GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL ADMINISTRATIVE CALENDAR 2019 A BRIEF NOTE ON THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT DURING 2018 An update on the achievements in various sectors during 2018 in given below: e-Governance : As an e-Governance initiative, web-service and/or database level integration for different departments were completed with Rapid Application Development (RAD) platform for Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) application. West Bengal ranks number 1 for completing all necessary EoDB norms for the Online Single Window Portal (Silpa Sathi) for EoDB. The mission mode project ‘e-District’ launched 102 online services. 23 Districts and 16 Departments have gone online. More than 50 lakh online service transactions have already taken place through this portal in 2018. Civil construction for setting up physical expansion of State Data Centre (SDC) is going on in the 2nd floor SDC expansion area for hosting applications of departments/offices. Administrative Reforms : West Bengal Gr.D Recruitment Board has selected 5379 candidates and recommended for appointment in vacant Group ‘D’ posts in different Departments and offices of the State Government. This is likely to bridge the gap in a substantive way. A scheme for construction of Administrative Building for Mal Sub-Divisional Officer at Mal in the District of Jalpaiguri at an estimated cost of Rs. 15.95 crore has been taken up. Construction of Administrative Building for SDO Chanchal & other Departmental Offices at Chanchal, Malda with projected cost of Rs. 11.00 crore has been administratively approved. In accordance with the provisions of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, the West Bengal Lokayukta (Amendment) Act, 2018 has been enacted and a former Judge of Kolkata High Court has been appointed as West Bengal Lokayukta. Health & Family Welfare : The State of West Bengal has been recognized by GoI as the Best State in the country in family planning. The State has the largest network of sick critical care new born units in the country with 307 SNSUs and 68 SNCUs. West Bengal has the largest network of free diagnostic facilities in government hospitals in the country. 92 diagnostic facilities and 34 dialysis units are in operational. 27.65 lakh patients have availed free diagnostic services so far. Annual expenditure of about Rs. 100 crore was incurred on free diagnostic services. 53.31 lakh families have enrolled under the ‘Swasthya Sathi’ health-insurance scheme of the State Government covering more than 2.5 crore individuals. Over 98% HIV testing of pregnant women has been done against the registered ANC cases, being one of the highest in the country. 573 posts of GDMO, 1045 posts of Specialists and 4799 posts of nursing personnel have been created for Super speciality hospitals in 2018. Recruitment was completed for 1125 posts of Medical Officers and 659 posts of Nursing Personnel. 3 Tertiary Cancer Care Centres and 14 trauma care facilities have been set up. 11 new Blood Banks have also been sanctioned. Finance : State’s Own Tax Revenue has increased by 19% from Rs. 45,466.46 Cr. in 2016-17 to Rs. 54,062.02 Cr. in 2017-18. State’s Capital Expenditure has increased by more than 70% from Rs. 11,336.43 Cr. in 2016-17 to Rs. 19,368.07 Cr. in 2017-18. Sectoral expenditure in physical infrastructure, social and agriculture and allied activities has increased by 16% from Rs. 47,961.40 Cr. in 2016-17 to Rs. 55,439.76 Cr. in 2017-18. Debt/GSDP ratio has been reduced from 38.41% in 2016-17 to 35.63% in 2017-18. Revenue Deficit/GSDP has also been reduced significantly from 1.83% in 2016-17 to 0.96% in 2017-18. E-Abgari portal of Excise Directorate West Bengal has won the Government of India’s National e-Governance Award and is being adopted as the Best Practice in the country. Industry, Commerce & Enterprises Successfully hosted Bengal Global Business Summit 2018 in participation of 350 delegates from 32 countries. Total business proposal received in the summit was Rs 2,19,925 Crore. Rejuvenation of Milan Mela Gound commences with an estimated project cost of Rs.282 Crore. Export Policy of the Government of West Bengal was published. Advertisement seeking expression of interests from the investors has been done for 130 acre of land of Haringhata Industrial Park. Online services of registration of Societies with office of the Registrar of Firms and Societies and Non-Trading Corporations has commenced and 7325 applications have been received. School Education : 45 new Primary Schools and 87 new Upper-Primary Schools have been set up in the State. 152 no. of new set up School Buildings have been constructed. 126 no. of Schools have been upgraded from Junior High to High/High to Higher Secondary levels. Construction of 18 no. of Model School Buildings and 10 no. of BRGF School Buildings have been completed. Construction of 10 no. of BRGF School Buildings has been completed. 