Doctors’ meet at Alipurduar 

COOCH BEHAR, Sept. 10: IMA-sponsored Eastern Zonal Tea Garden Doctors’ Conference and Refreshers Course was held at Alipurduar yesterday. Alipurduar MLA Mr Nirmal Das inaugurated the conference that was attended by about 100 doctors. Jalpaiguri CMOH Dr Bhusan Chakraborty, Dr Swapan Nag, Dr Partha Dasgupta and IMA’s Alipurduar secretary Dr Mohit Santra were among the speakers.  

In his inaugural address Mr Nirmal Das said that a section of doctors were running behind Sonar Harin (golden dear) to achieve monetary success. On the otherhand the region is suffering from lack of necessary medical infrastructure. The situation in the tea gardens is worst, he mentioned. Mr Das criticised the government for its failure in implementing the proposed Group Hospital Plan. He urged the IMA to take an initiative to implement the plan.  

Mr Das also spoke on the alarming malaria situation of the region. Dooars is adjacent to malaria prone areas like Bhutan and Assam and so the authorities should be extra careful to combat the situation. He made an appeal to the IMA members to serve the society following their oath that they had to take before joining the noble profession. []  

Vidyasagar 

COOCH BEHAR, Sept. 10: State forest minister Mr Ananta Roy unveiled a statue of the great social reformer and educationist Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar at Alipurduar High School premises on Saturday. Financial assistance to establish the half-bust statue was came from an ex-student of the school. A cultural programme was also organised on the occasion. Alipurduar MLA Mr Nirmal Das was present as the chief guest while the headmaster of the school Mr Shantanu Dutta welcomed the guests. [] 

Lions Club’s mega medical camp 

COOCH BEHAR, Sept. 10: Lions Club of Cooch Behar (LCC) organised a daylong free medical health check-up camp at Shri Jain Bhavan in Cooch Behar on Saturday. The camp was organised in association with Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Science (RTIICS), Kolkata.  

District Governor of Lions Club International Dist 322F, Mr Nirmal Gidra inaugurated the medical camp while Cabinet Secretary Mr Naresh Periwal was present as the special guest.  

Eminent doctors comprising of cardiologists, neurologists, orthopaedics, urologists and general surgeons like Dr Sunil Lila, Dr DP Chatterjee, Dr Jayanta Das, Dr Arnab Kundu, Dr BK Susan, Dr Bikash Kapoor and Mr Manas Roy attended the camp. Mr Rakesh Varma and Mr Rajdeep Khan of RTIICS worked as co-ordinators to the doctors’ team.  

Vice-president of Lions Club of Cooch Behar Mr Depak Mundra said that 662 patients were examined at the camp. The LCC also arranged ECG facility free of cost at the camp, Mr Mundra added. The camp extended a good opportunity for seeking free consultancy for the patients of Cooch Behar and adjoining areas, especially to them who could not afford the expenses for getting the consultancy of eminent doctors. 

It may be mentioned here that the LCC organised the camp in association with RTIICS consecutively for the fourth time in Cooch Behar. []

International Literacy Day 

COOCH BEHAR, Sept. 5: Cooch Behar Zilla Saksharata Samity will observe International Literacy Day on 8 September (Friday). As a part of the celebration a colourful procession will tour through the streets of the town beginning from Cooch Behar Stadium and ending at Rabindra Bhavan. Seminar, cultural programme and prize giving ceremony will be organised at Rabindra Bhavan on the occasion, according to the additional district magistrate Mr SN Pal. Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad sabhadhipati Mr Jnanendra Chandra Chanda will inaugurate the programme while district magistrate Dr Ravi Inder Singh will remain present as the chief guest. [] 

Teachers’ Day 

COOCH BEHAR, Sept. 5: Teachers’ Day was observed in Cooch Behar district through various programmes today. District Teachers Welfare Committee organised the official programme at Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad Hall. Joint Council of School Teachers and Non-teaching Employees observed the Day at Maharaja Nripendra Narayan High School premises. []

PHE workers’ agitation 

COOCH BEHAR, Sept. 6: Members of PHE Contractors’ Workers’ Union staged a sit-in front of the office of the executive engineer of the Public Health Engineering at Devibari in Cooch Behar yesterday. They submitted a 14-point charter of demands to the PHE executive engineer on the occasion. 

A spokesman of the Union alleged that about 350 workers were being engaged as pump operators in Cooch Behar district in three phases. They are working under contractors in PHE department, in Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad and in Cooch Behar Municipality. They are not receiving salaries regularly, he alleged. The spokesman made it clear that they will have to stop supply of water if the concerned authorities fail to take positive measures against their justified demands. 

In the memorandum the PHECWU demanded that - the pump operators should be absorbed as government employees immediately, till the recognition they should be paid as skilled workers, contractual system should be abolished, the workers should get their salaries during the first week of a month, they should get provident fund facility, identity cards and puja bonus and winding up of unmanned operation system.

