The West Bengal government has assured the Centre that it will abide by all its orders related to the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown and assured full cooperation to the two visiting central teams assessing the ground situation in the state, reported news agency PTI.
In a letter to Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha said it’s not true that the two Inter Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) have not been provided with any cooperation by the state government since he had two meetings with one team and was in touch with the other.
“This is to convey my highest assurances for the implementation of the orders of central government issued under the Disaster Management Act as well as the directions of the Honb'le Supreme Court,” the state chief secretary told the Union home secretary.
On Tuesday, 21 April, the Union Home Ministry said the West Bengal government is not cooperating with central teams, restraining them from interacting with healthcare workers and touring affected areas.
In a letter to West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla had said that it had been brought to the notice of the ministry that both the inter- ministerial central teams (IMCTs), visiting Kolkata and Jalpaiguri, have not been provided with the requisite cooperation by the state and local authorities.
“In fact, they have been specifically restrained from making any visits, interacting with health professionals, and assessing the ground level situation... This amounts to obstructing the implementation of the orders issued by the central government under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and equally binding directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court,” Bhalla was quoted by PTI as saying.
The union home secretary said, therefore, the state government is directed to comply to make all necessary arrangements for the central teams to carry out such responsibilities as have been entrusted to them.
Home Ministry Joint Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava also raised the issue at the daily media briefing on the COVID-19 situation in the country.
She said the Centre has sent teams under Disaster Management Act to four states –Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. While Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are extending full support, the government in West Bengal is not doing so, she added.
Earlier on Monday, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had said that the criteria for the deployment of inter-ministerial central teams (IMCTs) by the Modi government in some states only, wasn’t clear.
The issue assumed centre-stage the next day, with Apurva Chandra, Additional Secretary and an IMCT team leader, telling ANI, “Teams have gone to other states like MP, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. There they are getting full support of state governments. They were given the same notice as West Bengal but they have faced no problems since yesterday.”
He added, “We came here yesterday and our order of deployment also says that the state government is to provide logistic support to us. I have been in touch with the chief secretary since yesterday, since the time I landed, seeking support from the state government to visit the areas.”
“We also met him last evening at Nabanna, we were assured that we will again have a meeting and we'll be going out for being taken around. But today we were informed that there are some issues and we will not be going out,” Chandra said.
‘Adventure Tourism’
Meanwhile, Mamata’s Trinamool Congress on Tuesday dubbed the IMCT visit to West Bengal to monitor some districts over coronavirus cases as “adventure tourism”, and questioned why teams were not sent to states with much higher number of cases and hotspots.
Addressing reporters through a Zoom video conference, TMC MPs Derek O'Brien and Sudip Bandyopadhyay claimed that Chief Minister Mamata was informed about the team's visit three hours after its arrival, which was unacceptable.
“The ICMT team is on an adventure tourism. The CM was told about the team's visit three hours after the team landed,” said O'Brien. He also questioned why central teams did not visit states like Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh with higher number of coronavirus cases and many more hotspots.
Bandyopadhyay said that 425 tests are conducted every day and from Tuesday, the number of tests conducted daily would be increased to 600. Both the leaders said that it was not a question of “state vs state” and appealed to the Centre to cooperate with the states.
They said once proper protocols are followed, then the state would be happy to coordinate with the government.
The Union Home Ministry had on Monday announced that six inter-ministerial central teams (IMCTs) will visit identified areas in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan within the next three days to make on-the-spot assessment of the coronavirus situation and lockdown measures, and recommend remedial measures in a report to the Centre. Except Madhya Pradesh, the other states are ruled by Opposition parties.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday, 20 April, sought to know the rationale behind the formation of six inter-ministerial central teams (IMCTs) to assess the enforcement of lockdown norms in states. She put out a series of tweets saying the same.
(Inputs: PTI)
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