AITC demands special economic package for North Bengal industry

Kolkata, Sept 11 (UNI) Contrary to her anti-Left Front image, All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) supremo Mamata Banerjee has requested Union Finance minister P Chidambaram to announce a special economic package for setting up new industries in North Bengal towards a balanced industrial growth in the state.

Informing this, Opposition leader in the state Assembly and senior party Legislator Partha Chatterjee told newsmen here today that during Ms Banerjee's recent meeting with the Union Finance Minister in New Delhi, she had requested Mr Chidambaram to announce a "separate economic-cum-incentive package" for industrialists, who had decided to set up new plants in any of the six North Bengal districts comprising Malda, North and South Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri Darjeeling and Cooch Behar.

Describing the meeting between the two leaders as a bold step towards her efforts to bolster the economic activities in North Bengal, Mr Chatterjee said since the entire North Bengal had limited infrastructural facilities because of the "step-motherly" attitude of the state government, the need for an exclusive economic-cum- incentive package for those, who intended to set up their units, had now become an absolute necessary to prevent them from looking at other states.

Mr Chatterjee said Ms Banerjee during her hour-long meeting with Mr Chidambaram last week also urged him to include Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum and West Midnapore districts in South Bengal in the special package to encourage more industrialists to come and set up their units there too as these four fistricts were also suffering from having limited infrastructural facilities like North Bengal.

The Union Minister despite the AITC not being a constituent of the ruling UPA had agreed to consider her request actively and sympathetically, Mr Chatterjee, also present in the New Delhi meeting, said.

" We hope in keeping with his assurance a new economic package for North Bengal and some South Bengal districts would be announced by the Centre soon bring a new hope in setting off a balanced industrial rejuvenation programme of the state, " the Opposition leader reiterated to a query.

UNI ABA SJC KLC1553