Make less excuses, work more: Mamata

Make less excuses, work more, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday emphasising that it is not possible to complete the backlog of 34 years of the Left Front rule by the Trinamool Congress government in three years.

“Some people say kotha kom kaaj besi (speak less, work more). Now I tell you faki kom kaaj besi (make less excuses, work more),” she said at a public rally in Bankura district where she inaugurated Karmatitha Prakalpa (marketing hubs).

“My policy is not to take away jobs but provide jobs,” Ms. Banerjee said and urged youth to take training provided by the State government and other agencies. The remarks made by the Chief Minister are significant as she has claimed of making a turnout in the State’s work culture by doing away with strikes and bandhs.

The Chief Minister said that Bankura district has a lot of potential and has done well in schemes like 100-day work guarantee scheme.

“From baluchari saris to terracotta, Bankura district has a lot of potential for handicrafts. Bankura is a great tourism destination,” she added.

Highlighting schemes like Kanyashree - providing scholarship to school-going girls and Yuvashree - to give employment to unemployed youth, she said that she would create about nine lakh jobs in the State in the next couple of years.

Stressing that the State is getting self-sufficient is producing agricultural crops like onions, Ms. Banerjee said that cultivation of the crop is being introduced in the district. “In Bengal, we don’t cultivate onions. I have to buy onions from Nasik. In Bankura, we have already started cultivating onion on 12,000 bighas of land,” she said.

The Chief Minister also pointed out that though the people of the State are fond of fish most of it is brought from other States.

“Some people believe in the politics of money power and divisive politics of religion,” Ms. Banerjee said, adding that politics to her means service to the people.

Urging the youth not to get disillusioned, the Chief Minister said they would have to wait for opportunities.

“The youth today is very impatient. You must understand several opportunities will come up despite failures,” Ms. Banerjee said.