Mamata launches calendar to keep track of targets

, Jan 2: The

government on Thursday unveiled an administrative calendar to keep track of a set targets and monitor the status of projects in the state.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called it a red-letter day.

"The West Bengal government is the first in India to come up with the administrative calendar... to maintain transparency, implementation of programmes, monitoring targets, accountability, credentials, credibility and government's performance. This is for good governance," she said at the launch.

She said the government will carry on doing work with transparency and claimed there has been a revival of the work culture in the state.

Governor M.K. Narayanan, who launched the calendar, lauded the "excellent idea".

The calendar, which includes in its ambit all the 61 departments of the state government, is Banerjee's brainchild.

Copies of the calendrar has been provided to all state government offices.

People can access information regarding the progress of a particular project in their area by logging on to the state government's official website.

Narayanan congratulated the state government for "adapting continuously to the state's changing needs".

He highlighted the progress made by the government in the last two and half years in health and education and in making the administration run more efficiently.

The governor also praised the government for the way it has dealt with the Maoist violence in Junglemahal and the Gorkhaland issue in northern West Bengal's Darjeeling hills.

The Junglemahal area comprises forests in Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore districts where Maoists have a strong base.

"Across the country, the success achieved by this state in bringing peace to Junglemahal and effectively containing extremism has been widely admired. No less commendable has been the manner in which the movement launched by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has been dealt with and a new mechanism arrived at to deal with sub-regional movements," Narayanan said.