Mamata Banerjee mulls forming new districts in West Bengal; 'Centre not providing funds'

In a meeting with the  Civil Service officers at Kolkata's Town Hall, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee batted for the creation of more districts in the state on Thursday. Addressing a crowd of over hundreds of officers, the Trinamool Congress supremo outlined that at present, the state comprises 23 districts, however, the area covered by them is vast, leading to a slowing down of development. 

Mamata bats for more districts in West Bengal

"We need to divide the districts as these are very large. The state will have more districts. This will help expedite development work," she said, adding that the state required more manpower and infrastructure for the purpose. Furthermore, CM Mamata claimed that the Centre was not providing additional funds for the purpose. 

"I came to know that the Centre has not released funds for 100-day work since December last year. Tell me, how people will work if they are not paid. The central government collects revenue from states and shares a meagre part of it, Mamata Banerjee asserted, while addressing the officials. 

South 24 Paraganas to be trifurcated? 

Earlier last month, it had come to light that the Mamata Banerjee-led government was planning to trifurcate South 24 Parganas. According to the plan, after the trifurcation, three new districts - Baruipur, Sundarbans and Diamond Harbour will be created. Of the three, Baruipur was likely to have 11 blocks; Sundarbans 8 blocks and Dimond Harbour 2 blocks. "All paperwork is ready for the division. As of now, we are waiting for her (Mamata Banerjee) to sanction the proposal and make an announcement," the bureaucrat maintained," a source close to the development told media. 

 It is pertinent to mention here that the Mamata Banerjee government, in the past eight years, created three new districts -- Alipurduar (in June 2014), Kalimpong (February 2017) and Jhargram (in April 2017). Bardhaman was also split into two districts (2017). Currently, West Bengal has 23 districts.