COOCH BEHAR, July 21: Cooch Behar district unit of All India Youth League (AIYL), the youth wing of Forward Bloc stalled functioning of almost all branches of banks, post offices and insurance offices in Dinhata, Tufanganj, Mathabhanga, Mekhliganj and Cooch Behar yesterday. 

A state secretariat member of AIYL and also the district unit general secretary Mr Abdur Rauf said that during the programme police arrested 150 AIYL supporters from Haldibari. Police also forcefully lifted 130 agitating AIYL supporters from Tufanganj, he alleged. The movement plan was adopted in a meeting of the AIYL’s Cooch Behar district committee held at Khagrabari recently, he said. 

Mr Rauf said that the AIYL supporters were demanding acceptance of the Mukherjee Commission’s report on disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. The historic Netaji Bhavan situated on Elgin Road in Kolkata should be considered as a national museum, Mr Rauf demanded. The AIYL leader said that the Central government already denied accepting the Mukherjee Commission’s report but they believe that the report may throw light on the historic disappearance of Netaji. The programme was organised yesterday to draw attention of the Central government into the matter, he said. 

Mr Rauf said that the AIYL would organise a massive movement over river-erosion issue. They will also organise agitation to ensure employment of unemployed youths and improvement of the situation of the NBSTC. AIYL supporters will organise sit-in demonstrations in front of all SDO offices in Cooch Behar district on 21 August and the district magistrate’s office on 11 September to draw the attention of the state government to these burning issues, he said. [] 

PHE workers met minister 

COOCH BEHAR, July 21: A delegation of UTUC affiliated North Bengal PHE Mechanical Workers Union met the state public health engineering minister Mr Gautam Deb at Kolkata yesterday. They submitted a memorandum containing their longstanding demands to the minister.

Union leaders like Mr Ramesh Sarkar, Mr Subrata Gupta, Mr Manu Sarkar and three MLAs of RSP, Mr Nirmal Das, Mr Dasharath Tirkey and Ms Kumari Kujur were in the delegation.  

The union leaders requested the minister to regularise the PHE workers engaged in various pump stations of Zilla Parishads and municipalities. They also demanded equal salary and other benefits for the PHE workers as other government employees. They asked the minister to stop the contractor system in PHE work. They demanded renovation of the damaged pump houses and group insurance facility to all PHE workers. 

A member of the delegation said that the minister reportedly told them that at this moment it is not possible to discontinue the contractor system. He also expressed his disability to regularise the workers immediately. But he assured them that he would try to extend minimum wage to the PHE workers as the PWD workers. This may come into effect from January of this year. [] 

PHOTO : Members of Cooch Behar District Merchants Chamber of Commerce took out a procession in Cooch Behar town on Friday. Demanding immediate rehabilitation of 376 fire-affected businessmen of Bhavaniganj Bazar they submitted a memorandum to the chairman of Cooch Behar Municipality. Bhavaniganj Bazar was damaged in a devastating fire on 25 November in 2003.