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KOLKATA / NEW DELHI: The clash between the Center and West Bengal over the visit of two core teams for an on-site assessment of the COVID-19 situation escalated on Tuesday when members of the panel remained confined to guesthouses for the majority part of the day before the state relented after a stern letter from the Union house secretary.
The arrival of the teams in Kolkata without prior notice to the state government has triggered a fight between the ruling dispensations in the Center and in the state, with TMC de Mamata Banerjee calling the visit adventure tourism and violation of the principles of the federal structure. , and the BJP accuses its government of hiding data on the pandemic.
The two teams that were to tour the affected areas and interact with health workers chilled their heels at the guest houses in Kolkata and Jalpaiguri, before the Center intervened, with Union Secretary of the Interior Ajay Bhalla , sending a stern letter to the chief secretary of state, Rajiva Sinha. reminding him of the provisions of the law and an order of the Supreme Court.
Apurva Chandra, leader of one of the two teams sent to the state, said its members were told that they “will not go out” on Tuesday.
Chandra, an additional secretary at the Defense Ministry, said: “We have been deployed by the central government and our deployment order says that the state government must provide us with logistical support (al) … I have been in contact with the chief secretary and seeking your support from the moment I landed here.
“I also met him yesterday. But today we have been informed that there are some problems, so we are not going out. The chief secretary is likely to visit us and we will have a meeting with him again,” he said in a television statement. channel in Calcutta.
When tensions erupted, the Union Interior Ministry intervened, and its secretary Bhalla wrote to the state secretary-in-chief that the two inter-ministerial central teams, visiting Kolkata and Jalpaiguri, did not receive the desired cooperation from state authorities and local.
“In fact, they have been specifically restricted from visiting, interacting with health professionals and assessing the situation at ground level.
“This amounts to obstructing the implementation of orders issued by the central government under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and the equally binding instructions of the Supreme Supreme Court,” said Bhalla.
The Secretary of the Interior of the Union said, therefore, that the state government must make all the necessary arrangements so that the central teams carry out the responsibilities that have been entrusted to them.
After Bhalla’s heavily worded letter, Kolkata’s team was able to visit parts of the city escorted by BSF and state police contingents.
“The core team told us they want to visit parts of the city. We agreed and state government officials are accompanying the team,” Rajiva Sinha later told reporters.
When further pressure was put on whether the team could visit other districts and how long they plan to stay in Bengal, the senior state bureaucrat said: “Nothing has been decided about his visit to other districts. When it occurs to them (the proposal), we would receive a call. About the length of your stay, we would like to say clearly that we have not invited you, you have come on your own. At a time when we are fighting the disease, making arrangements because your visit is tough. ”
Meanwhile, the political temperature soared when the TMC dubbed the visit of the core teams as “adventure tourism” and asked why those delegations were not sent to states with a much higher number of infections and critical points.
Addressing a digital press conference, TMC MPs Derek O’Brien and Sudip Bandyopadhyay claimed that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was briefed on the visit of the Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCT) three hours after her arrival in the state, what they said was unacceptable.
“The IMCT is about adventure tourism. The CM was informed of the team’s visit three hours after the team landed,” O’Brien said.
He also questioned why core teams did not visit states like Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh that have a higher number of coronavirus cases and many more critical points.
Why are core teams being shipped to West Bengal that is not listed in the top 10 states in terms of infection? Asked the TMC leader in Rajya Sabha.
“The Center has to clarify. Why was the prime minister informed after the team’s arrival? In a federal structure, he must first report to the state government. The reason behind the dispatch of such teams is still unclear. Need clarification. first, “he said.
The Union Home Office had said Monday that the situation for COVID-19 was “especially serious” in Mumbai, Pune, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata and some other locations in West Bengal, and formed six IMCTs for an on-site assessment. . issuing the necessary instructions to the four states: Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and West Bengal.
Bandyopadhyay, the Trinamool Congress leader in Lok Sabha, expected good sense to prevail and the Center would henceforth consult the respective state before making such a decision.
“We have kept politics behind and we want a joint fight against the pandemic. Let us not take our grace for granted, we can also speak in political language. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union’s interior minister, Amit Shah, should also leave politics behind and should not take Bengal’s promise of a united fight to tackle the pandemic for granted, “O’Brien said.
“What the central government has done by sending core teams is nothing more than an insult to the people of the state,” he added.
Responding to a question about “low test rate” in the state, Bandyopadhyay said 425 tests are conducted every day in West Bengal and that Tuesday’s number would increase to 600.
He said that sending core teams not only runs counter to the basic principles of federalism, but also amounts to diluting the joint fight against the COVID crisis.
Protesting at the Center to send teams to assess the “serious” situation of COVID-19 in the state, the Prime Minister of West Bengal sent a letter to the Prime Minister on Monday, calling it “unilateral” and “undesirable” action. .
The BJP, however, defended the movement of the Center.
