Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday held a one-to-one meeting with Union home minister Rajnath Singh at her chamber in Nabanna.
During the half an hour meeting, Miss Banerjee had likely taken up the state’s long-drawn demand of a financial package to tide over the state’s debt stressed situation, the process of identification of legal citizens through National Register of Citizens and infiltration from neighbouring states.
Other issues namely DVC’s water release allegedly without prior information to the state government and the state’s proposal of name change that has been submitted to the Centre too are likely to have taken up at the meeting.
The one-to-one meeting was held after the 23rd meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council at Nabanna Sabhaghar this morning. Mr Singh had said that the arrangement for the meeting was excellent and expressed his gratitude towards Miss Banerjee.
Mr Singh said that the zonal council meeting went well with 26 issues were resolved out of the 30 issues that were discussed.
He said the meeting was aimed at promoting and maintaining a good federal atmosphere of cooperation among states and between the centre and the states.
Some issues discussed at the meeting include release of Central share under post matric and pre matric scholarship schemes for SC, ST and OBC, scheme for modernisation of state police forces, allocation of land for National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research at Kolkata and Hajipur.
Also measures to curb Left Wing Extremism, railway electrification, construction of dedicated freight corridor, road over bridges and road under bridges in place of level crossings were taken up in due course of the meeting.
The meeting also reviewed progress of the unresolved items of the last meeting relating to Phulbari Dam under the 1978 agreement between Bihar and West Bengal governments, Mr R Buhril, secretary, interstate council secretariat said.
The Council also took up new issues, including development of allocated coal mines, implementation of various National programmes of health, establishment of shelters for urban homeless under DAY-National Urban livelihood mission, expeditious clearance for right of way for laying optical fibre cable and land acquisition for the development of 11 airports in these states.
The five zonal councils (western, eastern, central, northern and southern) were set up under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 to foster inter-state cooperation and coordination among the states.
They are mandated to discuss and make recommendations on any matter of common interest in the field of economic and social planning, border disputes, linguistic minorities among others.
Prior to his two-day visit to Kolkata, Mr Singh changed his Twitter handle script to Bengali.
Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani on Monday called upon chief minister Mamata Banerjee in Nabanna.
“Our only motto is to oust a fascist and undemocratic government like BJP. We have to bring everyone and fight against BJP together in 2019 polls. We will do whatever we can to save our Constitution and our democracy. Mamata Banerjee is our inspiration,” he said before leaving the state secretariat.
Mr Mevani is an independent MLA from Vadgam who came to light after he led a campaign by Dalits in Gujarat.