Kolkata, Sept. 30 -- As Ghatal once again grapples with floodwaters, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday set a June deadline to end the region's recurring misery, announcing Rs 1,200 crore for the long-pending masterplan this fiscal and stating that the Centre would bear 50 per cent of the cost.

Addressing a gathering at Birsingha on Vidyasagar's 207th birth anniversary, Adhikari directed officials and MLAs to expedite the Ghatal masterplan and execute it on a war footing.

"We are allocating Rs 1,200 crore for the Ghatal Master Plan in the current fiscal. The central government will provide 50 per cent of these funds, and the remainder will be borne by the state," Adhikari said.

He added: "We will also receive some funds from the Disaster Management Department to acquire land for the plan,"

Holding the previous TMC government responsible for being a state to have the highest number of child marriages in the country, Adhikari said: "Due to the wrong policies of the previous government, we could not be within the top ten in education. We are ranked 31st in education. But do you know what we are competing for number one with Jammu and Kashmir? In child marriage, and cases of pregnancy and childbirth among underage, daughter-like girls

below 18 years of age."

Sharing his concern regarding high rates of underage pregnancy and child marriages in Bengal, Adhkari said: "This trend is deeply concerning. The state must be completely freed from this social evil, and our government is determined to achieve this at any cost. We have around 60,000 adolescent mothers, of whom 13,000 are in Murshidabad and 9,000 in South 24-Parganas. There are instances in this district (West Midnapore) as well."

Adhikari urged state libraries to stock books by social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar instead of Mamata Banerjee's works, saying: "Do not buy 'Epang Opang Jhapang' anymore. Buy Vidyasagar's books and fill school libraries

with them."

The CM also announced that a library at Birsingha would be developed into a museum. The government also plans to build cottages for researchers studying Vidyasagar and provide accommodation for tourists visiting the village, he said.

"Many people want to carry out research. I have asked the district magistrate to provide land to build special cottages for them. Vidyasagar Shishu Udyan, a community hall and new roads would be built, while solar lights would be installed in the village. The government would also improve the infrastructure of the local health centre and renovate libraries,"

Adhikari added.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.