As the tenure of the Left Front-run board of the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad (SMP) ends on 15 November, the sabhadhipati of the elected board, Tapas Sarkar, today said there could have been more development in rural areas under the SMP had they received adequate funds from the state government.
The board was formed on 16 November in 2015 after the Left defeated the Trinamul Congress 6-3 in the nine-seat SMP polls. Mr Sarkar, however, said he was satisfied with the development work undertaken with the limited funds at their disposal.
“We faced acute financial crisis when we came at the helm of the board. The first two years, we did not get the funds and sought cooperation from the state government. We had moved Delhi too about any chances of getting funds. Later, we started getting funds, but that was not enough.
“However, we made efforts for comprehensive development with those funds, but I have regrets that there could have been more development had we received more funds from the state government, and cooperation from the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority and North Bengal Development Department,” Mr Sarkar said on his last working day at his office today.
Trinamul Congress, however, said the state government did not discriminate the board. “The state government has given enough funds for the development in the SMP area and it did not discriminate the board.,” said the leader of the Opposition at the SMP and senior party leader, Kajal Ghosh.