Kolkata, July 01: After the deployment of security forces in Lalgarh, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is now sending senior IAS officers as a confidence-building measure among the people. Out of the first batch of eight officers, six left for Ground Zero on Tuesday.
They will be divided into three groups and stationed in Ramgarh, Lalgarh and Pirakata.
While principal secretary (agriculture) Sanjeeb Chopra and special secretary (finance) Bikram Sen will be stationed at Ramgarh, principal secretary (PHE) Saurav Das and milk commissioner (Barun Roy) will be camping at Lalgarh. And the two officers who will be stationed at Pirakata are Subrata Gupta, MD, WBIDC and revenue secretary C M Bachawat.
The two other secretaries who will be stationed at Kantapahari from July 3 are K Sathiavasan, principal secretary, PWD, and Ajit Bardhan, director, ESI.
The senior bureaucrats will be there for six days after which they will be replaced by another group of officers. “After two weeks, we will make an assessment and if necessary, the exercise will be carried out further,” Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said on Wednesday.
The senior IAS officers, who will assess the situation and submit feedback to the state government, will be staying at the camps set up by the police instead of the circuit houses in towns.
On the basis of the reports submitted by these officers, along with the reports of the DMs of Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore — the districts affected by the Maoist menace — a final package will be prepared by the Chief Minister for the total development of the area.
–Agencies