Ministers blame lack of progress,buddha differs

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Tuesday countered the assessment of some Left Front ministers,belonging to non-CPM allies,that lack of development in tribal areas was behind the rapid growth of Maoist activities in the state. Inadequate development in tribal areas may be one of the reasons,but not solely responsible for the growth of the Maoists in Lalgarh. Had it been so,why did Khalistanis emerge in Punjab where per capita income was the highest at that time? He,however,admitted that development had been inadequate. We have taken up many development activities,but there is scope for doing much more.

When it was decided at the Cabinet meeting to raise a special battalion to tackle the situation,the ministers said the expenditure involved would be more useful for development of the area. Bhattacharjee informed that a Task Force on socio-economic development in tribal areas had been set up last year and had undertaken development work of Rs 13 crore. The ministers,however,claimed they were in the dark about the Task Force and had not been consulted.