Bengal: Mamata offers aid to pavement family, Suvendu says ‘stay on Facebook’

"A mother’s curse is a terrible curse." With these words, former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has turned a controversial Kolkata pavement eviction into a wider political and humanitarian debate after an elderly woman was ostensibly stopped from heating milk for her grandchild on a Park Street pavement by minister Agnimitra Paul. Banerjee offered to take responsibility for the family, including arranging accommodation, food and the child’s education.

The incident has triggered a fierce political exchange between Banerjee and the BJP-led government, bringing the question of pavement encroachment into a larger debate over poverty, dignity and the treatment of homeless people.

The incident took place during an inspection by Paul, the state's municipal affairs and urban development minister, who has been overseeing a drive to clear pavements of encroachments, illegal parking and other obstructions. During her visit to Park Street, Paul encountered an elderly woman living on the pavement who was heating milk for a child on a small stove.

Paul stopped her and sharply asked her to move away, citing the danger of cooking on a busy pavement. When the minister asked where the woman lived, she replied, "If one has a home, would anyone choose to live on the street?"

The exchange triggered anger on social media, with critics accusing Paul of lacking compassion towards a poor woman and child. The central question was how a campaign to clear pavements could be carried out without first considering where vulnerable families would go.

Paul later defended herself in a video message. "No milk was snatched from a child’s mouth; she was simply asked to move aside," she said, arguing that the incident had been "unnecessarily criticised".

She said her concern was public safety, pointing out that children living and cooking on pavements could be exposed to accidents. "Who will take responsibility if an accident happens?" she asked.

Paul also argued that pavements were not meant separately for the rich and poor and that everyone was entitled to safe passage. She blamed the previous government for allowing unemployment, poor urban planning and encroachment to grow over 15 years.

The argument, however, leaves an uncomfortable question: if a pavement dweller is removed from a footpath, where does that person go? Clearing an obstruction may be legitimate on civic and safety grounds, but critics argue that enforcement becomes inhuman when it offers no alternative shelter or rehabilitation.

The controversy then acquired a sharper political edge when chief minister Suvendu Adhikari attacked Banerjee without naming her directly. "She should stay home and do some live talking on Facebook," he said. He went further: "I will make sure that she does not come out of her home anymore."

The remark intensified the political confrontation, turning the pavement dispute into another battle between the BJP government and Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress. In her Facebook Live address, Banerjee returned to the plight of the pavement family. "Please do not despise the poor," she said, describing the woman as someone who was simply trying to prepare food for "a tiny infant".

"Did it not feel wrong to deprive the poor child of that milk?" Banerjee asked. She then offered to intervene directly: "I am ready to take responsibility for this family." If the family agreed, she said she would arrange accommodation at the home of a party worker, provide food and take responsibility for the child’s education.

TMC MLA Kunal Ghosh also criticised Paul over the interaction after visiting the woman, and later met police officials, requesting that she not be evicted until rehabilitation arrangements were made. "No one chooses to live on the pavement with a small child," Ghosh said. While agreeing that pavements should remain clear for pedestrians, he urged the government to adopt a "humane approach" and ensure alternative accommodation before eviction. Police, he said, assured cooperation.

Banerjee used the episode to attack what she described as the BJP government’s wider "politics of bulldozers". She asked, "Are hawkers supposed to starve?" and criticised the eviction of hawkers and other pavement dwellers.

Her Facebook Live, however, ranged far beyond the Park Street incident. She accused the BJP government of denying women benefits under Annapurna Bhandar and expressed solidarity with women protesting over the issue.

Banerjee also criticised the treatment of students and youths, referring to Jadavpur University, Presidency University and Ashutosh College. She questioned the treatment of students during recent political programmes and alleged that democratic voices were being suppressed.