjee's home in Calcutta. The financial crunch is the most pressing matter facing the new government that will need a helping hand from the Centre to tide it over an immediate crisis compounded by spiralling debt. The state government needs around Rs 2,600 crore a month to pay salaries and pension to 11 lakh employees and over 3.25 lakh teaching and non-teaching staff. Mamata today said she had "managed" enough funds to take care of the salary and pension bill for the next two to three months but did not disclose the source of the money. However, she categorically said she needed the Centre's help to revive the economy of the state that has run up a debt of over Rs 2 lakh crore. Mamata skirted questions on whether she would ask the Centre for a bailout package. "We haven't yet decided whether to ask for a package,'' she said. Sources in the finance department said the Bengal government might ask for a package that includes a moratorium on payment of interest on past loans. In 2010-11, the state government paid around Rs 7,811 crore as interest to the central government and around Rs 6,792 crore to other institutions. "If the Centre grants a three-year moratorium on interest payments, we will be relieved to a great extent,'' an official said. The Centre has been working on a package, initiated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, for "debt-stressed'' states like Punjab, Bengal and Kerala. Mamata and Mitra are expected to gauge from Mukherjee the contours of the package the government has in mind. The Sunday meeting may also see the Bengal chief minister repeat what the Left Front had been demanding for some time. As a significant part of the outstanding liabilities — then finance minister Asim Dasgupta quoted a figure of Rs 1.86 lakh crore last week — is because of small savings collection from the state, Mamata may ask for a reduced rate of interest on loans against small savings. The state government may make a plea for converting a part of this loan into grants as that would reduce the interest burden further, a source said. Mamata may echo another pet peeve of the Left Front — the Centre's failure to release over Rs 5,000 crore that Dasgupta claimed as legitimate dues of the state government on account of coal royalty. If every penny counts, Coal India has lent a timely helping hand. A price revision by the coal company will yield Bengal an additional Rs 120 crore this financial year. ( ) Timely payment of the central share of taxes by the Union government, currently pegged at 32 per cent of the tax revenue the Centre raises from Bengal, may be another point the chief minister could discuss at the meeting. "We have been getting around Rs 15,955 crore from the Centre as our share of Union taxes. But every year, this amount comes in as late as October-November. If we can get this at the beginning of a financial year, it will be of great help," a state official said. Mamata sets up June date with Sachar | | BISWAJIT ROY |  | | Rajinder Sachar | Calcutta, May 25: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to set up an equal opportunities commission to go into the problems of minorities, especially Muslims, and help formulate policies for their uplift as suggested by the Justice Rajinder Sachar committee. Mamata will finalise her plans after meeting Justice Sachar when he visits the state on her invitation next month, sources in the government and the Trinamul Congress said. "We have invited Justice Sachar and he will visit us in June,'' the chief minister said today, ticking off one item on the to-do list she announced after her first cabinet meeting on Friday night. The retired judge, who headed a committee that reported on the condition of Muslims in the country in December 2006 and put Bengal in the "worst performer category", confirmed the invite. "Yes, I have received an invitation from the government of West Bengal," he said. "I visit Calcutta often and would go again in June." Government sources said Mamata might set up an expert committee to ensure implementation of the Sachar report, which she had used to campaign against the Left Front and win over minority voters. Before the elections, Mamata had promised to invite Justice Sachar to Bengal, a promise that she put second on her to-do list after becoming chief minister. She had instructed chief secretary Samar Ghosh to establish contact with him. "The government sought my advice but there is no proposal to head any state-specific expert committee so far,'' Justice Sachar said today. A state government official went to Delhi to invite the retired judge. "I went to Delhi on the chief minister's instruction and met Justice Sachar at his home. I requested him to visit Calcutta as early as possible as the state's guest and help the new government formulate its action programmes on the minority front,'' said Khalil Ahmed, director of micro and small industries. "We had an introductory discussion on the implementation of the 13-point recommendations of his report and he gave us some initial suggestions. Details will be finalised after he meets the chief minister and others concerned," Ahmed said. Other sources said two officials had gone to invite Justice Sachar yesterday. "I am happy that she wants to prepare a package for the minorities based on the report…. It's a positive step," the retired judge said. The Sachar committee report had bracketed Bengal with Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam and described the minority community's socio-economic situation as "particularly grave" in these states "with a large Muslim population". It became a political weapon for the Opposition post-Singur and Nandigram, crystallising the Muslim discontent against the Left Front. The report said the share of Muslims — who comprise 25.25 per cent of the population — in government jobs was just 4.2 per cent. It highlighted that the percentage of Muslims in "key positions" in the judiciary was only 5 per cent and pointed out that there were no Muslims in senior positions in public sector units in Bengal. Bengal