KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday launched a scathing attack against the NITI Aayog for incorrectly labelling Bihar as Bengal in a map used as the cover page for the panel’s summary report on the state.
In a letter to NITI Aayog vice chairman Suman K Bery, Banerjee sought an apology from the government’s think tank, insisting that this was a grave lapse and an affront to the state’s identity and dignity. Banerjee put out a copy of her report on X along with the cover page of the report.
“I am writing with deep concern and unequivocal disapproval that in the ‘Summary Report for the State of West Bengal,’ published by NITI Aayog and available on its official website, the map intended to represent the state of West Bengal has depicted the territory of Bihar in its place,” the chief minister said in her letter.
“Such a grave lapse in an official document of a premier national institution is not merely a technical error but an affront to the identity and dignity of West Bengal. Such a blunder in an official publication of NITI Aayog reflects an alarming lack of diligence and respect towards the states of the Union,” she said in her letter..
The chief minister said the error raised “legitimate concerns about the rigor and reliability of the institution’s work”, which policymakers and citizens alike depend upon for accurate and informed decision-making and casts significant doubt on the quality, authenticity and credibility of reports and publications of NITI Aayog.
Earlier in the day, Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale shared an image of the map in which Bihar was shown as West Bengal. “It is PATHETIC that the Govt of India cannot even place West Bengal on a map. BJP has 12 MPs from Bengal including 2 Union Ministers. And yet, their govt shamelessly shows Bihar as Bengal on a map,” he said in a post.
The chief minister has asked NITI Aayog to apologise, issue a clarification and take immediate corrective action to rectify the document and to institute robust mechanisms to prevent such lapses in future.