Malda Training Diary - Administrative Training Institute

Page 117 of 117
DM has prepared a flood relief plan outlining duties of various officers. M.S.Bhattacharya
who was here today for deposing in a case, felt it was just the elementary framework and that
what would happened during the flood could not be put down on paper. Amar Singh (my
batch mate in Burdwan), he said, had sent off his paper on the district plan already and that he
comes for an hour to office and pushes off. I wish I had that much time and could write a few
articles!
In the meeting on tubewell sinking with BDOs, EB got a bang for its 22 two only and DM
clearly said that De, the former BDO, had not given it top priority and the rest must be sunk
by 15 th . Trunk call came that CM, Power Minister and PU minister are coming on 14 th and
leaving on 15 th night by train. They wanted us to give a vehicle for PU minister to go to W.
Dinajpur so we told them this was impossible as CM and Power Min would be here and that
DM Balurghat be asked to send one.
BDOs wanted AROs’ services so that lists of loan defaulters could be drawn up without
which Cattle Purchase and Fertiliser loans could not be distributed. Now some AROs are
doing accounts in evacuee office and other stay put in town instead of the blocks. When DM
asked SDO where AROs were, he said, “If, Sir, you dispose their services in other depts
without telling me, I can’t say where they are.” DM:”You needn’t talk to me like that. It is
your business to know my order when I pass one.” SDO shrivelled up! He was all “Sir, Sir”
thenceforth. DM said he would see to it that AROs were placed in the blocks. TP Ghosh who
ought to have sent a copy of the order to SDO looked a duffer and escaped by saying that it
had been routed through OS.
Bamangola and other Barind BDOs were told to finish sinking very fast as CM would be
furious. But even CM can’t provide us with rigs to break through rocks!
After the meeting, Kar and I went to N. Bhattacharya, AE PWD, for sanitation schemes. He
could not give any without surveys but suggested we could budget 10 lakhs for drainage plus
converting service latrines into sanitary ones @ 1000 for a family of 15 (750 such in EB). We
left telling him not to tell SDO that we had come!
Old Malda municipality sent its drainage schemes coming to Rs.2.5 lakhs.
No rain in most blocks. It is a scandal how the relief office has not yet sent CARE the reports
for May and June. Every time Ghosh is pressed, he refers to DM FCI not supplying reports
and sits back. DM and ADM are not anxious either. Result is CARE will stop wheat
shipments from 12 th . All that is needed is sending a man to the 5 godowns and get details!
11.7.1972
Work done
District plan 9.30 a.m. to 12 noon
DPC meeting 3-7 p.m.
Museum 8 a.m.
Information
At 8 a.m. I went to the museum where 20 coolies took nearly an hour to put the Vishnu statue
on its “vedi”. Weighs about 30 mds! Left instructions with Mali to thoroughly clean the mud
so that a good photograph could be taken next Sunday.
Bimal Chakravarty, Kar and I went to DM’s at 9.30 a.m. and there we re-did the total
employment and costs. Eng. Bazar Municipality plans SDO gave us at 3.30 pm. So all was
ready for completing the plan now.
In the meeting only 5 MLAs out of 10 came—Shamsuddin Ahmed, Jakhilal Mondol, Niren
Singh, Mohababul Haque and Bimal Das. We finished at 7 p.m. including a plan by SOTW
for SC and ST. MLAs were very critical of RLI schemes not working and the EE merely
asked his AE to answer! Costs for many projects were changed by EE PWD, so a lot of
cancellation and correction will be needed. DM should have not stencilled so early and
waited till after the meeting. Lack of experience. Tomorrow at 9 a.m. we meet again.