BJP calls for a bandh in Bengal, state govt goes all out to foil plan
Confronted by a situation where the Sangh Parivar have joined hands with the BJP in the latter’s call for a shutdown in Bengal Wednesday to protest the alleged police firing in Islampur that killed two youths on September 20, the state government has drawn up elaborate plans to marshal its resources to foil the plan.
The finance department had issued a circular Monday cautioning the employees of deduction in salary in case they fail to report to work on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. There would also be a disruption in service, the government warned.
“The employees who are on leave on 24-09-2018 shall have to report on duty on September 25, 2018. It has also been decided that besides the bandh day, no leave for the day preceding the bandh day i.e 25th September and for the day following the bandh day i.e 27th September, 2018 shall be allowed,” the circular issued by additional chief secretary to the state finance department, H K Dwivedi read. A finance official said the move is “unprecedented”. On earlier occasions, the administration sought attendance only on the day of shutdown.
Transport minister Suvendu Adhikari said 500 government buses, in addition to the 1,200-1,400 that ply in the state capital, will run on different routes of Kolkata on Wednesday.
“The bandh has been called from 6am while government buses will start operating from 5am. Additional trams and ferries across the Hooghly river would also be deployed. I can assure that there will be no shortage of vehicles,” Adhikari said.
In Kolkata, both RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and CPI(M) student wing Students’ Federation of India (SFI) brought out rallies to protest the police atrocities.
The SFI has called for an independent investigation.
In order to encourage private bus operators to run their vehicles, the government has decided to pay compensation to the owners subject to a ceiling of ~6 lakh.
BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said, “It is a strike of the people and for the people, and people might retaliate if there is any attempt to foil the strike with force,” Ghosh said.
Education minister Partha Chatterjee, who is heading the group of ministers in the absence of chief minister Mamata Banerjee who is away in Europe, said 1,500 police personnel will be deployed on the streets of Kolkata. “Police officers of the ranks of additional commissioners, joint commissioners and deputy commissioners would also be on the streets on Wednesday. Different district police authorities have been alerted to adopt stern measures in case the strikers try to enforce strike,” Chatterjee said.
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