54 English Medium Schools have been sanctioned. Nearly 1,400 Schools have been brought under solar power. 4676 no. of Higher Secondary teachers have been appointed. School Bags have been supplied to more than 57 lakh students. 1375 Dining Halls for Mid-Day Meal have been completed. About 700 more are under construction. 113.39 lakh students have been provided with Cooked Mid-Day Meal. Higher Education : The new campus of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT) at Haringhata, Nadia has been commissioned. Academic activities in the 2 (two) Govt. aided colleges, namely, Ghoshpukur College at Phansidewa, Darjeeling and Birsa Munda College at Hatighisha, Darjeeling have been started. Roads and Bridges : More than 40.05 km roads have been widened & strengthened up to 2 lane with paved shoulder (10 m width). More than 237.73 km roads have been widened & strengthened up to 2 lane (7 m width). More than 108.22 km roads have been widened & strengthened up to Intermediate lane (5.50 m width). More than 955.97 kms of State roads have been strengthened and improved. 5 nos. of bridges have been reconstructed / newly constructed. Transport : Motor vehicle revenue of Rs.1220 crore has been collected in 2018-19 (till September, 2018) which is 11% higher than that in the previous year. Under GATIDHARA scheme, number of beneficiaries (unemployed youth) in 2018-19 (upto September, 2018) is 4690. Towards greater road safety, ‘Safe Drive Save Life’ campaign has been observed throughout the State. Number of accidents has reduced from 11158 in 2017(January to September) to 9706 in 2018 (January to September).15 wrecker vans and 22 trauma care ambulances have been provided to different agencies and traffic signals have been installed at different roads throughout the state. Unsafe ‘Bhutbhuties’ have been replaced by well designed, mechanized boats under “Jaladhara” scheme. Construction of 131 nos. of Jaladhara vessels is under process. e-Governance and Intelligent Transport Services like ‘Pathadisha’ App, GPS & CCTV in new STU buses, online ticket booking system, well-designed website, e-Vahan, etc. have been introduced. Jetty/ferryghat at Shyamnagar in North 24 Parganas and Telenipara in Hoogly have been constructed. Re- construction of Jetty/ferryghat at Katwa in PurbaBardhaman, Panihati and Jagaddal in North 24 Parganas, NabadwipBaralghat and SantipurBarobazar in Nadia, Howrah Jetty No. II and Nazirgunge in Howrah, Commissionerate jetty Kolkata etc.have been done. In 2018-19(upto September), funds have been sanctioned for further construction of 31 jetty/ferryghats and repair/reconstruction of 14 jetty/ferryghats. Transport Department has also obtained approval for World Bank assisted Intermodal Logistics and Passenger Transport Project which includes besides secondary infrastructure development on National Waterways-1 between Tribeni and Haldia, construction of 56 new passenger jetties, 8 LCT jetties with Roro vessels and 320 passenger vessels involving a project cost of Rs. 1021cr. Agriculture : 100 per cent waiver of land revenue and mutation fee for agricultural lands. Along with Krishak Bandhu, ‘Dhan Din Cheque Nin’ scheme has been introduced to ensure minimum support prices to the farmers eliminating the vicious circle of the middlemen. An additional special fund of Rs. 100 crore has been created to prevent distress sale of other crops by farmers. The minimum support price for paddy during 2018-19 Kharif season has been increased from Rs. l550/- per quintal to Rs. 1750/- per quintal. 66 lakh farmer families affected by natural calamities have been expeditiously paid crop rehabilitation relief to the tune of Rs. 2415 crore from the State Fund. Agricultural pension has been increased from Rs. 750/- to Rs. 1000/- per month and the number of beneficiaries has increased from the present 66 thousand to 1 lakh. The average annual income of farmers has increased by three times due to various measures taken by the State Government in agricultural sector. It is indeed a matter of pride that West Bengal has bagged the Krishi Karman Award for production of food grains and several crops in demand for five consecutive years now. The coverage of Bangla Fasal Bima Yojana had gone up to 45 lakh farmers with the State bearing the farmers’ share of premium in full. An amount of Rs. 2.15 crore from the state fund has been spent as ‘Crop Rehabilitation Relief’ scheme. Land : Land revenue of Rs.1051.31 Crore has been collected in 2018-19 (upto October 2018). 900 sheets of cadastral maps have been digitized and 900 sheets of the same have been updated. 1199 NGNB pattas and 1867.65 acres Agri pattas have been distributed upto October 2018. 23,89,253 nos. of Mutation cases have been disposed of upto October 2018. Inter Departmental Transfer of 798.70 acres of land has been completed.