Mamata Banerjee’s 100 days reign in West Bengal

Kolkata: Mamata Banerjee’s government finished 100 days in office on Saturday determined to fulfill most of the 200-day schema outlined in the Trinamool Congress election manifesto while facing uphill task in solving issues like the Maoist problem and financial crisis.

The financial crisis has Bengal’s total outstanding liability at more than Rs two lakh crore in the fiscal year that ended in March 2011. The Centre’s Rs 21,614 crore financial package to help the debt-laden state back on track has, however, failed to satisfy Banerjee.

"Though we are not satisfied, we understand that the Centre has some compulsions," she had said recently. The CM had said the actual grant amounts to Rs 9,240 crore and will be used for development. The state has to raise the balance Rs 12,374 crore from the market and the Centre has enhanced the state’s borrowing limit as part of the package. Among various initiatives of the new government, the most popular one is the decision to return 400 acres of land to the farmers of Singur acquired from them for the Nano car factory of the Tata motors and now lying abandoned.

Her government had passed a bill in the Assembly to return a portion of the land acquired by previous Left Front government from the unwilling farmers for the factory.

However, Tata Motors has challenged the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011 and the case in being heard by Calcutta High Court.

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