Bhattacharjee said this at a conference of all DMs that he had convened to make an assessment of the developmental projects of the state and also find ways to accelerate the pace of development.

The move has been initiated keeping in mind the series of poll debacles that the Left has suffered recently. The CPM is now trying hard to make the administration deliver the goods as Assembly elections are just a year away.

Apart from the chief minister, eight other ministers of his Cabinet were present at the meeting.

Bhattacharjee also told the district officials not to tolerate corruption at the panchayat level. “He has told them that if they find any panchayat samity indulging in corrupt practices then action should be taken against it,” said an official of the CM’s office.

Meanwhile, to strengthen the self help groups (SHG) in the state which are suffering due to the banks’ unwillingness to provide loans, the chief minister took a hard stand.

“The banks were not very keen to give loans to the self help groups. Now we will have to be strict with them. If we find one branch of a bank not giving loans, we will withdraw the state government’s deposit from that bank,” Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta said.

The chief minister also said that special focus would have to be given for development of areas affected by Left-wing extremism.

“He told the DM of West Midnapore district to begin special classes for students of the schools at Lalgarh that were occupied by security forces. And the cost of this will be borne by the state government,” the official said.

The chief minister has also fixed the target for procuring rice at 20 lakh tonne. “Earlier the target was fixed at 18 lakh tonne, but the chief minister said it would have to be crossed because of the food crisis looming large on us,” said Minister for Food and Supplies Paresh Adhikary, who was present in the meeting.