We have been seeking support from West Bengal govt for our visit: Central team
Amid the protests from TMC leader, the inter-ministerial central team informed on Tuesday that they are seeking support from the government of West Bengal to continue their visit. Meanwhile, the team also informed that due to some issues they had to cancel today's visit.
The TMC on Tuesday dubbed as "adventure tourism" the visit of two central teams to West Bengal for an on-the-spot assessment of the COVID-19 situation, and asked why such delegations were not sent to states with much higher numbers of infections and hotspots.
Addressing a digital press conference, TMC MPs Derek O'Brien and Sudip Bandyopadhyay claimed that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was informed about the inter-ministerial central teams' (IMCTs) visit three hours after their arrival in the state, which they said was unacceptable.
"The IMCT is on adventure tourism. The CM was told about the team's visit three hours after the team landed," said O'Brien. He also questioned why central teams did not visit states such as Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh that have higher numbers of coronavirus cases and many more hotspots.
On Monday, the Union home ministry had said on Monday the COVID-19 situation was "especially serious" in Mumbai, Pune, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata and a few other places in West Bengal, and formed six IMCTs for an on-the-spot assessment and issuing necessary directions to the four states -- Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and West Bengal.
(With inputs from PTI)