Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, along with most of his newly appointed ministers, participated in a training program titled 'Mantrider Pathshala' held at the Netaji Subhas Administrative Training Institute (NSATI) in Salt Lake on Saturday. The session aimed to educate the ministers on the intricacies of running the state government administration.
CM's Emphasis on Efficiency
Addressing the ministers, Chief Minister Adhikari stressed the importance of not allowing work to pile up and urged them to ensure timely movement of files. An official explained, 'The CM wanted to ensure that ministers don't face any issues on account of their inexperience.' The rationale behind the program was to equip the ministers with the necessary knowledge to avoid administrative pitfalls.
Most of Bengal's newly appointed ministers, except for the Chief Minister himself, Tapas Roy, and Nisith Pramanik, have no prior ministerial experience. The official added, 'The CM wanted ministers to be trained on laws and rules so that those can be followed properly in government decisions.'
Training Modules Covered
The ministers received training on various aspects of governance, including financial rules, administrative approval processes, tendering procedures, government procurement policies, and accountability in the assembly. This marks the first time that NSATI, an administrative training institute typically reserved for IAS and WBCS officers, organized such a session for ministers.
They were also briefed on decisions that can be taken by the cabinet versus those that can be taken individually by ministers, as well as issues that may involve legal complications. The official noted, 'The CM is concerned with scams and financial irregularities during the previous Trinamool government and he does not want a recurrence of such episodes.'
Budget Preparation Focus
The training session comes just days before the state budget is presented in the Bengal assembly on June 22. Ministers were trained on budget procedures and how to formulate departmental budgets. They also received an overview of norms for legislative grant approvals and public fund allocation.
Additionally, the ministers learned how to run their offices efficiently. First-time MLAs turned ministers, such as higher education minister Jagannath Chattopadhyay, finance minister Swapan Dasgupta, health minister Sharadwat Mukherjee, sports, youth affairs and consumer affairs minister Indranil Khan, and minister for food processing, horticulture and IT Kalyan Chakraborty, attended the session which began at 10 am on Saturday.
Minister of state for housing Kalita Majhi was also present. Officials stated that the purpose of the session was to impart practical training in administrative work, law, and policy framing.
