While some said that there was nothing new in the chief minister’s self-introspection proposal, others termed it as an attempt by big brother CPM to wash its hands of the barrage of criticisms the government is facing on different issues.

“If we do not identify our weaknesses, how will we function? It (the self-introspection) is a continuous process,” said PWD Minister Khshiti Goswami, who belongs to the RSP and recently had to face criticisms for failing to provide proper lights in the Eden Garden stadium during the India-Sri Lanka ODI.

The CM’s proposal for self-introspection came after Left Front chairman Biman Bose sent a note to all the Front constituents asking for regular review of the department led by their party leaders. Sources in the CPM said most of the departments, including the food and supplies, agriculture and co-operative departments, have failed to meet the people’s need.

“While the CM has been repeatedly talking about a clean public distribution system, the food and supplies department has failed to provide ration cards to genuine people. There are lakhs of fake ration cards in the state, which is a real problem for providing food grain to poor villagers. Have any one ever heard that the Forward Bloc is criticising its minister for this failure. We want to start a culture that each party would take initiative to monitor their own departments,” said a senior CPM leader.

State Agriculture Minister Naren De, however, blamed it on the lack of resources. “We work in limited resources and we have to monitor departmental works regularly,” he said.