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Women’s Day gains special significance for Trinamool ahead of crucial Bengal Assembly polls

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Kolkata, March 7: This year, International Women’s Day holds special importance for the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal, as the state gears up for crucial Assembly elections to be held next year.

Women voters, as in previous elections, are expected to play a decisive role in shaping the fortunes of the ruling party’s candidates in the elections.

Trinamool’s women’s cell has unveiled a series of programmes to be held on International Women’s Day on Saturday aimed at showcasing the positive impact of various women-centric developmental and welfare schemes, particularly for women in rural areas.

These initiatives include rallies exclusively featuring women activists and led by elected female representatives. Each district will host its own rally, while the main event in Kolkata will be spearheaded by two prominent women leaders in the state cabinet — Minister of State for Finance (Independent Charge) Chandrima Bhattacharya, and the Minister for Women & Child Welfare, Social Welfare, and Commerce & Industries Dr Shashi Panja.

Due to ongoing higher secondary examinations, these rallies will be silent, with no slogans or microphones to be used in these events. Instead, participants will carry vibrant posters and banners highlighting schemes such as Lakshmir Bhandar and the Kanyashree Scholarship.

“The aim is to remind people how these initiatives have transformed the lives of women in the state,” a senior party leader said.

The programmes also serve as a gesture of gratitude toward Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for conceptualizing these “exceptional” schemes.

“The posters will emphasize how some of our initiatives, especially Lakshmir Bhandar, have been replicated in other states,” the leader added.

While the 2025-26 state budget did not announce an increase in payments under the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme, political observers anticipate an interim announcement on this front closer to the elections.

National News

One year of e-office: Delhi govt processes 75 pc of file work online

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New Delhi, June 28: More than 75 per cent of Delhi government work is now done through the e-Office system, said Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday as the electronic file system approaches its first anniversary on July 1.

The Chief Minister said the reach of the e-Office system has expanded since April 13, with 120 of the 132 government departments, about 91 per cent, using it regularly.

Similarly, 36 of the 55 public sector undertakings, boards, corporations, commissions, committees, autonomous and local bodies, or about 65.5 per cent, are using the system, she said in a statement.

Among universities, colleges and other educational institutions, 21 out of 48 institutions, or about 43.8 per cent, have adopted e-Office. Overall, 177 of the 235 departments and offices, about 75.3 per cent, are now regularly carrying out official work through the e-Office system, said Chief Minister Gupta.

She said, earlier, most official work was carried out through paper files. Today, file movement, correspondence and approvals are handled online.

This has accelerated file disposal, improved transparency and accountability in government functioning, and helped ensure the timely delivery of public services, she said.

The Chief Minister said the e-Office system now makes it easy to identify which official is handling a particular file and what action has been taken on it. The system has also made record-keeping more secure, reduced unnecessary delays and enabled smoother coordination among departments.

This is why the Delhi government is steadily expanding the system to cover more departments and institutions.

She said by June 27, a total of 15,748 officers and employees across 235 departments and offices were using e-Office for online file processing and official work.

Chief Minister Gupta said that since the functioning of all departments and institutions is not the same, the Delhi government has developed the e-Office system under three separate categories.

The first is meant exclusively for government departments; the second for public sector undertakings, boards, corporations, commissions, committees, autonomous bodies and local bodies; and the third for universities, colleges and other educational institutions.

This has enabled each category to function more effectively according to its specific requirements. Accordingly, the use of e-Office was made mandatory across all Delhi government departments from July 1, 2025.

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Crime

Police raid premises of all eight accused in Ram Temple embezzlement case

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Ayodhya, June 28: Police on Sunday conducted searches at the residences of all the eight accused, arrested in connection with alleged misappropriation of donations and offerings at the Ram Mandir.

This comes after the eight individuals were sent to three-day judicial custody on Friday. They will stay in jail till June 29 and will be produced before the city court again on Monday.

Krishna Nand Tiwari, a neighbour of accused Anukalp Mishra, said: “Action is being taken, brother (Mishra) or whoever is involved in this, whoever has committed theft or wrongdoing, they should be given the strictest punishment. They should be ashamed of their act, especially since it is related to God. They have betrayed the faith of crores of devotees.”

About the accused, he said: “Though he (Mishra) didn’t come across as such a kind of person, but one can never gauge anybody’s intentions.”

Another neighbour, Anurag, said he had known Mishra for around a year. “He was a person of good nature; we used to greet each other whenever we met. But I don’t know if he had any malicious intention,” he told media.

Accused Tinnu Yadav’s neighbour Tara Devi said: “Tinnu is like a brother. Searches at his home will only take place when all the neighbours are around.”

Asserting that Yadav was a good person, she claimed: “He is being framed.”

A total of eight accused have been booked for alleged theft at the temple, and all were subsequently arrested. The FIR was registered at Ayodhya Kotwali police station on Thursday, based on a complaint filed by Krishna Mohan, a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

Those named in the case include Ramshankar Yadav (alias Tinnu), who is associated with temple management; Trust employees Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, and Avinash Shukla; and retired bank employee Subhash Srivastava.

The filing of the case came soon after a three-member SIT flagged several irregularities at multiple levels in its preliminary report.

The police state that the entire episode of alleged theft will be uncovered based on interrogation of the accused and CCTV-based evidence. If more names are revealed in the investigation, action will be taken against them as well.

The preliminary probe has highlighted key roles played by each accused at various levels. The role of Ramshankar Yadav, alias Tinnu Yadav, is particularly under increased scrutiny.

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Crime

Railway authorities carry out eviction drive in Kolkata’s Park Circus station area

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Kolkata, June 28: The railway authorities have conducted a significant eviction operation at the Park Circus station area in Kolkata, clearing illegal shops from land owned by the Indian Railways.

Earlier this month, the authorities issued notifications to the proprietors of these shops and local vendors, instructing them to vacate their shops from the station premises and the surrounding lands in the Sealdah South Section of Eastern Railway. However, due to their noncompliance, a bulldozer was deployed on Saturday night to demolish these shops.

A large number of police, Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Rapid Action Force (RAF) were deployed for this drive.

After the change of government in the state, the Railways have been conducting drives to evict encroachments in the station areas. Similar drives were held at several stations, including Howrah, Sealdah, Dum Dum, Jadavpur and Habra. This time, the drive was also launched at Park Circus station in Kolkata.

Late Saturday night, the Park Circus station premises were surrounded by railway police and the RAF. Security was tightened to prevent any unrest. First, the Railways used loudspeakers to announce instructions to vacate the station area and railway land. Some time was given to the traders to remove their belongings. However, none of the traders in the station area moved their goods. After that, a bulldozer was brought in, and the illegal shops were demolished one by one.

The Park Circus station area has always been congested. It is alleged that a large number of illegal shops had mushroomed at the station premises over the years. The Railways have never been able to evict illegal hawkers at that station, which is located in a minority community-dominated area. There were allegations that railway passengers used to face harassment and crimes at various times while travelling to that station.

After the BJP government came to power in the state, it was decided that illegal hawkers would be evicted from the station premises. The eviction drive lasted for about two and a half hours.

Meanwhile, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has also taken steps to remove illegal encroachments and shops under several flyovers across the city.

It was learnt that the KMC has issued notices to illegal hawkers to remove their shops from under the Sealdah flyover in North Kolkata and Sukanta Setu in the southern outskirts of the city. Those who have illegally encroached on spaces under these two bridges have been asked to move out within the next seven days. The KMC will take action in accordance with the provisions of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, 1980, as mentioned in the notice.

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