The committee, headed by the Congress, requested today that chief minister Mamata Banerjee fulfil her promise of creating a separate district of Islampur by dividing it from the present Uttar Dinajpur district.
During a meeting with North Bengal Development minister Udayan Guha at Uttarkanya today, the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee’s General Secretary Ali Imran Ramz, who contested for the Raiganj LS seat this year, presented a memorandum on the matter.
He recalled that during her campaign in Islampur in 2011, chief minister Mamata Banerjee pledged to make Islampur sub-division its own district if her party won.
However, despite several years passing by, Mr Ramz pointed out that the chief minister is yet to fulfil her commitment to the people.
While addressing the press, Congress leader Ali Imran Ramz stated that the demand for a separate district is not a new one.
He pointed out that in 1956, when Islampur was annexed into West Bengal, then chief minister Bidhan Chandra Roy had promised to make it a separate district once its infrastructure was developed.
However, it was not until 1992 when the left front Government led by Jyoti Basu created two separate districts from West Dinajpur that the people of Islampur had to take their plea to the high court for a separate district.
The court acknowledged their claim as legitimate, but unfortunately, the state government was unable to act upon it as the process of creating Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur districts had already begun.
Today, we met with Udayan Guha, the North Bengal development minister and urged him to relay our discussion to the Chief Minister.
Notably, the Suryapur community has been advocating for a separate district for quite some time now due to their unique cultural background.
“Our request is that the Islampur sub-division, which includes Chopra, Islampur, Karandighi, Goalpokhor and Chakulia blocks, be declared as a district with Islampur as its headquarters and Karandighi as its sub division,” Mr Ramz said.
According to him, despite having 16 lakh voters in this area, there are no necessary facilities such as a medical college. As a result, residents are forced to seek treatment at either North Bengal Medical College and Hospital or Kishanganj Medical College and Hospital in Bihar. It’s alarming that there are 18 thousand registered students at Islampur College but no other educational options available. The lack of job opportunities has also led to over 2 lakh people resorting to being migrant labourers for their livelihood.