Trinamul turncoat and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, here on Sunday, tried to belittle the Mamata Banerjee government’s efforts in north Bengal, saying the state had simply obeyed central policy.

“There is a central policy that each district has to have a medical college and hospital and a university, funds are allotted for them. The state government acted according to the policy...that is why the medical college and university are coming up here,” he said.

Suvendu was speaking at the meeting held by his new party in Baburhat on Alipurduar town outskirts to welcome the party’s “Parivartan Yatra” from Cooch Behar.

In the past few years, the Trinamul government announced and developed a number of new medical colleges and universities in north Bengal in Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, North and South Dinajpurs and Malda.

Suvendu also referred to the Centre’s recent allocation of Rs 1,000 crore for the development of the tea population, particularly women and children, of Bengal and Assam.

“This indicates that the central government is concerned about tea workers of north Bengal. The state government, on the other hand, has failed to create job opportunities in this region and across Bengal as a whole. These days, the government is busy distributing eyeglasses,” he said.

On Sunday, Trinamul leader and state labour minister Moloy Ghatak, along with district Trinamul leaders, held a public meeting in Kalchini of Alipurduar district.

“On February 16, the Birpara tea estate will reopen. During the Left rule, 40 tea gardens were closed and we have managed to reopen most of these gardens,” said Ghatak.

He also pointed out that in 2011, the daily tea wage was Rs 67 which has increased to Rs 202 in the past 10 years. “The BJP only makes empty promises. It is the state government that has revised the wages, reopened closed gardens and has floated an array of welfare schemes for the tea population,” the minister added.