Mamata Banerjee: West Bengal to regularise refugees' colonies

Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced that attempts would be made to regularise refugee colonies on land owned by private parties and even by the central government.

The displaced people will also be given land rights by the Trinamool Congress government, Banerjee said. Her statement came against the backdrop of the Centre's announcement that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process would be carried out across the country. Alleging that the TMC is protecting illegal immigrants from Bangladesh as they are the party's votebank, senior BJP leaders have asserted that NRC would be implemented in the state.

The state government had earlier regularised 94 refugee colonies which were on state government land, she said after a Cabinet meeting. "But there are several refugee colonies on the land owned by the central government and private parties. We have been saying this for a long time asking them to regularise these refugee colonies and provide them with land possession. However, they have been sending eviction notices," she said.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates