மேற்கு வங்காளத்தில் பட்டினி தாண்டவமாடுகிறது: சிபிஎம் டெய்லி ஒப்புதல்

People begging for food in Bengal: CPM daily

Saugar Sengupta | Kolkata

In a tacit admission the CPI(M) mouthpiece Ganashakti reported how long queues were forming at the Government's free meal kitchens to eat at least one meal a day. To address the problem of starvation Finance Minister Dr Asim Dasgupta has earmarked Rs 100 crore to provide one cooked meal to the poor people in the State.




The scheme, according to the Ganashakti, was flagged off by Dasgupta at Deganga panchayat samiti area with scores of people queuing up. In Deganga alone there were 395 families who could not manage a single meal a day and had to resort to begging for a livelihood claimed the CPI(M) paper.

A survey report of 11th Five Year Plan prepared by the State Government itself tends to discount the CPI(M)'s claim made recently at its congress in Coimbatore.While the Marxists claimed that West Bengal was left with only 4,500 underdeveloped villages actual findings indicate that 11 of the 18 districts still languished in a state of backwardness.

Among these districts are Purulia, Bankura, West Midnapore, South 24 Parganas Coochbehar and South Dinjapur. Studies also suggested there were 5,77,743 homeless people in the State whereas a little more than 57 lakh 25 thousand people lived in kaccha houses. Forty six lakh people in the State live below the poverty line, the report indicates.

While Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee claims the number of jobs created due to his Government's industrialisation initiative the report suggests that 20, 95, 693 people had migrated from the State in search of jobs.

"They remit money but have to go through untold hardships away from their families. The Government has done nothing for them," Trinamool Congress leader Subroto Bakshi said. Congress Legislature Party Dr Manas Bhunia said, "The raging poverty in the State is going to be the opposition's main poll plank."

On Government's free-meal scheme the CLP leader claimed, "Such schemes amounted to bribing the people before the elections. The people are smart enough to see through the trick and would not fall prey to this ploy."

Meanwhile, the State Government on Monday gave the ahead to the State Election Commission for holding elections in three phases on May 11, 14 and 18. The results would be declared on May 21. The Trinamool Congress is however against holding the elections in three phases.

The biggest Opposition party wants the Government to hold the election in one phase.