Bengal’s handloom reaches London
A Bengal government’s initiative to take its traditional craft to a global audience has had its first shipment reach the UK. One of the major attractions at a Naboborsho mela on Saturday at Salvatorian College Harrow, London, was a Biswa Bangla stall displaying saris, shirts and top made of indigenous handloom and stitches like baluchari and jamdani. Biswa Bangla, the flagship brand of Bengal under the aegis of MSME department of the government, has joined hands with a non-profit organisation run by Bengali members in the UK to set up stalls.
Grievance redress cell gets over 3L complaints
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s grievance redress cell has received more than 3 lakh complaints on housing allotment irregularities under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojona (rural) after the state finalised the names of over 11 lakh beneficiaries under the scheme. The state finalised the names of the beneficiaries under the Centre’s housing scheme for the poor following a four-stage verification process. “In all, 3,24,589 complaints were lodged till April 7. Most complaint came after the state finalised the names of beneficiaries in January,” said a state official.
TMC to launch outreach march for two months
The Trinamool Congress will launch a Sanyog Yatra (outreach march) to connect with people at the grassroots for two months across Bengal. The drive, aimed to galvanise TMC’s support base ahead of panchayat polls, will be launched by the party’s national general secretary and chief minister’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee in north Bengal’s Cooch Behar on April 25. During the course of the outreach march, Abhishek and his party colleagues will ask people about the extent of social welfare schemes implemented in rural areas and hear out local problems. The yatra’s report will be sent to Mamata, who in turn, will take up initiatives to include more people in the social welfare schemes.
Pranab mondal
Our correspondent in West Bengal
pranabm@newindianexpress.com