'Central ministries not keen on Bengal'

Days after taking out a protest rally and skipping the third anniversary dinner of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) while disapproving the petrol price rise, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Saturday shared the stage with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Kolkata.

Although Banerjee was not present at the airport to receive the PM, both were seen talking to each other at a function at the Calcutta University. A senior TMC leader confirmed the two held a meeting.

The meeting holds significance as the second largest party in the UPA was batting for a complete rollback on petrol prices and also demanding a tax moratorium for West Bengal for the next three years. According to reports, Mamata reiterated her demand for a complete petrol price rollback and also complained about various Central ministries, including the finance ministry, which did not show interest in the state’s development plans.

On his brief visit to Kolkata, Singh laid the foundation of the unified campus of the Bose Institute in Salt Lake and inaugurated the centenary year celebrations of the Indian Science Congress at Calcutta University.

Singh was received at the airport by Governor M K Narayan, state Commerce and Industries Minister Partha Chatterjee, state Finance Minister Amit Mitra and Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee.

India failed to use technology in development process
Singh during his speech at the Calcutta University said the country has failed to use science and technology in development as much as it was needed.

“Our government has invested as never before in Indian science. For many years, the capacities in our higher scientific and technical infrastructure were stagnant. We failed to use science and technology in development as much as we should have. We did not build local capacities that could meaningfully address problems of development in a decentralised manner using this knowledge,” he said.

While expressing hope the expansion in educational infrastructure that the government has overseen will create “the building blocks for modern knowledge economy,” he said, “We have to overcome many challenges such as producing qualified teachers in adequate numbers, devising a modern curriculum and teaching methods and building proper physical infrastructure.”

“We have to use our abundant intellectual resources to find new pathways of development that use our scarce natural resources judiciously,” he added.