NBSTC

NBSTC's tourism service starts

The much awaited tourism service of the North Bengal state Transport
Corporation (NBSTC) started today from the Old Bus Stand of Cooch
Behar Division. The all the 72 seats of the double-decker bus meant
for Cooch Behar –Alipurduar –Jayanti –Baneswar route and 30 seats of
the Cooch Behar- Jaldapara –Chilapata –Phuntsholing route have been
sold out. The NBSTC officials turned astonished seeing the enormous
acceptance of the service named 'Sabujer Pathe Hatchhani' (call of the
green). The Managing Director, C Murugan said they are considering of
introducing of a new route for the tourists along Jalpaiguri-Thinphu
very soon. It may be mentioned here that the new TMC-led state
government lifted its tourism service after assuming power in the
state. But, following protests against the decision and demand for
reintroduction of it prompted the NBSTC authority to revive the
popular service. Advance booking for the service in two routes started
on 25 December and today the two buses started operation with seats
left vacant.

Udayan Guha thanks Gautam Deb

FB welcomes CPI-M's unity call

A state unit secretariat member of the Forward Bloc, and also the
general secretary of the party's district unit, Udayan Guha has
welcomed the Left unity call given by a senior CPI-M leader, Gautam
Deb.

A front ranking leader of the state CPI-M, and also a former minister,
Deb asked for Left unity in Cooch Behar district especially with the
Forward Bloc in the next three-tier Panchayat election and the Lok
Sabha election. He suggested party activists to go for a unity as the
FB still has a strong base in this district. He spoke this during his
address at the open session of the CPI-M's peasant wing (All India
Krishak Sabha) at Kholta in Cooch Behar on Saturday.

An MLA from Dinhata, Guha today welcomed the call given by Deb. At the
same time he said that by mere delivering of speeches at meetings
would not bring the unity. All Left Front partners should come forward
for it. He admitted that there was actually no all-out Left unity in
Cooch Behar district in Panchayat elections since 1978. It is a
failure on the part of all leftists. "This time a responsible CPI-M
leader of the state felt the necessity for unity and we should welcome
it. We will try to achieve it to make a strong opposition to the
tyrannical rule of the Trinamul Congress in this state", Guha said.

AIKS CONFERENCE

Smaller AIKS committee in Cooch Behar

The Cooch Behar district committee of the All India Krishak Sabha has
been formed at the just concluded district conference by the delegates
came from 128 Gram Panchayat areas of Cooch Behar district. AIKS is
the peasant wing of the CPI-M. Its state unit is Pashchim Banga
Pradeshik Krishak Sabha. The new district committee of the
organisation is much smaller than the previous one as the number of
members came down in recent years and also after formation of the
Trinamul Congress-led state government.

The newly elected secretary of the AIKS district committee, Ananta
Roy, who is also a former minister, said on Monday that the new
committee consists of 65 members. In the outgoing committee the number
was 96. In the new committee a veteran CPI-M leader, Dinesh Dakua
(ex-minister) has been re-elected as the president. Roy has been
promoted from assistant secretary to secretary replacing Harish
Barman. A former sabhadhipati of the Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad,
Jnanendra Chandra Chanda became the treasurer. 61 members were elected
at the conference and remaining four will be selected soon, Roy said.

AIKS district secretary said they will fight against Trinamul
sponsored atrocities and take part in the ensuing Panchayat elections
actively. They will also organise fresh and intensive mass movements
to safeguard the earned rights and interests of the farmers and common
people. Resolutions to this effect have been adopted at the delegate
session of the district conference, he said.

Mentionworthy, the AIKS suffered a huge loss of during recent years.
The number of members has been decreased rapidly and they had to shut
down a number of offices in the district. Now, they are trying to
raise heads again armed with peoples' displeasure with the style of
function of the Trinamul Congress-led state government, AIKS sources
said.

CPI-M Rally in Cooch Behar

CPI-M leaders at the AIKS open session at Kholta in Cooch Behar.

CPI-M Rally in Cooch Behar

AIKS conference concluded in Cooch Behar

The three-day 20-th district conference of the All India Kisan Sabha
concluded at Kholta in Cooch Behar-I block on Sunday. Cultural
programme was also held on the occasion. Delegates from all the 128
Gram Panchayat areas of the district attended the delegate session.
Senior CPI-M leaders like Gautam Deb, Madan Ghosh, Dinesh Dakua,
Ananta Roy, Harish Barman and Tarini Roy addressed at the open session
that was held at Dakshin Kholta Primary School ground. A large number
of people attended the gathering.

