An irate Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee lambasted everyone from the Border Security Force (BSF) – whom she accused of allowing infiltrators from Bangladesh – to her own ministers and officials at a televised administrative meeting on Thursday.

She spelt out the ABCs of what an efficient administration should do.

“A to avoid, B for block, C for, what should I say, create confusion, D for destruction that is what a section of the officers are doing,” Mamata said during the meeting at the state secretariat. “Be Active, Bold, Creative, work for Development, be Energetic, keep the Finances in mind.”

Mamata berated the officials in the districts and in the state capital, Kolkata, for not keeping watch on what is happening in their areas.

She also referred to the murder of Trinamul Congress councillor Dulal Sarkar, who was shot dead by unidentified miscreants in Bengal’s Malda district on Thursday morning.

“Goons are coming from across the border and killing people here. The Trinamul Congress or the police do not guard the borders. The BSF does. They are allowing people from across the border in connivance with the Centre,” she alleged.

“Do not blame the Trinamul Congress for what happens on the border,” said Mamata. “We get information from the villages. The district officials do not give any information.”

She asked when was the last time the government officials had carried out field inspections on mid-day meals and other government schemes.

“The block officials were instructed on carrying out voter list revision. Have they done anything? They don’t work and we and the people have to face problems,” Mamata said.

The chief minister, who did most of the talking during the meeting that went on for over an hour, pulled up most of the department officials, often singling out officers including the acting director general of police, Rajeev Kumar.

“Rajeev, you have to take strong action about the DIB [district intelligence branch]. They do nothing. They keep no information, they provide no information,” she said. “There is a lot of favouritism in the police department. Lobbies work. The superintendents of police make their own cliques. They want those close to them to get promotions. This cannot go on.”

When the north Bengal minister Udayan Guha complained that teams from Delhi police had come to Cooch Behar's Dinhata asking about migrant workers, Mamata said: "How were they allowed? Rajeev, were you aware of this? The SP does not know anything. An SP cannot function like this. No other agency can carry out verifications like this. If this is repeated, inform me."

She said: “Prabhat Mishra [the state finance secretary] is a gentleman but you have to be efficient. Except for one or two officers, the rest [in the finance department] discuss Left politics. They have turned [the department] into Alimuddin Street [where the state CPM headquarters are in Kolkata]. This is not the place to discuss meetings and rallies.”

The ministers and bureaucrats nodded their heads like obedient students as the chief minister went from one minister, one officer to the next.

Mamata also accused a section of the government officials of leaking information to the opposition parties.

Turning her attention to the state transport department, Mamata said it had turned into a silent department.

“Often, I see people standing on the roads waiting for transport. Has the minister, secretary ever visited these places,” Mamata asked.

When the minister Snehasis Chakraborty attempted to answer that “kichhu” (some) route frequency has been increased, Mamata shut the minister down.

“What does kichhu mean? Kichhu is meaningless. The transport department’s job is to ensure that people can reach their offices and home safely and in time. Go around the entire city during working hours, go to the hospitals, see what is happening,” she thundered.

Mamata also came down heavily on the city police for blocking roads for VIP movement during peak hours.

“Traffic is not allowed on Maa flyover after 6pm. For the police the easy way out is to now allow traffic at the drop of the hat. Not everyone owns cars. How will people travel at night in case of an emergency,” the chief minister asked.

State education minister Bratya Basu’s turn was next.

“Bratya, you are education minister. If there is a policy decision please consult us,” Mamata said, referring to a news report on a decision to introduce a semester system in schools.

“I was not aware. The chief secretary was unaware. I came to know from the media,” she said.

Basu said the proposal was lying with the chief secretary and would not be implemented without her nod.

“How did it get leaked to the media? This will not happen,” Mamata said. “Four advisers will take a decision and give the go ahead that is not going to work. I want to reduce the burden of textbooks on the students. Semester system for classes I and II? They cannot even speak properly. What works in colleges does not work in schools.”

Mamata claimed sand mafia funds from Birbhum were going to the BJP.

“We are not as happy as we were with Birbhum earlier. Illegal sand mining has gone up and money is going to the BJP,” she said. “We are not doing it. What are the inspectors-in-charge of Dubrajpur, Suri, Mohammadbazar doing? Do they think I do not know anything? From here I keep a tab on everything.”