Centre set to rechristen all govt-aided Bengal schools after Netaji

New Delhi: The Centre has decided to rechristen all the government-funded residential schools/ hostels in West Bengal as ‘Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose residential schools/hostels’ on a day when the state chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced a slew of measures to commemorate Bose besides extending infrastructure, educational and farm-related sops in her interim budget ahead of the state elections due later this year.

The rechristening of schools was decided as the Union Education ministry felt that the association of these schools with Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose will act as an inspiration to children and motivate teachers, staff and administration achieve high standards of excellence. There are 12 such residential schools and 19 hostels in Bengal.

In Kolkata, the West Bengal Chief Minister used her budget speech to lay claim on Bose's legacy. She announced Jai Hind Bhawans in every district, and a Netaji Battalion in the state, as a tribute to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. She also announced proposals to build at least four flyovers in major cities, including in Kolkata and in the rural areas, just two days after she dubbed the Union budget as “anti-people” and “aimless”.

Banerjee, who read out the budget statement, instead of finance minister Amit Mitra, said 48,000 km of roads have been proposed in rural areas, Cooch Behar and Kolkata. Road taxes too have been lifted from January 21 to June 21 due to Covid-19, and free ration schemes will continue. Banerjee said her party’s flagship campaign ‘Duare Sarkar’ to help people access government services easily will now take place twice a year. A new scheme to help students in government schools get internships in government institutions was also announced. She said a government-run canteen where people can have food at low costs will come up soon.

While BJP MLAs protested in the assembly, the Left and Congress legislators decided not to participate in the proceedings of the House to protest against the Governor not addressing the House before the budget session was convened. Apart from a scheme to provide monthly subsistence to construction workers, the budget allotted Rs 10 lakh to new self-help groups, proposed a loan provision of Rs 25,000 crore from cooperative banks in the next five years.