Bengal fondly remembers B C Roy on birth/death anniversary

Kolkata, July 1 (UNI) The 125th birth anniversary of the founder of modern Bengal and former Chief Minister Bidhan Chandra Roy was celebrated today throughout West Bengal with due respect.

In a state government sponsored programme Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee paid floral tributes to Dr Roy's statue in downtown Dalhousie area in the morning. Later, despite being a weekly holiday, he went to the state Secretariat at Writers Building and garlanded a bust of the renowned leader at the main corridor.

In another programme, Defence minister and Pradesh Congress President Pranab Mukherjee, accompanied by several party leaders, visited the ancestral house of Dr Roy in Central Kolkata and paid floral tributes to his memory.

Later, addressing a gathering, Mr Mukherjee recalled the unmatched contribution of Dr Roy in bringing West Bengal Onto the industrial map of India for the first time which earned him the distinction of becoming the founder of modern Bengal.

Mr Mukherjee also urged the state government to declare Dr Roy's ancestral house as a heritage building and assured all cooperation from the Centre in this regard.

To commemorate the day in a more useful manner a number of other programmes, including blood donation camps, were organised in different parts of the state where large number of people paid respect to the departed leader and donated blood.

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