came third on Muslim dropout rates as well as cases of children not going to school, behind Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the report said. While the then Trinamul-led Opposition lapped up the report, the Left complained it overlooked the benefits of land reforms to poor Muslims in rural Bengal and questioned the figures. "The figures are not authentic," former CPM MP Mohammed Salim said. Justice Sachar denied any political bias. "Our report pleased many and displeased others across the states. We have nothing to do if the Opposition used it in Bengal. We made an objective report after going through piles of government reports from Bengal and collected some on our own. We had met the Bengal ministers and officials too," he said. "We cared to assess not only the employment aspects but also poverty and living conditions of Muslims. Critiques are welcome but no Left leaders contacted me after the report came out." Salim denied that the Sachar report portrayed the state — ruled by the CPM for over 34 years — in bad light. "The Sachar committee report comments on the condition of the minorities in the entire country and not only on any particular state. Trinamul is a part of the UPA at the Centre but the report is gathering dust," Salim said. The CPM state secretariat member said the new government was free to set up a new committee to assess the status of minorities in Bengal or to implement the suggestions in the Sachar report. "However, Sachar's was the diagnosis report while the subsequent Justice Rangannath Mishra report prescribed the remedies. It's up to Mamata to decide which one she will focus on,'' he said. Stressing that his party and government took the initiative to implement both reports and reserved 10 per cent government jobs for backward Muslims towards the end of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's second term, Salim said Mamata should enforce the reservation. "The law has been passed by the state Assembly and the new government can't undo it just because we initiated it. Being a part of the Centre, she should rather put pressure for job reservation for backward Muslims at the national level. She must also see why there are only 4.5 per cent Muslims among railway employees,'' Salim added. The Congress and Trinamul had boycotted the Assembly when the reservation bill was passed. | | WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY IMRAN AHMED SIDDIQUI AND ZEESHAN JAWED | | Marriage pawn in acquisition game - In Bokaro, bachelors tie the knot to claim steel major's job sop | | AMIT GUPTA |  | | The site at Ormo panchayat in Kasmar block where the ArcelorMittal steel plant will come up. (Pankaj Singh) |
Ranchi, May 25: Land acquisition by steel behemoth ArcelorMittal is changing the demography of Bokaro's hinterland. The lure of a smart compensation package being offered by the company — Rs 5 lakh per acre and jobs — has spurred villagers of Kasmar and Petarwar blocks to sell their land to family members and friends to make the most of the expected windfall. Ever since the land acquisition process started in early 2010, a number of marriages have been solemnised in the eight villages that are smack in the middle of the 2,500 acres the company wants for its proposed 3 million tonne per annum (MTPA) steel plant. Moreover, as many as 200 new rayats or landowners — all stakeholders to the largesse pie — have emerged, after buying up numerous small and medium holdings over the last few months. "All this is happening because the villagers want to extract the maximum benefit out of the compensation package. However, with so many new players entering the field, the land acquisition process is getting delayed," said ArcelorMittal's general manager (mines) P.S. Prasad. So far, the company has been able to procure only 2.32 acres in Ormo village, and that deal was inked way back in October last year. Since then, the company's efforts to purchase land have run into numerous hurdles as titles of holdings have changed. "The land records have to be updated before new registrations can take place," a source at the Kasmar block office said. According to villagers, many families "distributed" and sold chunks of land to close relatives, with an eye on the sops being offered. Not only is the L.N. Mittal-owned company offering Rs 5 lakh for every acre, it has also promised jobs to every nuclear family and a stipend of Rs 5,000 per month from the time the land is registered till a member is provided employment in the company. "Ever since the package was announced, there has been a rush to buy and sell land. Not only have people sold holdings to family members, outsiders from Bihar and Bengal have also bought land here," said Omprakash Karmali, a resident of Ormo. The villager attributed the spurt in marriages to an effort to ensure as many nuclear families as possible, thereby that many jobs and monthly stipend. "We have feasted at 30 to 32 weddings this summer. Most of the bachelors in my village tied the knot this year," said Karmali, who ekes out a living by ploughing the field and also moonlights as a munshi in a brick kiln. Fellow villager Vikas Mahto sees nothing wrong in making hay. "Such opportunities are rare. The company will rake in the profits once the unit starts. What is wrong if we try to get a better deal?" he asked. But for ArcelorMittal, the frequent change of hands as far as the land in question is concerned, has been nothing short of a nightmare. Prasad said agreement papers signed earlier against acquisition of land now need to be changed before they can be registered either at Tenughat or Bokaro. The company aims to set up a 3MTPA steel mill to start with, which will be part of the company's first greenfield project in India of 12MTPA capacity. An MoU to this effect was signed back in 2005. Ever since, delays have dogged the company's plans in Jharkhand, though a similar venture in Karnataka, agreed upon last year, is going ahead full steam. The steel major has already procured a sizeable 1,800 acres in the southern state.