The PHECWU leaders declared that they will have to start a greater movement after the pujas to get their demands fulfilled. [] 

School upgraded

COOCH BEHAR, Sept. 6: Higher Secondary (Humanities) unit was added to the Cooch Behar Sadar Government High School from the current academic session. West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education approved the upgradation according to the assistant headmaster-in-charge Mr Prabir Acharya.

A number of guardians expressed their satisfaction over the development. They said that the Higher Secondary unit was a necessity for the students of the town for a long. They hoped that the newly introduced HS unit will be helpful in providing higher education to the students. School sources said that classes already started for the HS unit at Class-XI level. []

Health Centre inaugurated 

COOCH BEHAR, Sept. 6: The newly constructed Main Subsidiary Health Centre and a two-storied conference building of Chakchaka Gram Panchayat were inaugurated yesterday.State forest minister Mr Ananta Roy inaugurated the two-storied conference building that was constructed with Rs 4-lakh. Cooch Behar MP (Rajya Sabha) Mr Tarini Roy inaugurated the four-bedded health centre that was erected with Rs 5-lakh.

It may be mentioned here that Chakchaka Gram Panchayat was declared as a Nirmal Gram (total sanitised village) on 30 March in 2003. Now, in a bid to improve the healthcare system in the area the main health centre was established. On behalf of Chakchaka Gram Panchayat the minister and the MP were urged to take an initiative to provide an ambulance for the suffering people of the area. They also made a request to the concerned authority to establish a community hall at Chakchaka. []

FB demands drought compensation 

COOCH BEHAR, Sept. 7: Cooch Behar district unit of the Forward Bloc demanded adequate compensation for the drought-hit farmers of North Bengal. If the government at the Centre and also in the state fail to fulfil their demand they will organise a massive movement, the Forward Bloc leadership warned.

On behalf of Forward Bloc’s Cooch Behar District Committee a memorandum was submitted to the district magistrate of Cooch Behar today. Cooch Behar (North) MLA Mr Dipak Sarkar, Cooch Behar (West) MLA Mr Akshoy Thakur and other leaders signed the memorandum. 

Submitting their six-point charter of demands the FB leaders said that about two-crore people of North Bengal were affected by this year’s unprecedented drought situation. The Centre as well as the state government should come forward to help these people.

In the memorandum submitted to the district magistrate the Forward Bloc demanded – distribution of seeds and fertilisers to the drought affected farmers free of cost, condoning of agriculture loans taken by farmers, introduction of food-for-work schemes in all the six districts of North Bengal, extension of all possible irrigation facilities and speedy completion of Tista irrigation scheme. [] 

SUCI law violation

COOCH BEHAR, Sept. 7: The Cooch Behar district unit of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) organised a mass law violation programme today. Police arrested about 3,000 SUCI supporters during the programme, party sources claimed. 

Prior to the programme the SUCI supporters took out a procession that started from Shahid Baag. When it arrived in front of Cooch Behar District Court, the police tried to resist it from moving forward. Following this a scuffle occurred there. Police arrested all the SUCI supporters and the situation turned normal. 

SUCI sources said that they organised the law violation programme against price hike of essential commodities and demanding adequate compensation to the drought affected people. [] 

“Vande Mataram”

COOCH BEHAR, Sept. 7: Volunteers of the National Service Scheme (Unit I and II) of Dinhata College alongwith the teachers and other staff chorused the National Song “Vande Mataram” at 11 a.m. at college premises today to celebrate the centenary of the historic song.

A tree plantation programme was also held on the occasion by the volunteers of both the units of NSS, according to the NSS-I programme officer Md Saukat Ali. []

Life imprisonment to killer husband 

COOCH BEHAR, Sept. 9: District and sessions judge, Cooch Behar, Mr Nripendra Nath Ghosh today sentenced a man to imprisonment for life for killing his wife. Public Prosecutor, Cooch Behar, Mr Ganesh Chandra Roy Karmakar appeared in this case on the government side.

Sources said that Nasima Bibi of Tanganmari Rajarhat village under Cooch Behar Kotowali police station was married to one Ansarul Mian of Falakata in mid-2001. She was being subjected to torture at her in-laws’ house since her marriage for more dowries. Her husband asked her on several occasions to bring money from her father’s house. On 31 December in 2002 she was talking with her mother at their house when Ansarul suddenly appeared there. He demanded Rs 5,000 from his wife. When Nasima and her mother expressed their inability to give him the money he started stabbing Nasima on her chest. She died on the spot.

Following this incident a case was started. Eleven witnesses were examined at the court during the legal procedure. At last, today, the district and sessions judge, Cooch Behar, Mr Nripendra Nath Ghosh sentenced life imprisonment to Ansarul under section 498-A/ 302 IPC. The judge also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on the accused, according to the PP Mr Ganesh Chandra Roy Karmakar. []