Kolkata, Nov 28 (IANS) Former West Bengal chief minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray will write to union Home Minister P. Chidambaram suggesting the central government involve social bodies for the welfare of the people Lalgarh, who are reeling under acute poverty and underdevelopment.
“My analysis about the whole situation is that the tribals are very dissatisfied with various issues such as underdevelopment in the region. There’s has been no development in all three tribal-dominated districts of the state - Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore.

“I suggest that social welfare bodies like Ramkrishna Mission and Bharat Sevashram Sangha should be involved carrying out massive developmental works in tribal-dominated areas. And the centre should take the entire expenditure for that,” 89-year-old Ray said in an interview on a Bengali television channel here.

He said the government must begin a process of development involving social bodies, NGOs, engineers, developers and architects.

“No political parties, be it the ruling force or the oppositions, should be included in the process. I would suggest in my letter that no political party will be invited to resolve the matter,” the former chief minister and a legal luminary said.

He said: “I still believe that deployment of joint forces cannot solve such a socio-economic problem. It can only be resolved through vibrant development works in the region.”

Ray, a former governor of Punjab and Indian ambassador to the US, said that it was also not possible for any political party to resolve any problem like Lalgarh.