Number of girls who disappeared from Bengal last year — 3,000. Over 5,000 children went missing in 2010. But the state doesn’t seem to be bothered. “During an inquiry we found that Bengal is yet to set up anti-trafficking cells in districts to evolve a foolproof mechanism for combating trafficking. The police administration does not seem concerned even though trafficking of girls is on the rise,” said a CBI official attached to...

-The Telegraph Jairam Ramesh’s Union rural development ministry has sanctioned Rs 1,011 crore for the first phase of a drinking water supply project in Bankura. The ministry will request the Union finance ministry to approve Rs 3,000 crore for similar projects in South 24-Praganas and Purulia, sources said. During his visit to Bengal last week, Ramesh had discussed the projects for the three districts with his Bengal counterpart Subrata Mukherjee. Ramesh could not...

Mamata Banerjee today lent her voice to a pitch to facilitate land acquisition for a life-saving project — an uncommon plea that betrayed the government’s frustration at the slow pace despite the urgency and the promise of generous compensation. The chief minister persuaded the people of Sunderbans to offer their land to build embankments in low-lying areas of South 24-Parganas, which were devastated by the Aila cyclone in 2009. The embankment project...

In the initial months of governance by the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, attempts appear to have been made to begin subverting the positive results of the land reform programme of the Left Front. What is happening appears to be the inevitable outcome of political rivalry, the hegemonic rule of one party giving place to another, with the citadel of power changing its colour, making the “red” one “green”. But...

The Bengal government had introduced a remote-area incentive system that rewarded doctors working in Calcutta for all practical purposes but not in some places that could be reached only by crossing rivers. Calcutta High Court today stayed the order, which was issued by the Mamata Banerjee government last year but did not draw much attention beyond medical circles. The government order denied several doctors who had served in villages the advantages due...