West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday assured the migrant labourers of job in West Bengal, adding that there are enough employment opportunities in the state. "Those migrant labourers who are coming in will be offered employment. I would request those that they stay here only. We have enough employment opportunities. Those who kick out people from their states will be given employment here," said CM Banerjee.
She added that from May 21, more relaxations will be allowed in the state adding that more buses and cabs will be pressed into service.
Taking a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), she asked the party to resume a political fight with her later. She accused the BJP of trying to spread riots at a time when a fight against the pandemic is going on. CM Banerjee asked the BJP to fight her during the state polls and urged to stand united against coronavirus COVID-19.
"In this crisis time, we are fighting this pandemic. BJP is trying to spread riots and putting it out on Twitter. You have all the time in the world to fight me in politics, there’s a years time for polls here. Please hold your horses and be patient. Fight me on political grounds later, stand united against Coronavirus," she said.
"Those who are doing big talks, I want to urge them why not go help the frontline COVID-19 warriors? Why not help the cleaning staff, medical staff and police? It’s easy to vandalise and torch police vehicles. We will not allow this," she said.
Speaking on the violent incident in Hoogly's Telinipara, she said, "I have told the police to take the strictest action. Those who violated the lockdown and indulged in communal clashes will be tried under the National Disaster Management Act. None will be spared. We will not see whether the person belongs to community A or community B."
Speaking on the testing labs in the county, she said, "Our testing was low because we only had four labs. We had to request the Centre to allow us permission for setting up of labs."
On the lockdown, she said, "This lockdown was unplanned. Hence the migrant labourers are suffering. Migrants have been beaten up in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Migrants are being kept in deplorable condition. Some not given food, some not given place to stay. Many migrants are COVID-19 infected as they were not taken care of. Had they returned to homes earlier, our COVID-19 cases would have remained low too."
Amid the incidents of violence at Hooghly district's Telinipara and at Malda district's Chandipur, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar appealed to the communities to maintain communal harmony. Expressing serious concern, he has called upon the people to observe utmost restraint at all costs. He urged the police and administration to be extremely watchful so that the situation is contained.
A delegation of BJP comprising Locket Chatterjee, MP, Arjun Singh MP, Mukul Roy, Member, National Council, Pratap Banerjee, General Secretary and Sabyasachi Dutta, MLA, called on the Governor and raised concerns about the alarming communal situation in the state. The delegation referred to the recent incidents of communal violence in Malda and Murshidabad in particular. The incident on May 10 in Malda district in Chandipur indicated a serious issue of communal violence. They referred to the most unfortunate incident of damage to the idol of a temple and sought forthwith intervention.
Governor Dhankhar told the members of the delegation that these are critical times for the state and irrespective of political affiliations, all must be singlemindedly focussed on sharpening battle against COVID-19. Governor Dhankhar appealed to the people at large to focus all their energies to deal with the issue of migrants, health and PDS and work only in that direction. He assured the Members of the delegation that he would look into the matter and seek appropriate inputs from the concerned authorities so that the state observes communal harmony at all costs.