During their address former housing minister Gautam Deb and other
leaders came down heavily on the Trinamul Congress and its leader
Mamata Banerjee. Deb hoped that they will come to power again in the
state. Then they will take measures against the misdeeds of the
Trinamul Congress government, he indicated. He also asked the
activists and local leaders to review their activities in the past and
to take lesions from that. He suggested them to work jointly with the
Forward Bloc and other Left Front parties in the next Panchayat
election and also in the Lok Sabha election.

Criticising the Chief Minister, Deb said she claimed that she already
performed 99 percent of work in the state. A minister of Siliguri
(Gautam Deb) too claimed that they performed 95 percent of work in
North Bengal. But, the road communication is still worse and the
airport in Cooch Behar is lying defunct. The state government is
spending funds in unreasonable sectors but they failed to improve the
condition of the common people, he alleged. The volume of the Trinamul
ministry was also criticised by him. "The next state government will
review all accounts", he said and indicated that they are going to
come again in power. Deb also spoke of the pro-people jobs done by the
erstwhile Left Front government.

Former forest minister Ananta Roy announced that they will not
surrender to the tyranny of the Trinamul Congress. "We would field
three candidates in a seat so that if one being murdered the people
can select5 a Left candidate to vote for", he said.

State unit secretary of the AIKS, Madan Ghosh mentioned that the state
came down to 23-rd position under Trinamul rule from 4-th position in
Left Front regime in implement of MGNREGS scheme (popularly known as
100-day job) in the state.

NBSTC

Leftists left as 'unwanted' in folk festival

Uttar Banga Lok O Adivasi Sanskriti Utsav (North Bengal Folk and
Tribal Cultural Festival) will be held at Sitalkuchi Gopinath High
School ground on 23-24 December. The festival will be organised by the
Lok Sanskriti O Adivasi Sanskriti Kendra in association with
Information and Culture Department. State Forest minister Hiten Barman
met the media persons on Thursday over the programme. North Bengal
Development minister Gautam Deb will inaugurate the festival on
Sunday.

The leaders of the Left Front in Cooch Behar have alleged that the
festival is nothing but a Trinamul Congress programme. No elected
representative of the Left Front was invited to join the festival. The
Sabhadhipati of Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad Dilip Biswas, Cooch Behar
MP (Lok Sabha) Nripen Roy, even Sitai MLA (Congress) Keshab Roy were
not invited in the programme. The invitation card consists of the
names of ruling Trinamul Congress MLAs. An ex-MLA (now associaqted
with TMC) was also included in the list of guests but the sitting MPs
and MLAs of the Left Front were excluded. They were not invited too,
Left Front sources alleged.

The Forest minister, Barman however denied the allegation. He said
that all have been invited but it is not possible to print all names
in the invitation card.

NBSTC's tourist service from 30 December

The much awaited tourism service named 'Sabujer Pathe Hatchhani' (Call
of the green) of the North Bengal State Transport Corporation will be
reintroduced from 30 December, the last Sunday of the year. On that
day two buses will be pressed into service in Cooch Behar- Jayanti-
Baneswar and Cooch Behar- Jaldapara- Jhalong- Bindu routes. After that
the service will be will be available on Saturdays, Sundays and
holidays. If the service turns viable it will be a regular one as it
was before winding up of it by the former chairman of the NBSTC,
Rabindra Nath Ghosh.

The Managing Director of the NBSTC, C Murugan said they will try to
add folk dance programmes for entertainment of the tourists during the
journey at Jayanti and other places. Local tribal folk culture troupes
will be contacted for the purpose. Tickets for the green journey will
be available from the special booking counter of the Old Bus Stand in
Cooch Behar from 25 December as before, he informed.

Leaders of all the unions of the corporation have welcomed the news of
revival of the 'Sabujer Pathe Hatchhani' service. It will be helpful
in increasing revenue to the financially sick corporation, they
opined.

Mentionworthy, the tourism service was lifted soon after assuming of
power by the Trinamul Congress in the state. The chairman of the newly
formed Board of Directors of the corporation, Rabindra Nath Ghosh
(Trinamul MLA) declared its death. After demands came in from
different quarters for its revival the NBSTC authority decided to
reintroduce it with approval from the present chairman, Gautam Deb.

GREATER COOCHBEHAR

GCPP demands separate state

'The Greater Cooch Behar Peoples Party (GCPP) has organised a mass
gathering at Shahid Baag in Cooch Behar on Thursday afternoon. The
plan behind the gathering was to attract the Chief Minister's
attention prior her visit to Cooch Behar on 26 December.

