Kolkata/New Delhi: The West Bengal government removed restrictions on the movement of inter-ministerial central teams (IMCTs), sent to monitor the implementation of the lockdown, after the Union home ministry sent a strongly worded letter on Tuesday amid an intensifying political tussle between the Centre and the state over Covid-19.
Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla’s letter to the Bengal government came hours after the ruling Trinamool Congress termed the Centre’s action as an “anti-federal campaign”. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, too, shot a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that Centre’s ‘unilateral decision’ to send the teams was ‘undesirable’ and a ‘breach of established protocol’.
The home ministry letter said that ICMT teams in Kolkata and Jalpaiguri were not provided requisite cooperation by state and local authorities, and restrained from visiting hot spots or interacting with professionals. “This amounts to obstructing the implementation of the orders issued by the central government under the disaster management act and the directions of the Supreme Court,” the letter said, urging the state to allow the central teams to work freely. “You are therefore directed to comply with the order and make necessary arrangements to the teams to carry out such responsibilities that been entrusted on them,” it said.
Hours later, the state government removed the restrictions and police check posts. Of the seven districts the teams are supposed to visit, four in south Bengal are in ‘red zone’ – with the maximum cases -- and three in north Bengal are in the orange zone, with fewer cases.
Earlier in the day, Apurva Chandra, additional secretary, department of defense, who was leading the south Bengal team, said they were not receiving any support from the state administration. The team that was supposed to visit south Bengal districts went to multiple places in south Kolkata but none of the hot spots in north and central Kolkata. The second team that headed for north Bengal on Monday did not move out of the guest house near Siliguri.
State chief secretary Rajiva Sinha told media persons that the state was cooperating.
“They said they wanted to move around in Kolkata. We have provided them with an officer from Kolkata Police who is aware of the routes. We are helping them. Our stand is clear. They should have told us before coming. It can’t be that an external team will come and tell us how to ensure lockdown. The state is doing everything that should have been done,” said Sinha.
Tensions between the state and the Centre have mounted steadily since last week, when the Centre alleged that Bengal was providing too many relaxations during the lockdown. Experts have also flayed the Bengal government over inadequate testing. The state is conducting roughly 56 tests per million, one of the lowest in the country.
But the Trinamool Congress government has blamed the Centre and “faulty” kits for the slow rate. “About 70%-80% of the districts chosen for the Central teams’ visits are from states ruled by opposition parties. Why no district from Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat is part of the list?” Derek O’Brien, who is party’s Rajya Sabha member, asked. “All states are fighting corona but we are sad to note that the Centre is fighting a battle against some states,” O’Brien said.
Banerjee’s nephew and the party’s youth wing chief, Abhishek Banerjee, blamed the Centre. “You cripple GoWB with faulty kits from ICMR & then send IMCTs to monitor GoWB’s performance while keeping the state govt in the dark.”
Trinamool’s Lok Sabha leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay said, “The number of testing in the state had increased to 400 tests per day on an average and that it would increase to 600 per day onwards Tuesday.”
