Sabitri Mitra is an Indian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, belonging to the

All India Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (English: All India Grassroots Congress; AITC), colloquially the Trinamool Congress ( TMC) is an Indian political party which is predominantly active in West Bengal. The party is led by Mamata Banerjee, the cur ...

, who has served as

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare in the

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal also known as the West Bengal Government, is the subnational government of the Indian state of West Bengal , created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial authority. The ...

. She has also served as MLA for

Manikchak Manikchak is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Malda Sadar subdivision of Malda district in the Indian state of West Bengal. History Gauda and Pandua Gauda was once the "capital of the ancient bhukti or poli ...

constituency from 2011 until 2016 and again since 2021.

Political career

She earlier served as MLA of

Araidanga Araidanga is a populated place, not identified as a separate place in 2011 census, in the Ratua II CD block in the Chanchal subdivision of Malda district in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Location Araid ...

constituency in

Malda district Malda district, also spelt Maldah or Maldaha (, , often ), is a district in West Bengal, India. It lies 347 km (215 miles) north of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal. Mango, jute and silk are the most notable products of this district. ...

from 1991 until 2011, when she defected from the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

to join the Trinamool Congress.Cong MLA Sabitri Mitra disqualified for defecting
Indian Express (2011-01-06). Retrieved on 2011-05-28. In the 2011 election, she won the Manikchak constituency with 64,641 votes, defeating her immediate rival, Ratna Bhattacharya of the

CPI(M) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the nati ...

by 6,217 votes.

Ministerial berths

She was sworn in as the Minister for Women & Child Development and Social Welfare by the Governor on the advice of

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 20 ...

. She is one of the 34 ministers in the Council of Ministers of West Bengal, who hold the Cabinet Minister rank. She was earlier affiliated with the

party but defected to the

Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (English: All India Grassroots Congress; AITC), colloquially the Trinamool Congress ( TMC) is an Indian political party which is predominantly active in West Bengal. The party is led by Mamata Banerjee, the cur ...

in 2011. She also served as the Vice-President of the West Bengal People's Congress Committee (WBPCC) during her affiliation with the INC. Her strained relationship with WBPCC President and now Minister for Irrigation & Inland Waterways and Small & Micro Enterprises and Textiles in the Government of West Bengal, Manas Bhunia, has been widely publicized. One of the first decisions she took as the Minister for Women & Child Development and Social Welfare in the

was to dismiss any retired officials in her Ministry still clinging on to their jobs. She also froze the number of new appointments under the

Integrated Child Development Services Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) is a government program in India which provides nutritional meals, preschool education, primary healthcare, immunization, health check-up and referral services to children under 6 years of age and their ...

in various districts, saying there were irregularities in the manner the appointments were made, as these appointments were made in back dates. Apart from Chief Minister

, Mitra is the only other woman in the 38-member strong Council of Ministers of West Bengal. Sabitri Mitra was divested of her portfolio and retained as minister without portfolio in May 2014.

References

External links

News Reporter

MyNeta

Times of India

The Hindu

Kolkata Online

Banglar Mukh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitra, Sabitri 1960 births Living people West Bengal MLAs 1991–1996 West Bengal MLAs 1996–2001 West Bengal MLAs 2001–2006 West Bengal MLAs 2006–2011 West Bengal MLAs 2011–2016 People from Malda district Trinamool Congress politicians from West Bengal Indian National Congress politicians from West Bengal State cabinet ministers of West Bengal Women in West Bengal politics 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians 21st-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian politicians Women state cabinet ministers of India