During the gathering, the GCPP president, Bangshi Badan Barman-led a
seven member delegation to the District Magistrate and submitted a
memorandum addressed to the Union Home Minister through the DM.

Barman said that the people of Cooch Behar have been demanding of
proper implementation of the merger agreement by which erstwhile Cooch
Behar State was merged with India in 1949. According to the agreement
Cooch Behar should be a C-category state, but, the governments at the
Centre and at the state are not paying any heed to this demand. They
made it a mere district of West Bengal. "If the government fails to
fulfil our demands we will have to launch a fresh movement", he
warned.

In the memorandum the GCPP has raised question over the appointment of
North Bengal Development minister Gautam Deb as the chairman of Cooch
Behar Development Fund. A vast amount was left by the then ruler of
Cooch Behar State, Maharaja Jagaddipendra Narayan for the well being
of the people of Cooch Behar. A minister from Cooch Behar used to be
the chairman of the CDF, but the new Trinamul-led state government
posted a minister from Siliguri, Gautam Deb as its chairman. It is a
violation of norms, Barman alleged. He demanded that a minister or an
MLA from Cooch Behar should be the chairman of the Fund.

The GCPP also demanded appointment of a senior man from the successors
of the Cooch Behar royal family as the chairman of the Debatra Trust
Board, instead of the DM. The government appointed the DM as the DTB
chairman violating the norms, Barman alleged.

Lions Quest organised by Lions Club of Cooch Behar Greater

Ancient Coins of Cooch Behar

Ancient coin gallery demand in Palace Museum

Following recovery of 27 ancient coins from under earth at Falimari
Gram Panchayat area, the demand to set up a new gallery at the Cooch
Behar palace Museum has gathered a fresh momentum.

The ancient coins were recovered on Friday when labourers were working
to make an earthen road at Falimari GP area under Cooch Behar-I block.
The silver coins were kept in a earthen container and it came out
during digging. A few of the silver coins have been lost but the
police recovered 27 from the villagers. They are now under custody of
Cooch Behar Kotowalo Police. Cooch Behar SP PK Das said they will send
the coins to experts to know details. But, many fear that they will be
kept in the Malkhana (godown) of the police station as in the case of
recovery other ancient materials including arms and coins.

The secretary of Cooch Behar heritage Society, Arup Jyoti Majumdar
said they conveyed the matter to the Superintending Archaeologist of
the Archaeological Survey of India's Kolkata Circle. They requested
the ASI to set up a new gallery to room the ancient coins recovered
from several places in Cooch Behar. In 2007, a large number of coins
of the regimes of Cooch Behar maharajas were recovered from areas
adjacent to Siddheswari temple in Cooch Behar-II block. Since then
those are lying under police custody. All these should be placed in
the Palace Museum for the students, researchers and common people
interested in the history of Cooch Behar.

A writer of several books related to the history of Cooch Behar
Kingdom, and also the secretary of North Bengal development Academy,
Ranajit Deb too opined that the ancient coins should be exhibited at
the Palace Museum. They will pose as links to the rich history of
Cooch Behar. ASI sources, however, said that the proposal is under
consideration.

NBSTC

Leaders visit bereaved family

Several Trinamul Congress leaders today visited the house of late
Loknath Dey who committed suicide on Tuesday night. They assured the
family members of all help to run the family. Dey was an employee of
the NBSTC and committed suicide due to financial crisis.

An MLA and also the president of Cooch Behar District Trinamul
Congress, Rabindra Nath Ghosh said he visited the house following
instruction from state Transport minister, Madan Mitra. He handed over
Rs 10,000 to the widow of Dey. He said that four months ago Dey was
transferred to Suri from Cooch Behar. As he was not receiving salary
regularly he was suffering from acute financial crisis as his wife is
a TB patient. Ghosh, who is an ex-chairman of the NBSTC held the
Managing Director responsible for the death as he transferred him
without considering Dey's problems.

Vice-chairperson of Cooch Behar Municipality and also the president of
Cooch Behar District Trinamul Mahila Congress, Amina Ahmed also
visited the house and assured of cooperation in getting pension and
jobs for at least one member of the bereaved family.

A director of the NBSTC and also a secretary of the state Trinamul
Congress, Abdul Jalil Ahmed and the Cooch Behar Divisional Manager of
the NBSTC, Subir Deb Roy too went to the house of late Dey following
instructions from the chairman of the corporation cum the North Bengal
Development minister, Gautam Deb.

