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KOLKATA: The Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) was deployed to Kolkata to assess the situation related to the management of Covid-19 and the continuous blockade began its field visits in the late afternoon of Tuesday after staying at a facility in the Border Security Force (BSF) Since morning.
The team drove through various parts of the city, including Lake Gardens, Jadavpur, Bhowanipore, Ballygunge, and Gariahat, after leaving their place of stay at approximately 5 p.m., about an hour after a letter energetically drafted by the Center which ordered the state to provide all facilities for the IMCT.
The team’s leader, Apurva Chandra, previously complained that, despite assuring that they would be taken, the state government informed them that “there are some problems and we are not going to get out.”
But some time after Chandra made her comment, the state government provided the team with Kolkata police escort vehicles manned by officers from the anti-noise section of the detective department and an early-night liaison officer.
At around the same time, the Union Interior Ministry told the Delhi media that the state government was not cooperating with the IMCT delegation.
“The Interior Ministry has received a response that the teams that have been dispatched to Jalpaiguri and Kolkata in West Bengal are not receiving the cooperation of the state government and local administration.
“They are prevented from visiting the region, they are not given the scope to interact with health workers, or assess the situation at ground level. This is a violation of the central government order issued under the National Disaster Management Law “A home ministry spokesman said.
The Home Office also wrote to the chief secretary of state to instruct the Bengal government to comply with the Center’s order in this regard and to make all necessary arrangements for the IMCT to be able to discharge its responsibilities effectively.
The team, which landed here on Monday morning, held two rounds of meetings with the state secretary general, Rajiva Sinha. While the first interaction took place on Monday at the Nabanna secretary of state, the second took place at the BSF facility on Tuesday.
The team, which was installed at the BSF Officers Institute on Gurusaday Dutta Road in the Ballygunge area in southern Kolkata, left briefly in the morning but returned to its base after crossing just 500 meters.
Two Kolkata police officers soon arrived at the institute and tried to find out the team’s schedule for the day.
The police then established a post to monitor both ends of the Gurusaday Dutta Road, and monitored vehicle movements.
The center’s decision to send the team has sparked a huge dispute, with the government of Trinamool’s chief congress minister, Mamata Banerjee, questioning the need for such a delegation.
Banerjee sent a letter to Prime Minister Nareandra Modi on Monday, describing the Center’s decision as “unilateral”, and alleging that it was sent without notice, causing “non-compliance with established protocol.”
He also called the selection of Union government districts a Covid-19 “serious” situation as “a product of the imagination.”
The Interior Ministry in a communication on Monday stated that the closure measures of some districts in the country were reported to be in violation, representing a serious health risk and the risk of spreading Covid-19.
Regarding West Bengal, he said: “The situation is especially serious in the districts of Calcutta, Howrah, East Medinipur, North 24 Parganas, Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Jalpaiguri.”
Taking a tough stance, the state government had threatened not to allow the IMCT to move around the state unless it had a clear idea of its needs or why they wanted to go on field visits.
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The team drove through various parts of the city, including Lake Gardens, Jadavpur, Bhowanipore, Ballygunge, and Gariahat, after leaving their place of stay at approximately 5 p.m., about an hour after a letter energetically drafted by the Center which ordered the state to provide all facilities for the IMCT.
The team’s leader, Apurva Chandra, previously complained that, despite assuring that they would be taken, the state government informed them that “there are some problems and we are not going to get out.”
But some time after Chandra made her comment, the state government provided the team with Kolkata police escort vehicles manned by officers from the anti-noise section of the detective department and an early-night liaison officer.
At around the same time, the Union Interior Ministry told the Delhi media that the state government was not cooperating with the IMCT delegation.
“The Interior Ministry has received a response that the teams that have been dispatched to Jalpaiguri and Kolkata in West Bengal are not receiving the cooperation of the state government and local administration.
“They are prevented from visiting the region, they are not given the scope to interact with health workers, or assess the situation at ground level. This is a violation of the central government order issued under the National Disaster Management Law “A home ministry spokesman said.
The Home Office also wrote to the chief secretary of state to instruct the Bengal government to comply with the Center’s order in this regard and to make all necessary arrangements for the IMCT to be able to discharge its responsibilities effectively.
The team, which landed here on Monday morning, held two rounds of meetings with the state secretary general, Rajiva Sinha. While the first interaction took place on Monday at the Nabanna secretary of state, the second took place at the BSF facility on Tuesday.
The team, which was installed at the BSF Officers Institute on Gurusaday Dutta Road in the Ballygunge area in southern Kolkata, left briefly in the morning but returned to its base after crossing just 500 meters.
Two Kolkata police officers soon arrived at the institute and tried to find out the team’s schedule for the day.
The police then established a post to monitor both ends of the Gurusaday Dutta Road, and monitored vehicle movements.
The center’s decision to send the team has sparked a huge dispute, with the government of Trinamool’s chief congress minister, Mamata Banerjee, questioning the need for such a delegation.
Banerjee sent a letter to Prime Minister Nareandra Modi on Monday, describing the Center’s decision as “unilateral”, and alleging that it was sent without notice, causing “non-compliance with established protocol.”
He also called the selection of Union government districts a Covid-19 “serious” situation as “a product of the imagination.”
The Interior Ministry in a communication on Monday stated that the closure measures of some districts in the country were reported to be in violation, representing a serious health risk and the risk of spreading Covid-19.
Regarding West Bengal, he said: “The situation is especially serious in the districts of Calcutta, Howrah, East Medinipur, North 24 Parganas, Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Jalpaiguri.”
Taking a tough stance, the state government had threatened not to allow the IMCT to move around the state unless it had a clear idea of its needs or why they wanted to go on field visits.
