Nat’l emblem replaces Biswa Bangla logo on govt site

Kolkata: The Biswa Bangla logo has been replaced by the Ashoka Stambha emblem on Egiye Bangla, the govt website featuring various govt departments. The website's colour was also changed from white and blue to saffron after the BJP govt came to power.The Biswa Bangla brand was launched on Sept 16, 2013, by the former chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The logo, representing the Bengali letter "B," was officially adopted by the then state govt to represent West Bengal, and all the websites adopted the same.The Egiye Bangla portal, which earlier had a sky-blue background, now has a white background with the Ashoka emblem, below which is a picture of Suvendu Adhikari, the new chief minister of Bengal. The logos of departments such as e-services, business, tourism, industry and agriculture are featured on the home page in saffron.The BJP made it clear that a logo created by an individual has no role, and that the Ashoka emblem is the highest symbol of the govt. The Biswa Bangla logo was used to promote the state's traditional arts and handicrafts. The controversy started in 2017 when then BJP MLA Mukul Roy, who earlier was in the Trinamool Congress and returned to the TMC after 2021, remained with the party until his death. Roy alleged that Abhishek Banerjee owned the logo and that it was not a govt entity. Banerjee denied the charges and sent Roy a legal notice. The former chief minister stated in the Assembly that she had created the logo and given the state govt permission to use it without charging any royalty. She also said that the Bengal govt could use the logo, and if it chose not to use it someday, the logo would revert to her.In the last 13 years, Biswa Bangla became an identity of the Trinamool govt, from beautification projects to official work. Every official letter also carried the same logo. After the BJP govt took oath, the logo was immediately removed from the system. A senior state govt official said, "We are govt servants and we have to perform our duties only according to the instructions of the govt."