Senior Trinamul leader and former minister and MLA Gautam Deb assumed the office of the chairperson of the four-member board of administrators (BoA) of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation here on Friday.

After taking charge, Deb said he would work to streamline the management of the pandemic situation and put efforts to revive the work culture in the SMC.

“We have to work on a war footing to curb the pandemic from spreading across the SMC area. We will ensure round-the-clock services for which none of the civic employees will be allowed to go on leave other than in extraordinary cases. Our priority is to provide civic services and some allied services to the residents, in coordination with the district health department, the administration and others concerned,” Deb said.

On Friday morning, Deb reached the SMC with Ranjan Sarkar, Alok Chakraborty and Vivek Baid — three other board members — and took charge. Deb then held a meeting with Surendra Gupta, the principal secretary of the north Bengal development department who has been made the nodal officer of state health department for Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts.

Sources in the SMC said that the state urban development department appointed two nodal officers for Covid management in all 47 wards of Siliguri.

On Saturday, the chairperson will hold a meeting with officials of the health department of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, SMC and representatives of NGOs SMC.

“We need to restrain the pandemic. Also, regular civic services with 50 per cent of the total staff is yet another challenge that we will have to carry out. I will visit all the SMC wards and communicate with former board members too…,” the senior Trinamul leader said.

On his very first day, Deb passed a clear instruction that all civic employees would have to deliver their responsibilities regularly.

“If required, they have to visit the wards to confirm that civic services are being provided properly. Supervisors who look after the conservancy service in wards will have to regularly monitor the work from 7am to noon,” said an official.