| Super CMO to oversee all govt arms | | MEGHDEEP BHATTACHARYYA | | Calcutta, May 25: Mamata Banerjee is overhauling and enlarging the chief minister's office to make it her government's "nucleus", involved "directly" in formulating policy and overseeing the functioning of all the 42 departments. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's CMO, set up in 2009, dealt mainly with the portfolios directly under the chief minister and liaised with Delhi. It used to look into the affairs of the other departments only when the chief secretary referred these matters to it. Government sources said Mamata's CMO was expected to have about 15 senior officials compared with seven in Bhattacharjee's, and the search for them had already begun. "The CMO will be directly involved in all major policy decisions, which will be ratified by the chief minister through her office," an official said. The 42 government departments will be divided into four to six clusters, each assigned to a senior CMO bureaucrat for supervision and intervention on behalf of the chief minister at a "sub-cabinet" level. This is where it will be most similar in function to the Prime Minister's Office, the sources said. "It will also co-ordinate and arbitrate between departments. Unlike Buddhababu's CMO, Mamata Debi's will participate in the daily functioning of all key departments of her government," said a senior official who is set to be included in the CMO. Sources said Mamata wanted to bring in senior Bengal cadre officials now serving in Delhi because they would be in a better position to interact with the Centre, being familiar with many of the bureaucrats there. "I am not getting good IAS and IPS officers here," Mamata said at a media interaction this afternoon. "The good ones have all gone to Delhi. I can't bring them all back. I will, however, request them. I will definitely try to bring back those that are willing." A wing of the CMO will be set up in north Bengal specifically for the region's six districts. This afternoon, three West Bengal Civil Service officers — Shantanu Bose, Somnath Dey and Tapas Chowdhury —were appointed to the CMO. Bose and Dey were working with the chief electoral officer while Chowdhury was with the Calcutta Municipal Corporation. IAS officers Santanu Basu, Barun Roy, Khalil Ahmed and Central Secretariat Service officers Ratan Mukherjee and Gautam Sanyal are "almost certain" to be appointed to the CMO within a week, the sources said. IPS officers Ajeya Ranade and Soumen Mitra too are likely to be absorbed. Earlier in the day, the principal secretary to Bhattacharjee's CMO, Subesh Das, was put on "compulsory waiting for further posting". The senior IAS officer is the brother of former IT minister Debesh Das. The six other officials in Bhattacharjee's CMO had been issued similar notices yesterday to pave the way for Mamata to appoint officials of her choice. Partha balancing act on IT unions | | A STAFF REPORTER |  | | Partha Chatterjee |
Calcutta, May 25: Information technology minister Partha Chatterjee today said job security was paramount in IT firms as was the "democratic rights" of the employees, the remarks coming in response to a question on trade unions in the sector. "Our prime concern is employees' security and above all, job security. We are also not in favour of depriving an individual of his democratic rights," Chatterjee, who also holds the industry portfolio, said. Although trade unions have tried to penetrate the IT sector over the years, the efforts have largely remained unsuccessful. In 2006, Citu had tried to tiptoe into the sector by floating an employees' association called the West Bengal Information Technology Services Association but it did not take off as the response was tepid. On the issue of land allotment to industry, Chatterjee said: "It is not Infosys or Wipro alone that we are concerned about. We will prepare a list of all land applications submitted so far. We will look into all the proposals that have been processed and implemented and those that have been delayed. We will study both internal and external factors responsible for the delays. The list will be placed before the chief minister and a timeframe will be fixed to resolve the issues." Speaking about the development of the IT hardware industry in the state, Chatterjee said: "A road map needs to be worked out. We will study the sector and attract both domestic and international players. Give us some time." The IT minister held a meeting with officials of the department and stressed on e-governance and "IT for the masses". Chatterjee also met officials of the West Bengal Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation and the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation to discuss legal issues related to Milan Mela (the trade fair grounds off EM Bypass). The minister is learnt to have said the government "will not compromise" in its legal battle over the 7.5-acre plot with the Craft Council. Mollah: Land stand led to loss | | OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT | | Calcutta, May 25: Abdur Rezzak Mollah today said the CPM lost the Assembly elections as it did not return to "unwilling" farmers the land acquired in Singur. "The CPM lost the elections as it didn't return the land of unwilling farmers in Singur. The poor farmers of Singur stopped supporting us after their plots were taken away by our government (for the Tata Nano project),'' the former land and land reforms minister told reporters. Asked if he was risking another disciplinary action from his party by making such remarks, Mollah said: "Alimuddin Street can muzzle me but it can't do the same in the Assembly. I will say what I have to say. I will speak in the interests of the farmers." "I will go against my party if