West Bengal: Mamata ticks off South Dinajpur DM for 'poor delivery mechanism'

Gangarampur/Malda: The South Dinajpur district magistrate came under fire from chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday over “poor delivery mechanism” for the last five months. The South Dinajpur zilla parishad, which serves as the nodal department for implementing rural schemes, was wrested by BJP this June.

Speaking at the Malda administrative meeting, Banerjee also blasted the district’s SP for the recent national highway blockade by Jharkhand Disom Party. “How come Jharkhand Disom Party comes over to Malda and blocks the national highway? Where is the money coming from? I can guess that two persons (including BJP MLA Khagen Murmu) are stoking tribal sentiments,” she said.

The CM was visibly angry with the law and order situation in Malda and the overall performance of South Dinajpur. “The 100-day work in the district is not at all satisfactory. The reforms of crematoria under the Baitarani scheme have been put on the back burner. Ponds are being dug up but the initiative to encourage fish farming is lacking. A public health engineering scheme like water supply scheme in Tapan is way behind schedule,” she said.

At the administrative meeting in Gangarampur, officials fumbled when Banerjee questioned the progress and implementation of different schemes, from Gramin Sadak Yojana to water supply. “What will I ask you when there is hardly any work done? People are complaining about held-up projects. You have a very poor report card. Tell me one good thing about your district,” the CM said.

When the DM tried to argue that the skewed composition of the South Dinajpur zilla parishad was a major hurdle for scheme implementation, Banerjee said: “People want work. If they don’t get that, they won’t blame you, they will blame me. I won’t tolerate this. You have to implement the schemes by taking the zilla parishad saha sabhadhipati into confidence.” She also pulled up the additional district magistrate (development) for the implementation delay. “You have been taking a negative attitude. You have been questioning decisions and putting government work on hold. Don’t do that,” the CM said.

Chief secretary Rajiva Sinha proposed a multi-disciplinary training for the new BDOs. “Since most of you are new in the job, I will ask the DM to arrange for a multi-disciplinary training where experienced officers will brief BDOs about state schemes and help them prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) for their implementation,” he said.