Mamata keeps promise: Three new districts soon in Bengal

Earlier in November, Mamata had announced her intent to declare five new districts – Sunderbans to be carved out of South 24 Parganas, Jhargram from West Midnapore while Burdwan was to be bifurcated along rural and urban lines. Basirhat was also to become a new district. During election campaigning in Kalimpong, the TMC had declared their intent to carve out a separate Kalimpong district. The proposal for a separate Kalimpong district was the prime campaigning plank for Harka Bahadur Chhetri. Chhetri, formerly the spokesperson for Bimal Gurung’s GJM, left the party after a falling out, and contested the 2016 Assembly elections with Banerjee’s backing.

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For the carving out of separate districts, the government has cited “administrative reasons”. An official explained, “The idea is that decreasing the size of the district allows for better administration. Take for instance the case of West Midnapore – Jhargram has very specific issues. It is a former Naxal hotbed, so security is of prime concern. At the same time, this is also a drought prone area and as a result, very different from other areas of the district.”

Meanwhile, government sources added that the move would also be instrumental in “keeping officials in good humor”. The official added, “More districts imply more key positions. Each district needs a commissionerate and hence a new commissioner. Every administration needs a new DM. So on and so forth.”

The CM also added that in her second term, the government will focus on augmenting key developmental schemes, in particular ‘Khadya Sathi’ (a food security scheme (food security scheme) and ‘Sabuj Sathi’ (cycles for students). The implementation of the scheme on 100-days work should also be given priority, she said.