West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday said education, healthcare, government employment and industrial growth are the priority sectors of the BJP government in the state. Addressing a press conference at the state secretariat, Nabanna, Adhikari said the Centre would provide Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore to the state for the education sector during the current financial year. "Education, health, government job employment and industrial growth are priority sectors for our government in the state," he said. The chief minister said the school education department was undertaking a comprehensive review of the education system in the state and expressed confidence that positive changes would be visible from the beginning of the next academic year.
Alleging that the previous TMC government did not accord due importance to education, Adhikari said, "Their priority was appeasement and corruption." He said schools would be developed into smart and modern institutions with improved infrastructure. Adhikari said the government will focus on state-run educational institutions from the primary to university level, as well as on vocational training. "We are working at full speed for the development of the state's education system," he said about the new BJP government in the state, which took charge on May 9.
He said the Centre was extending full support to the state. The review would cover all aspects of school education, including infrastructure, quality of education and the student-teacher ratio, he said. "We will start getting a picture of the situation in three to four months," Adhikari said. He said the School Service Commission would also begin teacher recruitment and added that changes in the system would be visible from the next academic session. The chief minister said his government would work to eliminate corruption at different levels, including in the Sarva Shiksha Mission, school uniform procurement and the midday meal scheme, alleging irregularities under the previous dispensation. He said that 'Kanya Ratna' day will be observed on August 14, which the erstwhile government used to mark as 'Kanyashree' day.
Adhikari said that profit-making enterprises are being encouraged to do CSR activities in rural schools of the state. He said that PDCL, a state government undertaking, has proposed setting up sanitary napkin vending machines in 1,000 schools in the state. Adhikari said residential schools under the Centre's Eklavya Scheme will be set up in the state, with his government having informed the Centre that it will provide land for the purpose. He said the previous government did not provide land for setting up such schools for Scheduled Tribe children.