it takes an anti-farmer stand),'' Mollah said. He said he believed that it was possible to return 400 acres to the "unwilling" farmers. " It can be done by distributing pattas (land deeds) among those who didn't give the plots willingly,'' Mollah said. "If the chief minister wants me to give suggestions or advice, I will definitely do that.'' Team Mamata hits the fast track - Cabinet clears one force for entire city | | OUR BUREAU | | A city united by a common civic administration and divided by disparity in police jurisdiction has taken its first step towards removing this anomaly within a week of Mamata Banerjee taking charge. The cabinet on Tuesday passed a proposal by the municipal affairs department to bring nine police stations run by Bengal police under Lalbazar so that Calcutta police's jurisdiction equals the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC)'s area. The policy document, a Mamata brainwave, reached the chief minister's office on Tuesday evening and the cabinet approval came through in 24 hours. "We want Calcutta police to have comprehensive jurisdiction. We will do this by Puja," Mamata announced at a news conference at Writers' Buildings on Wednesday. Tiljala, Behala, Thakurpukur, Regent Park, Metiabruz, Kasba, Parama, Jadavpur and Rabindranagar are the police stations set to be added to Lalbazar, raising its strength from 48 to 57 units across the city. For the Calcuttan, it means an end to confusion and harassment every time he or she goes to lodge a police complaint in an area where city police might monitor traffic but law and order is the state police's subject. "The objective behind extending the jurisdiction of Calcutta police is to correct an obvious administrative anomaly. Dual law and order administration in a city like Calcutta is an impediment to policing rather than division of labour," urban development and municipal affairs minister Firhad Hakim told Metro on Wednesday. As much as 33.33 per cent of the CMC area is presently administered by the state police. Sources said Mamata would convene a meeting with director-general of police Naparajit Mukherjee and commissioner of police R.K. Pachnanda to make the transition smooth. The CMC area and the city police's jurisdiction were almost the same — around 100sq km — till 1984. The disparity was created by the merger of Behala, Garden Reach and Jadavpur with the CMC, increasing the size of the city proper to 187.5sq km. What the Left Front government didn't do was increase the city police's jurisdiction to match that of the civic body. "Calcuttans suffered for 27 years because the Left Front never bothered to correct this anomaly. The EM Bypass is within the CMC area but traffic management is under the state police. Calcutta police took over enforcement last October but the power to arrest someone for a violation remained with state police. Such a strange policing system can never work," Hakim said. Under the present arrangement, James Long Sarani is policed by Behala police station although its point of origin from Diamond Harbour Road is under Lalbazar-run New Alipore police station. Traffic on the Rashbehari connector is under Calcutta police while the area is within the jurisdiction of Kasba police station. So will solving jurisdiction issues mean better law and order? A deputy secretary in the state home department said Calcutta police's "response time" was not only faster than that of the state police, but the force was also stronger in manpower and logistics. The last time someone tried to integrate the CMC areas under state police with Lalbazar was in 2006. The proposal had come from the city police brass, only to be buried under files after the chief minister's office argued that it meant spending money the cash-strapped government didn't have. Police ring people's cm |  | | The familiar black Santro of the chief minister, crawled like every other vehicle near Taj Bengal |
The layers of security around Mamata Banerjee, some visible and some invisible, went through a near overhaul on Wednesday. If fans with flowers and phone cameras, demands for autograph and desire to touch Didi had threatened to crush her on Tuesday, the police on Wednesday ensured no one came too close. There were several apparent changes but the police would not officially admit any. Metro spied some subtle changes that ensured distance without making supporters feel the people's chief minister was moving away. THE INVISIBLE CHANGES • Additional force, meant for law-and-order duty, deployed up to GPO from Writers' VIP gate • Electronic monitoring, based on camera feeds from the corridor on Writers' first floor, with an officer tracking all movement • CM to walk out of chamber only when the pathway is clear and ready • Instructions to officers to ensure 'a firm human chain' every time the chief minister walked • The message to cops on Mamata beat: 'Be gentle but firm' THE VISIBLE CHANGES Wednesday: One of the two Sumos that trailed Mamata at a distance. Six cars, including Mamata's, formed the convoy Tuesday: Four cars, including the Santro Wednesday: A motorbike-borne cop with a walkie-talkie was not far behind. Two police bikes formed an extension of the convoy Tuesday: No bike vigil Wednesday: A policewoman was a new inductee Tuesday: Only men Wednesday: Before the chief minister's convoy had rolled in, the police, posted in larger numbers in front of Writers', ensured no one could hang around. A strong bamboo barricade saw to it that no one came on the road Tuesday: Hundreds of people took over BBD Bag North after spotting Mamata's car Pictures: Sayantan Ghosh and Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya
Text: Tamaghna Banerjee, Kinsuk Basu and Monalisa Chaudhuri | | | |
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