Buddhadeb asks administration to act impartially

With a team from the Union home ministry on a visit to the state to ascertain the law and order situation, West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today directed district administrations to act impartially and without bias.

"You must be impartial in your duties. You must overcome resistance, including from the opposition, on expediting development work," finance minister Asim Dasgupta told reporters quoting the chief minister after a meeting with DMs of all 18 districts.

The DMs were asked to maintain law and order without bias towards any political party and convene all-party meetings to sort out confrontation, he said.

When some DMs said there was need for coordination among departments for speeding up development projects, the chief minister said there was need for strengthening inter-department coordination.

Dasgupta said the development projects included, those from the departments of panchayat, irrigation, water resources, minority affairs, power, housing, social welfare, urban development and municipal affairs.

District administrations were specially asked to complete central projects under NREGS, Indira Awas Yojana, Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Project, Prime Minister's Gramin Sarak Yojana and National Social Assistance Programme within the specified timeframe.