Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that West Bengal’s development was synonymous with that of the country.
Her reference to “development”, however, is being seen by political observers, as the latest attempt in a campaign for a special fiscal package for the debt-ridden State.
“Please look at Bengal. If Bengal is developed, then India is developed,” Banerjee said at the centenary meet of the Indian Science Congress. Her comments came in the presence of both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pranab Mukherjee and a host of other Nobel Laureates.
Interestingly, while Banerjee did not clear the air about her apparently ambiguous comments, they gain significance with her previous appeals for a package (from the Centre) falling to deaf ears.
The Chief Minister, in different forums and public rallies, has time and again expressed her anguish about the non-availability of a special status for the State. She had, in fact, blamed the Centre for the State’s high debt burden.
Brand Bengal
Banerjee, however, went on to harp on the positives of Bengal and highlighted how the state has been instrumental in shaping Nobel laureates like Rabindranath Tagore, C. V. Raman, Amartya Sen and Mother Teresa.
“Bengal is also the gateway to the south-east Asian nations and the cultural capital of India. People like Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray, Jagdish Chandra Bose, Meghnad Saha and S. N. Bose all belonged to Bengal,” she said.
According to her, science was a useful tool that can solve the grassroots problem of food security, health and education.
“Science can solve the problem of people living below the poverty line and the downtrodden. If you scientists cannot solve their problems, then who will?” Banerjee asked.
More Funds
She also called for more funds for the scientific community so that they were free from any tension of running a family.
“People doing research should not worry about how to run a family. They should not be under any tension,” the chief minister said.
She said that the State Government had decided to set up a Tagore Centre for Science, Culture and Philosophy to carry out research work.