Bengal for equal rights for backward sections: Buddhadeb

KOLKATA - West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Saturday said his government would work towards ensuring equal rights for the socially and economically backward sections - including Muslims - in the state.

“We can only progress if we can provide equal rights to the economically and socially backward sections of our society. We have to provide facilities so that the poor and minority communities can also come forward and get proper education,” Bhattacherjee said while addressing a programme in Nadia district, more than 100 km north of Kolkata.

He said his government had finally succeeded in securing 10 percent reservation in jobs under OBC (other backward classes) category for the educationally, socially and economically backward Muslims in the state.

“If we can provide them with equal facilities, we will be able to benefit in the future. It will not be a proper growth story if we only think about one particular section. We must do something good for the poor population as well,” he said, adding “We cannot let it happen where one particular section will have enough food and the rest will simply starve”.

Talking about initiatives the state government had taken, Bhattacharjee said: “The Left Front government is now focusing on how to improve the basic income scale of poor people living in West Bengal.”

The chief minister also urged the backward population to participate in educational activities.

“We don’t want anybody to claim that he cannot study just because he or she belongs to the backward communities,” he said.