1 week ago
Bengal Minister Defends Pavement Eviction Remarks Amid Political Backlash
A minister in West Bengal was filmed scolding a woman for boiling milk on a pavement.
The woman was preparing milk for a small child.
The minister said the stove could cause an accident on a busy footpath.
She also said pavements should remain open for people to walk.
Critics said the woman was poor and had nowhere else to live.
A Trinamool Congress leader said she had been abandoned and survived by cleaning streets and collecting waste.
The minister accused political opponents of using the video to attack the government.
She said the government plans to clean streets and move people living in slums to other housing.
Agnimitra Paul defended reprimanding a woman who was boiling milk on a kerosene stove on a Kolkata pavement.
Paul said the stove and a crawling six-month-old child created a potential safety risk on the busy street.
She accused Opposition parties of politicising the video instead of helping the family or addressing homelessness.
Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the woman had no home and was living roadside with her daughter and a child.
Paul said the government would clear footpaths, restrict illegal parking, relocate slums and pursue a cleaner Kolkata.
- Who
- West Bengal minister Agnimitra Paul, Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh, Opposition parties and a homeless woman with her family.
- What
- A political dispute followed a viral video showing Paul reprimanding a woman for boiling milk on a pavement.
- Where
- Mirza Ghalib Street, formerly known as Free School Street, in Kolkata, West Bengal.
- When
- The incident occurred on a Saturday; the video later went viral. No exact date is given.
- Why
- Paul cited pedestrian safety and the need to clear footpaths, while critics focused on the woman’s poverty and lack of housing.
Government and Minister’s Position
Critics and Humanitarian Concerns
Use of the pavement
Government and Minister’s Position
Agnimitra Paul said the busy footpath must remain available to pedestrians and that a kerosene stove could cause an accident near people and children.
Critics and Humanitarian Concerns
Critics questioned how authorities could stop a woman from boiling milk for her child and said people were being forced to live on the streets.
Treatment of the family
Government and Minister’s Position
Paul said the family had been asked to return home or move to a shelter and argued that the administration could not permit unsafe pavement occupation.
Critics and Humanitarian Concerns
Kunal Ghosh said the woman had no home, had been left helpless after family hardships and survived by cleaning streets and scavenging for waste.
Political responsibility
Government and Minister’s Position
Paul accused Congress, the Left and the Trinamool Congress of politicising the video and said the government had a mandate to clean Kolkata.
Critics and Humanitarian Concerns
Kunal Ghosh said footpaths should be cleared without erasing their human dimension, reflecting criticism of the minister’s approach.
Key facts
- Minister involved
- Agnimitra Paul, West Bengal’s Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister
- Location
- Mirza Ghalib Street, Kolkata
- Immediate issue
- A woman was boiling milk on a kerosene stove on a pavement for a child
- Child mentioned
- Paul said a six-month-old child was crawling on the pavement
- Criticism
- The viral video drew criticism that the administration was preventing a mother from preparing milk and ignoring systemic hardship
- Government plans
- Paul said illegal parking would not be allowed, footpaths would be cleared and slums would be relocated under central schemes
- Opposition account
- Kunal Ghosh said the woman had no home and lived roadside with her daughter and a small child
Quotes
Agnimitra Paul
West Bengal Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister
“Yesterday, I heard the Opposition say a lot about the woman heating milk for her child. But no one has come forward with a bowl of milk for the child and the family. They were too busy politicising the matter. But what else to expect”
indianexpress.com
“Yes, I may have shouted, yes, I should have said it softly or more understandingly”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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