Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
New Delhi
Continued political violence and an ongoing doctors’ strike in West Bengal has prompted the central government to issue advisories and ask for separate reports from the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The advisory the Ministry of Home Affairs issued to the state government said that the continued violence from 2016 until 2019 was “indicative of the failure” on the part of the state’s law enforcement machinery to maintain the rule of law. It said that central government was “seriously concerned over the prevalent situation in West Bengal”, and the growing casualties in election-related and political violence between 2016 and 2019.
Quoting reports received by the MHA, the officials in the North Block—which houses the ministry—said the number of incidents of political violence in the state increased from 509 in 2016 to 1035 in 2018.
A senior official said: “So far in 2019, 773 have occurred. Correspondingly, the death toll rose from 36 in 2016 to 96 in 2018, while 26 deaths have already taken place so far in 2019”.
“It is requested that a report may be sent to this Ministry on the steps taken by the state government and its law enforcement machinery to investigate the incidents of violence to bring the culprits to book as also the measures taken to contain and curb violence,” the advisory told Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress government.
In a second advisory to the state government, the MHA said it wanted a report on priority on the attack on serving resident doctors that triggered an ongoing doctors’ strike. In this advisory, the MHA said it had received a number of representations from doctors, healthcare professionals and medical associations from different parts of the country about their safety in view of the ongoing strike by doctors in West Bengal.
“It is requested that a detailed report be sent urgently on the representations and ongoing strike by the doctors,” it said.
