Minister of urban development and municipal affairs Firhad Hakim convened a meeting with officials from the Siliguri Municipal Corporation today.

He emphasized the need for further development of Siliguri in order to transform it into a Model City.

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According to Mr Hakim, who is also the mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been the driving force for rapid development in this region, as north Bengal holds a special place in her heart.

Siliguri used to be a poorly developed town in the past, but since 2011, significant progress has been made. Despite having a former urban development minister from Siliguri, the town had been falling behind for the past 50 years, Mr Hakim claimed today.

The minister conducted a review meeting yesterday with his party leaders to discuss the Lok Sabha poll results. After the meeting, Mr Hakim concluded that party members require training to effectively communicate the message of development and progress to the public.

Following an extensive investigation in the past few days in this area, Mr Hakim was surprised by the election outcome and reached the conclusion that his party’s supporters were unsuccessful in gaining votes for their candidates. This was despite chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s immense popularity among the people, who hold her in high regard.

Mr Hakim, following a meeting with Goutam Deb, the mayor of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation as well as other officials and councillors, emphasized the significant role that councillors play in promoting development initiatives and their implementation to the public. He stressed the importance of people’s participation and highlighted how councillors are essential in driving both development and party organization. In order to be more effective, councillors should prioritize forming ward committees by engaging with local residents and gaining their trust.

“It is evident that people always support those councillors, who actively work for their benefit, making it difficult to reject them in any election. As a five-term councillor myself, I speak from experience,” he added.

Today, Mr Hakim met with the officials of the SJDA and addressed various matters. Following the meeting, he stated that SJDA is focused on promoting green development, a crucial initiative in our current circumstances.

In the meantime, Mr Hakim assessed the possibility of carrying out projects like STP I, II, and III (sewage treatment plant) that are currently in progress.

Mayor Goutam Deb prepared a report with his staff to discuss these projects and provided Mr Hakim with detailed information.