Kolkata, Sep 19 : The West Bengal Minister in charge of Panchayat Affairs & Rural Development, Dilip Ghosh, on Saturday announced a special audit to identify corrupt activities in the functioning of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and panchayats in the hills of North Bengal.
Ghosh, also the former national vice president and state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal, warned that the new BJP-ruled government will adopt a "zero-tolerance" approach against corruption in administrative functioning.
He chaired an administrative review meeting at the North Bengal Branch Secretariat "Uttarkanya" in Siliguri, Darjeeling district, to assess rural development progress in the hills, Terai, and Dooars regions. He sent a strong message to curb corruption in GTA and panchayat bodies.
"No corruption in public service activities will be tolerated. Special audits will be conducted in at least 10 per cent of the panchayats, including GTA areas in the hills, where serious charges of corruption exist. Work is underway to fill infrastructure gaps in coordination with the new GTA chief and administrative officials. Initiatives are being taken to quickly recruit people to fill around 11,000 vacancies in the state Panchayat & Rural Development Department to keep services running," Ghosh said.
He added that people in West Bengal had brought change in the regime for the sake of development.
"They are satisfied with the functioning of the new government. This satisfaction will be reflected in the results of the bypolls for two Assembly constituencies in West Bengal next month. BJP candidates will win by heavy margins from both constituencies," Ghosh asserted.
