Do not create panic, says Mamata -CM expects media and the Opposition to fulfil their 'social responsibility' by not highlighting the negatives amidst the crisis

Meghdeep Bhattacharyya   |   TT   |   Calcutta   |    16.07.20  : Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday tore into the BJP and a section of the media without taking names for criticism of her government and the party over alleged graft in the distribution of relief for Cyclone Amphan victims and asked them not to spread panic and create a crisis where there was none.

“Those who are yet to be given Amphan relief, those who were denied. There aren’t many, just a few. Give them what is allocated for them. So that there is no…. There are some people who have no work, all the time….” the chief minister said during a meeting with the administrative authorities of several districts.

Her cabinet colleagues and the top brass of the administration were present at the meeting televised live.

“How will they run TV channels, how will they run newspapers. They cannot see the good work of the government,” Mamata said, shortly before asking home secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, also in charge of information and cultural affairs department, to sit with representatives of various media houses over coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A probe into 40,000-odd complaints about irregularities in the distribution of the Amphan house-building relief revealed that around 34,000 of them were genuine. The finding showed the volume of mismanagement in giving the dole. As an immediate damage-control, the state government has decided to sanction fresh compensation to each of the 34,000 complainants.

In public, however, Mamata has been seen attempting to play down the scale of the graft.

“Ninety-nine per cent people got. Because we were trying to do this in a hurry, so there were some little mistakes here and there. Because of some..,” the Trinamul Congress chief said on Wednesday.

“There too, district magistrates were told to ensure that the genuine beneficiaries were not deprived. No compromise on this. We arranged for the funds amid a great deal of difficulty. Nobody has any authority to deprive anybody (of their dues),” she said.

“But at the same time, a political party (BJP) has been politicising it way too much. There is no point in doing that. Look at yourselves first….”

Mamata said she expected the media and the Opposition to fulfil their “social responsibility” by not highlighting the negatives amid crises such as Covid-19 or the cyclone.

“As long as we are here, we will make sure no injustice takes place anywhere…. Please do not create a crisis where there is none. Please don’t spread panic,” she said.

“Especially the media, I sincerely request you…. This does not happen in other states,” she added.