Chief minister Mamata Banerjee met with industry leaders on Monday and stressed on speedy implementation of various industrial projects, which are in pipeline in the state. The meeting was also attended by concerned departmental bureaucrats.

This meeting with industrialists followed her Bengal Global Business Summit in February. Banerjee said, “Bengal is No. 1 in terms of skill availability and talent pool. We will not tolerate any laxity and delay in project execution in various sectors such as IT and small and medium industries. The small and medium enterprise sector has a very big potential for employment generation. Many government departments sit on project files. Senior officers should study the projects themselves and not leave it to lower-level officers,” she said.

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Ms Banerjee also stressed on the need for quick solutions to problems which crop up on the way to implementation of projects. “Red-tape bureaucracy needs to change and employment has to be created. Speedy and time-bound solutions are the need of the hour. For this, departmental coordination is required. Sitting together will help in creating solutions. There should be no negligence and delay in getting clearances relating to the environment. All clearances should be granted in a month,” the CM said.

“I urge the chief secretary to introduce real-time tracking of applications. He should monitor this every fortnight. Interested industry captains may also join this effort by giving prior intimation,” she said.

With any eye on labour issues, Mamata was firm on her dealing with it. The CM said, “If any problem is created by the local leaders, the affected person can lodge a complaint with the government.” Banerjee also mentioned that retrenchment by industrial units has to be negotiated with the state labour department. “It has to be seen also that no personal interests should be entertained,” she noted.

She added that the government is in the process of establishing six economic corridors that will touch all districts of the state, for which 3,000 acres have already been identified.

Banerjee insisted, “No land should be kept idle or forcibly taken away, and government secretaries have to look into this.” She also acknowledged the demand for land from the industry and said there are proposals for setting up five steel plants, involving an investment of Rs 35,000 crore with job-creating potential for 50,000 people.

For the real estate sector, Banerjee said, “No building plans should be sanctioned which allow for the eviction of the poor from colonies. Both the poor and rich have the right to live under shelter.”