Kol, suburbs ministers to focus on health, edu, women’s safety, clean governance

Kolkata: Ministers from Kolkata and its suburbs took centre stage in chief minister Suvendu Adhikari’s expanded cabinet, placing education, healthcare, women’s safety and clean governance at the core of a shared plan to rebuild Bengal, with added stress on greener public transport and faster civic upgrade across the capital region and its urban fringes.

Swapan Dasgupta, elected from south Kolkata’s Rashbehari constituency, framed his induction as a steep rise in responsibility. “It is a momentous day for the govt with the full ministry being sworn in and the challenges are enormous. The expectations of the people are equally high. So we are approaching this certainly as an occasion to celebrate but more as a challenge,” Dasgupta told reporters. He added: "A new innings is beginning. Moving from being a regular citizen to an MLA, and then from an MLA to a minister — responsibilities are bound to increase.”

Focusing on clean governance, veteran leader Tapas Roy, who is an MLA from Maniktala, said the administration’s focus would be rapid development and a break from partisan governance. “Administrative work will now run strictly according to Constitutional rules, ensuring fair space for the Opposition,” he asserted. “During the last 15 years, the Trinamool govt did nothing for the people. From safety to civic issues, the BJP govt will look after every aspect.”

Oncologist Sharadwat Mukherjee spoke of combining state-level goals with constituency-level planning for Bidhannagar, committing to a “micro-manifesto” to address waterlogging, road conditions, and upgrades to the Bidhannagar Sub-Divisional Hospital. “I will be working towards infra development in health, school, sports, road and other issues like waterlogging.” Mukherjee is a MLA from Bidhannagar.

Another oncologist Indranil Khan, an MLA from Behala West, was sworn in as a minister of state with independent charge. He promised transparency and strict enforcement of law and order. “Our CM has already made it clear that there will be zero tolerance for any form of crime, corruption, and syndicates,” he said. From Behala West, he outlined plans to develop Vidyasagar State General Hospital into a functional multispecialty facility and to tackle transport and drainage bottlenecks in Shakuntala Park and Sarsuna.

Purnima Chakraborty, BJP MLA from Shyampukur, pledged attention to women safety in the state and areas that have been long neglected, including Kumartuli and local red-light districts, while also pushing to revive state-aided schools. “I can’t express my feelings in words because I am a very ordinary woman from a very ordinary family. I am so grateful to the people of this constituency who kept their trust in me. I don’t know which department will be given to me, but I will try my best to serve the people in whatever department I am given because chief minister Suvendu Adhikari trusts me, and I can’t disappoint him,” she said.

Arjun Singh, sworn in as a full cabinet minister, stressed that the Sankalp Patra would be implemented with precision. “The achievements of the govt must be delivered to the people even more effectively. The party is not a private limited company; here, work is done based on ideology,” he said. Fifty-nine year old agricultural scientist and professor from Khardah, Kalyan Chakraborti, was sworn in as a full minister, bringing academic and organisational experience to strengthen agriculture-linked policy and governance delivery. He is an MLA from Khardah.

(Inputs from Dipawali Mitra, Poulami Roy Banerjee & Sumati Yengkhom)