Job creation, industry my priority: Mamata to investors

Addressing a gathering of industrialists during the inaugural session of the Bengal Global Business Summit, Banerjee took a jibe at the former Left government in the state. “We lost 75 lakh man-days every year during the Left Front rule, but now no man-days are lost.”

She also urged Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to speak to the Central government and ensure that industrialists are not harassed by central agencies.

She said, “If you don’t mind, Governor sir, on behalf of all industrialists, we want all help from the Centre. In the Governors’ conference, please raise this issue. Industrialists will not raise their voice (fearing reprisal).”

“At a time when employment opportunities in the country slumped by 40%, we witnessed 40% growth in the same. Our people are in places like NASA. We want to bring that talent here,” she said.

West Bengal was the first state where the government successfully tackled the Covid-19 situation and returned to normalcy in terms of industry and trade, she said. “The state government has made strides in several sectors. The sun is rising in Bengal. A new Bengal is emerging every morning. Even at the peak of the pandemic, the GDP growth of Bengal was significant while that of the country was in the negative.”

Unemployment in the state did not increase during the pandemic since the MSME sector employed 1.36 crore people, she said. She told the investors: “Remember you are coming to Bengal, not some other state. You will be like our family here. Think of Bengal as your home. You can see sun rise from Darjeeling. The best tiger — the royal Bengal tiger — is here in the Sundarbans.”