KOLKATA — West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced compensation for those who reportedly died by suicide or after falling sick because of the alleged pressure of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state.
The Chief Minister also announced compensation for those whose health condition was serious after they either tried to commit suicide or had fallen sick, allegedly due to SIR-related pressure.
Those who would be receiving the compensation from the state exchequer will also include the booth-level officers (BLOs) engaged in the SIR exercise who either died or became seriously sick following the “SIR-related” pressure, the Chief Minister announced at a programme where she released a progress report on the achievement of the West Bengal government led-by her since 2011, the year of the beginning of the Trinamool Congress regime and the end of the 34-year Left Front rule in West Bengal.
According to her, the family of the persons reportedly dying because of the “SIR-related” pressure will be provided a compensation of Rs 2,00,000 each.
“Those whose condition became serious but survived will be entitled to a compensation of Rs 1,00,000 each. This is a message to them and their families that the state government is beside them during difficult times,” the Chief Minister said.
She claimed that according to her knowledge, a total of 39 people died either by committing suicide or after falling sick because of the SIR-related pressure.
Speaking on the occasion, she also issued an appeal to the Union government to engage in dialogues with the West Bengal government on issues of dispute rather than issuing one-sided directives, which were done by the British rulers during the pre-independence period.
“Don’t give any forceful instruction that will result in the suffering of the common people. But still, if you do that, the state government will help the common people as far as possible. We are answerable only to people, democracy, and the Indian Constitution,” the Chief Minister said.
She also said that West Bengal never had and will never have room for communal politics. “I have always believed in secular politics and will continue to tread through the secular path in the future,” she said. –IANS
