CM asks: What is reason for central team visit?.... Mamata said state government officials were too busy in replying to questions of the teams

Members of the central team with employees of the Covid-19 hospital in Jalpaiguri on Monday.Picture by Biplab Basak

Pranesh Sarkar, TT, 28.04.20, Calcutta: Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday asked whether the Union government was doing justice by sending inter-ministerial central teams to the state in the midst of a crisis. 

“You tell me whether it is a justice. Any one can come to assist, but not for other reason... Please this is not the time,” Mamata told a news conference at Nabanna on Monday.

The chief minister had sent a letter to the Prime Minister on April 20 soon after two teams had reached Bengal to assess the lockdown measures and Covid-19 preparedness, pointing out that the officials had been sent unilaterally, which was against the spirit of federal structure.

Mamata said state government officials were too busy in replying to questions of the teams and it was becoming tough for them to do regular work related to the control of the pandemic.

“What is the reason behind sending the team... Will officers work or appear before them?” she asked.

The chief minister reacted, sources said, after the teams sent four letters to the chief secretary and sought several clarifications from the state government.

Despite the initial reservations about the way the teams were sent, the state government has been co-operating with the central officials in terms of holding meetings, giving presentations and arranging their visits to dedicated Covid hospitals, quarantine centres and hotsopts in Calcutta, Howrah and East Midnapore in south Bengal and several places in north Bengal.

The reason behind the state government’s cooperation with the central team was clear when the chief minister said she didn’t want to quarrel with any one on the issue at this juncture. “They (the Centre) would send central teams and instigate others to instigate us. But we don’t want to quarrel,” said Mamata.

The team for south Bengal visited a dedicated Covid hospital in East Midnapore and some other places, including markets in the district, on Monday. The team that is touring north Bengal visited some places in Siliguri and neighbouring Jalpaiguri on Monday.