Mamata Banerjee attends office at state secretariat after 50 days

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Tuesday, attended her office at the state secretariat of Nabanna at Mandirtala in Kolkata adjacent Howrah district after a gap of 50 days.

She was confined to home following her renewed limb injuries and infection that she received during her overseas trip to Spain and Dubai a couple of months ago.

The Chief Minister on Tuesday, on the order of a three-member Arbitral Tribunal, has directed the West Bengal government to pay a compensation of Rs 765.78 crore in additional to an interest at the rate of 11 per cent accrued on it since September 2016 as compensation to the company for the closure of its Nano car project in Singur in Hooghly district.

Sources from the state government said that Chief Minister Banerjee is also expected to discuss her senior cabinet on the fate of chair of the state forest minister following the arrest of the Jyotipriya Mallick by Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths in connection with multi-crore ration distribution in the state.

Now, it is to be seen whether the chief minister will totally replace Mallick and appoint a full- time state forest minister, or will give any existing cabinet member the additional responsibility of the said department.

At the same time, state government sources said, the chief minister is also expected to discuss the agenda for the forthcoming next meeting of the state cabinet on November 9.