Sabitri Mitra is an Indian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, belonging to the

Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (; AITC), simply known as Trinamool Congress, is an Indian political party that is mainly influential in the Federated state, state of West Bengal. It was founded by Mamata Banerjee on 1 January 1998 as a Lis ...

, 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', ' p ...

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 Administrative division, principal administrative authority of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal, created by the Constitution ...

. She has also served as MLA for Manikchak 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 A ...

constituency in

Malda district Malda district, also spelt Maldah or Maldaha (, , often ), is a district in West Bengal, India. The capital of the Bengal Sultanate, Gauda and Pandua, was situated in this district. Mango, jute and silk are the most notable products of this ...

from 1991 until 2011, when she defected from the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

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)) is a communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electoral seats, and one of the six national parties of India. ...

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 ter ...

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 2 ...

. She is one of the 34 ministers in the

Council of Ministers of West Bengal A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nation ...

, who hold the Cabinet Minister rank. She was earlier affiliated with the

party but defected to the

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 thei ...

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 was the only other woman in the 38-member strong

. 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 members of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly 20th-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian women politicians Women state cabinet ministers of India West Bengal MLAs 2021–2026