Why some people have become so greedy, asks Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata: Issuing a warning to her party functionaries and a section of state government officials on the issue of corruption, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that she fails to understand why a section of the people in the political and administrative circles have become so greedy.

Her comments came in the backdrop of several charges of corruption which have emerged recently, more specially the one related to the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment irregularities scam.

The Chief Minister made cautionary statements at the administrative review meeting at Purulia district, where even District Magistrate Rahul Majumdar had to face her wrath.

The Chief Minister got especially furious after receiving complaints about irregularities in collection of taxes from the local brick kilns in the district. A representative of a local panchayat samiti alleged that the tax collected are not deposited in full to the state exchequer.

"Is the District Magistrate listening? This is not being done by Trinamool Congress. Those who collect taxes at grassroots level do not deposit the full collection to the state exchequer. They just fill in their own pockets. I do not understand how you are running this district. You are here for a long time. My idea about you has changed. I do not understand why some people have become unnecessarily greedy. Had this been done by any of the party functionaries I would have slapped him or her?" she said.

Mamata Banerjee also cautioned the party functionaries and state government officials over mushrooming of broker rackets in different state government offices who are extorting money from poor people against getting their work done.

She also said that in many cases the land allotted to the scheduled tribes have been recorded in the names of others. "This is unpardonable. The land allotted to scheduled tribes cannot be acquired. If such things happen again then FIRs should be filed against the block land & land reforms officers concerned," the Chief Minister warned.

At the administrative review meeting, the police officers of the district also faced the wrath of the Chief Minister on the same corruption issue. "Why don't you check the trucks that are coming from Jharkhand? Are you allowing the trucks to pass on after receiving money? Do the officers-on-charge of the police stations conduct regular patrolling? Do the district police superintendent make surprise visits?" the Chief Minister questioned.