Mamata Banerjee on Thursday held a section of police officers and lower-level government employees responsible for the illegal mining of natural resources like sand, stones and coal, the rise in the prices of essential items and anomalies in the implementation of government schemes.
The chief minister was addressing a meeting of senior ministers and top government and police officials at Nabanna when she referred to a series of charges, including irregularities in government schemes like Taruner Swapno (Dreams of Youths), under which students are paid ₹10,000 each to buy tabs or smartphones.
“You should take care of some issues immediately. You try your best, but local police are not helping... Some lower-level officers, employees and some of your men in police help in pilferage of sand and coal,” the chief minister told Rajeev Kumar, the DGP, during the meeting that was live-streamed.
The diatribe against the cops and the officers, multiple sources in the administration said, was an attempt by the chief minister to send out a message that she was firm on dealing with allegations of corruption.
"Anti-corruption branch (of the state government) has to be strengthened.... The Special Task Force in the state has to be active. I will also do an overhaul of the CID," she said at the meeting.
In her first interaction with the top brass of the state administration after the festive season, the chief minister also rolled out the government's plans to add more beneficiaries to schemes like Lakshmir Bhandar and pension for widows.
The timing of the meeting is significant as it was held against the backdrop of the attempts by the Opposition parties to create a narrative against the government on the issue of corruption by highlighting the anomalies in the implementation of housing schemes and distribution of tabs among students.
"She sent out a clear message that she would not compromise on the issue of corruption. The attempts by the Opposition to link the TMC to corruption was also contested as she blamed a section of police officers and government employees for some of the aberrations seen in implementing government schemes," added the source.
The stress on expanding the scale and scope of welfare schemes run by the government was also a part of the preparations for the Assembly polls, which is likely to be a tough contest for the ruling party as it has been in power since 2011.
There is a perception in the Trinamool establishment — especially among the youth brigade, represented by the party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee — that the issue of corruption has the potential to affect the party politically and that's why remedial measures are necessary.
The chief minister laid stress on making the system free from corruption as she felt that political leaders are held responsible in case a corruption took place.
“The political leaders are maligned if they take a bribe of ₹5... But the political leaders think 10 times before accepting any bribe as they have certain accountability,” said the chief minister.
Mamata pointed out that she had proposed several steps to stop pilferage of sand, stone and coal, hinting that if these proposals were accepted, the allegation of pilferage of natural resources would not have occurred.
“I had proposed that all the areas where sand is mined should come under the tendering process. The same should have been done in the case of stone mines. I had also asked to stop all kinds of illegal mining,” said Mamata.
While asking the DGP to take action against the CISF in case it was found that they were allowing illegal coal mining, the chief minister made it clear that she did not need money by any unfair means to run her party.
“Nobody can say that I have taken money from him for any reason. I don't take any money from the government. If I need money to run my party, I would collect funds from common people, said the chief minister.
The issue of corruption is not new for the TMC. The party was battling against the allegations since the party came to power in 2011.
The party faced the first major allegation of corruption when the Saradha chit fund scam came to surface in 2013. It was alleged that the group had expanded its net with the help of several top Trinamool Congress leaders. The party faced another major allegation ahead of the 2016 Assembly polls when several senior TMC ministers and leaders were seen accepting bribes in video footage.
The allegation of corruption left the ruling party in a spot just after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when common people had gheraoed several district-level TMC leaders alleging they had taken cut money from them promising several government benefits.