Sanchita Chatterjee, Bas News Agency: Biswa Bangla is now having fun with the list of candidates for the Rajya Sabha. When the air was hot about Bengali identity, I noticed a lot of chatter on social media about why four pure Bengalis could not be found to send to the Rajya Sabha. I did not come to write about these things as usual. I came to write about a pure Bengali. A Bengali, whom we could be proud of, who we could take as an example and find the roots in the decaying reservoir of Bengali identity. No. We did nothing like that. Because, we are suicidal.
Tonight, I have come to tell the story of a pure Bengali child. Because, on social media, I see that there is a conspiracy to smear that Bengali child with a high status. So I have come to tell the truth.
The name of the central character of my writing is Subrata Gupta. A pure Bengali. IAS officer. He retired last year. During his retirement, he was the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Food Processing, Government of India. Almost all of you must have recognized Subrata Gupta by now. Because, he is often seen on TV. He is now appointed as a special observer by the National Election Commission, working in West Bengal. I saw on social media that the motivated party, regardless of origin and caste and religion, is putting Subrata Gupta in the dock. He is said to be anti-Bengali despite being a Bengali. In the name of expelling "ghosts" from the voter list, he is removing the names of all motivated people.
This writing is to stand against this lie and tell the truth.
Who is Subrata Gupta? A pure Bengali son. BTech, MTech from Kharagpur IIT. It was 1988. Student Subrata was then working on the DRDO project of India's Missile Man, APJ Abdul Kalam Sir. Because, Kalam Sir, he had given some important work to Kharagpur IIT. Young Subrata Gupta was studying all day and working on missile antennas all night. While doing this difficult work, young Subrata decided that he would do research on missiles. He would work with Sir Abdul Kalam. The problem is, the central government at that time did not value missile research that much. There were no grants. Young Subrata was listening to all this. He was getting discouraged. On such a yellow, disappointed evening, a senior brother said, become IAS through UPSC. Subrata took the exam. One chance. IAS. In 1990, IAS was written next to Subrata Gupta's name. With "Twelfth Fail", meaning the superhit biographical movie of 2023, when we were deciding, "Hear kar jitnewalo ko baazigar kahte hai", the hero is like that, many years before that, Subrata became IAS on one chance. We did not keep track.
Then? A lot of water flowed through Ganga, Bhagirathi, Damodar. Year 2007. At that time, the fate of West Bengal was in the hands of the Dandavads. The work of preparing the salt for the departure of Tata from Singur has begun. A Chief Minister relied on the scoundrel IAS, Subrata Gupta. His name is Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. Subrata Gupta was appointed as the Managing Director of West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation. No, despite many efforts, Subrata could not save Singur.
I heard that threats are being made that the Singur file will be opened!! What is the use? Subrata Gupta did not acquire the Singur land. I know that the land acquisition work in Singur was completed when Debashis Som and MV Rao were the Managing Directors of WBIDC.
Rather, during Subrata Gupta's tenure, from 2007 to 2011, WBIDC acquired about 7000 acres of land. Quietly. Without any fuss. Now there are Vidyasagar Industrial Taluk, Panagarh Industrial Taluk and Raghunathpur Industrial Taluk. The two or four annas that have been invested in Biswa Bangla are on the land acquired by Subrata Babu.
Subrata Babu was there, so an airport has been built in Durgapur. He acquired the land quietly, that pure Bengali son.
Stop. Listen. These Bengalis are now making a fuss about Newtown, do you know who was the ADM, Land Acquisition, of North 24 Parganas when the land acquisition of Newtown was taking place? Subrata Gupta.
2011. Ratan Tata had left Singur by then, accusing him of holding a gun to his head and pulling the trigger. He gave his beloved, trusted IAS, Subrata Gupta the responsibility of fulfilling his last dream, Buddha Babu. East-West Metro. But by then, the punishment had begun in Bengal. Subrata Gupta was then the Managing Director of KMRCL, meaning Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation. The first metro in Asia would run under the river. A student of technology, Subrata was working with all his heart. Kolkata and Howrah would be connected under the ground. Subrata was working. He was awake at night. Just at that moment, lightning struck!!!! Proposal to change the route!!!! Why? In whose interest? Subrata was blundering. Subrata, a technologist administrator, understood that the project was going to be ruined. Subrata gave a note to the then Chief Secretary. Please don't do such a thing. The project will not happen. But in the Bengal of Dandabad, what is the value of the words of a pure Bengali bureaucrat! Everything went wrong. The East West Metro project was delayed for 10 years. The cost increased by about 10 thousand crores.
Disappointed Subrata went on a central government deputation. The name of a developed head, a pure Bengali bureaucrat, was erased from the Bengali stage. Who was supposed to be the Chief Secretary.
After retirement, the National Election Commission has now appointed him. To save the constitution. Can he? Subrata Gupta?Pure
Bengali This bureaucrat's name could have been written next to it, "The person who helped in industrialisation in Bengal". It didn't. It could have been written, "The technocrat who helped executing an engineering marvel, the East-West Metro project, as a bureaucrat". It didn't.
This guy's name shouldn't have been written, "The retired IAS, who helped Bengal to clean up an electoral roll and saved the democracy".