NBSTC

NBSTC staff suicides

An artisan of the mechanical department of the North Bengal State
Transport Corporation, Loknath Dey has committed suicide last night.
He hanged himself from the ceiling fan of his room at his house
situated at Kalabagn in Cooch Behar town. A few months ago he was
transferred from Cooch Behar to Suri in Birbhum district. He left a
suicide note too.

The secretary of the NBSTC Workers Union's Cooch Behar Division unit,
Sujit Sarkar said Dey was transferred to Suri a few months before the
Durga Puja. As a low salaried staff it was hard fro him to run to
establishments at Suri and Cooch Behar. In Cooch Behar, his wife is
suffering from Tuberculosis and she is now under treatment in a
government hospital. His married son is an unemployed one. Due to
these reasons Dey was suffering from mental agonies and that may
prompted him to commit sucide, Sarkar said. He also said that this is
the sixth suicidal death in the NBSTC.

NBSTCWU sources said the workers and employees were not paid 25
percent of their salary each month starting from April. They are yet
to get the salary of November.

The councillor of the concerned municipal ward, Mahananda Saha held
the Transport Department for the suicide of Dey. He had to commit
suicide as he collected a huge amount of loan to run the family and
the treatment of his ailing wife, Saha said. Dey's wife also said her
husband lend money for the family.

The Managing Director of the NBSTC, C Murugan said he would enquire
about the incident as he was a worker of the corporation.

Plan to make Cooch Behar a total sanitised district

Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad is now busy in implementing the Nirmal
Bharat Aviyan. The aim is to make the district a total sanitised
district by 2015. In 2010, the Mathabhanga-II Panchayat Samity that
consists of 10 Gram Panchayats, received an award from the President
of India for making the PS area a total sanitised PS. It was the first
PS in North Bengal that was awarded by the President for its
achievement. Another 37 Gram Panchayats in the district also have been
recognised as total sanitised GPs.

The sabhadhipati of Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad, Dilip Biswas said that
under the Nirmal Bharat Aviyan they are working hard. 17 GPs are going
to be marked as sanitised GPs very soon. "We are waiting for a visit
of the Central team to these GPs to evaluate the situation", Biswas
said.

International Border Trade Centre

Save the Society and Rivers Committee organised a unique programme to
criticise the Central government for its failure in making the
International Border Trade Centre in Changrabandha a modernised one.
They performed a Maha Yajna at the VIP Morh that was supported by the
traders' organisations and others that are associated with foreign
trade. A number of residents including members of business community
and curious people attended the programme.

The convenor of the committee, Sanjib Chatterjee alleged that in 2007,
the then Union Commerce minister Jairam Ramesh and in 2010 the then
Union Finance minister P Chidambaram promised that the Changrabandha
Border Check Post would be improved for the greater interest of
foreign trade. But, the government failed to keep its promise. He said
that the government has collected revenue of Rs 2,000-crore from 1989
to 2012 from here but spent nothing for its development. To mark a
protest against the government's indifference they organised the Maha
Yajna. On 15 December they will also organise a Kirtan programme,
Chatterjee announced.

KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA

Demonstration in Kendriya Vidyalaya

Normal functioning of Kendriya Vidyalaya in Cooch Behar has disrupted
on Friday following demonstration organised by the supporters of the
Chhatra Parishad and the students of the school. They were agitating
against beating of a student of Class X. When the reporters arrived
there to cover the event the principal of the school misbehaved with
them.

President of the Cooch Behar District Chhatra Parishad, Arindam Dey
alleged that a student of Class X, Dhrubajyoti Chakraborty was beaten
mercilessly by a para-teacher of the school on Thursday. The fault of
the student was that he wore a trouser that was not reportedly made
according to the school's uniform specification. The student received
serious injuries in his ears and eyes. The aggrieved guardians lodged
an FIR against the teacher. Dey said they organised the agitation
demanding suspension of the cruel teacher.

The students of the school too turned angry. They said the student was
beaten mercilessly like a dog. There is no healthy system or rule in
the school and the principal is a failure. She should be removed from
this school, the students said.

When media persons appeared at the school at Baburhat in Cooch Behar,
the principal, Kunti Dey tried to push them away. She even tried to
prevent them from covering the demonstration and also tried to stop
cameramen from taking photographs. Her misbehaviour shocked the media
persons. The agitated principal was found shouting to them asking them
to leave the place immediately. Police too rushed to the school to
maintain peace.