“The central government has done the right thing. They (the teams) will surely discover how the blockade regulations are being violated and how the state government is trying to hide the real image. To hide the facts and figures, it is pushing people towards a much more dangerous situation, “said BJP President Dilip Ghosh.
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The arrival of the teams in Kolkata without prior notice to the state government has triggered a fight between the ruling dispensations in the Center and in the state, with TMC de Mamata Banerjee calling the visit adventure tourism and violation of the principles of the federal structure. , and the BJP accuses its government of hiding data on the pandemic.
The two teams that were to tour the affected areas and interact with health workers chilled their heels at the guest houses in Kolkata and Jalpaiguri, before the Center intervened, with Union Secretary of the Interior Ajay Bhalla , sending a stern letter to the chief secretary of state, Rajiva Sinha. reminding him of the provisions of the law and an order of the Supreme Court.
Apurva Chandra, leader of one of the two teams sent to the state, said its members were told that they “will not go out” on Tuesday.
Chandra, an additional secretary at the Defense Ministry, said: “We have been deployed by the central government and our deployment order says that the state government must provide us with logistical support (al) … I have been in contact with the chief secretary and seeking your support from the moment I landed here.
“I also met him yesterday. But today we have been informed that there are some problems, so we are not going out. The chief secretary is likely to visit us and we will have a meeting with him again,” he said in a television statement. channel in Calcutta.
When tensions erupted, the Union Interior Ministry intervened, and its secretary Bhalla wrote to the state secretary-in-chief that the two inter-ministerial central teams, visiting Kolkata and Jalpaiguri, did not receive the desired cooperation from state authorities and local.
“In fact, they have been specifically restricted from visiting, interacting with health professionals and assessing the situation at ground level.
“This amounts to obstructing the implementation of orders issued by the central government under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and the equally binding instructions of the Supreme Supreme Court,” said Bhalla.
The Secretary of the Interior of the Union said, therefore, that the state government must make all the necessary arrangements so that the central teams carry out the responsibilities that have been entrusted to them.
After Bhalla’s heavily worded letter, Kolkata’s team was able to visit parts of the city escorted by BSF and state police contingents.
“The core team told us they want to visit parts of the city. We agreed and state government officials are accompanying the team,” Rajiva Sinha later told reporters.
When further pressure was put on whether the team could visit other districts and how long they plan to stay in Bengal, the senior state bureaucrat said: “Nothing has been decided about his visit to other districts. When it occurs to them (the proposal), we would receive a call. About the length of your stay, we would like to say clearly that we have not invited you, you have come on your own. At a time when we are fighting the disease, making arrangements because your visit is tough. ”
Meanwhile, the political temperature soared when the TMC dubbed the visit of the core teams as “adventure tourism” and asked why those delegations were not sent to states with a much higher number of infections and critical points.
Addressing a digital press conference, TMC MPs Derek O’Brien and Sudip Bandyopadhyay claimed that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was briefed on the visit of the Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCT) three hours after her arrival in the state, what they said was unacceptable.
“The IMCT is about adventure tourism. The CM was informed of the team’s visit three hours after the team landed,” O’Brien said.
He also questioned why core teams did not visit states like Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh that have a higher number of coronavirus cases and many more critical points.
Why are core teams being shipped to West Bengal that is not listed in the top 10 states in terms of infection? Asked the TMC leader in Rajya Sabha.
“The Center has to clarify. Why was the prime minister informed after the team’s arrival? In a federal structure, he must first report to the state government. The reason behind the dispatch of such teams is still unclear. Need clarification. first, “he said.
The Union Home Office had said Monday that the situation for COVID-19 was “especially serious” in Mumbai, Pune, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata and some other locations in West Bengal, and formed six IMCTs for an on-site assessment. . issuing the necessary instructions to the four states: Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and West Bengal.
Bandyopadhyay, the Trinamool Congress leader in Lok Sabha, expected good sense to prevail and the Center would henceforth consult the respective state before making such a decision.
“We have kept politics behind and we want a joint fight against the pandemic. Let us not take our grace for granted, we can also speak in political language. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union’s interior minister, Amit Shah, should also leave politics behind and should not take Bengal’s promise of a united fight to tackle the pandemic for granted, “O’Brien said.
“What the central government has done by sending core teams is nothing more than an insult to the people of the state,” he added.
Responding to a question about “low test rate” in the state, Bandyopadhyay said 425 tests are conducted every day in West Bengal and that Tuesday’s number would increase to 600.
He said that sending core teams not only runs counter to the basic principles of federalism, but also amounts to diluting the joint fight against the COVID crisis.
Protesting at the Center to send teams to assess the “serious” situation of COVID-19 in the state, the Prime Minister of West Bengal sent a letter to the Prime Minister on Monday, calling it “unilateral” and “undesirable” action. .
The BJP, however, defended the movement of the Center.
“The central government has done the right thing. They (the teams) will surely discover how the blockade regulations are being violated and how the state government is trying to hide the real image. To hide the facts and figures, it is pushing people towards a much more dangerous situation, “said BJP President Dilip Ghosh.
