Published 21:32 IST, April 20th 2020
Mamata writes to PM Modi against central team's visit to state, says 'breach of protocol'
The response to COVID-19 outbreak in WB has become far too political than desired, with Mamata Banerjee expressing displeasure over IMCTs visit to the state
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over multiple issues in accordance with the arrival of the Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (ICMTs) and its functioning. The letter comes around just after the press conference of the State Chief Secretary, where he stated that he was informed of the arrival of the teams on Monday and within 15 minutes of the telephonic conversation with his counterpart in Delhi, the team landed in Kolkata.
“While, I appreciate the proactiveness shown by the central government in sending their teams to West Bengal, the same was done without prior intimation and hence is a breach of established protocol,” read the CM's letter.
Mamata further added, “While as per the above order, the state government was supposed to provide the logistics arrangement, the central teams kept the state government in complete dark and had approached central forces like BSF, SSB for the logistics support and had already moved on the field without any consultation with the state government.”
The letter by the CM also states that the Centre’s observations of the number of lockdown violations in West Bengal and some areas being more serious is "devoid of facts" and that there is no credibility to the claim.
MHA writes to Chief Secy
It all started on April 19, when the Ministry of Home Affairs wrote a letter to the West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiv Sinha regarding lockdown violation and incidents of violence against healthcare workers in districts like Howrah, Kolkata, Medinipur, Darjeeling and Kalimpong. This was the third such letter by MHA to the Bengal Government, amidst lockdown.
As the letter started doing rounds, the Central team went around the city and reached Nabanna in the evening to hold a meeting with the Chief Secretary regarding their visit. According to the letter, the two Central teams will visit West Bengal's Kolkata, Howrah, East Medinipur, North 24 Parganas, Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Jalpaiguri districts, which has been badly hit by the novel Coronavirus.
Updated 21:32 IST, April 20th 2020