West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said Balurghat airport in Dakshin Dinajpur will become operational within a year after the state government handed it to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. He said a 19-seater flight is planned soon and that the ministry will apply for the operator licence, while operations of a 72-seater ATR would require about 150 acres of additional land. The district magistrate has been tasked with the acquisition.Adhikari described the airport, the local university and a proposed medical college as development gifts for Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur. He said the university is currently functioning from an abandoned building with only three subjects and that a proposal seeks to introduce seven more. He said he would seek prompt Higher Education Department clearance. He outlined medical college plans to use existing infrastructure, construct an administrative building and convert the nursing school into a college, and said the 931-bed facility would be strengthened with more ICU, ITU and SDU beds and an enhanced blood bank. The project, he said, will require an initial allocation of Rs 3.44 billion (bn) in the current financial year. He indicated Rs 1 bn would be sanctioned initially from the state budget. At an administrative review he reported welfare disbursements, saying 0.3 million (mn) women had benefited under the Annapurna Yojana with Rs 3,000 per month and 13,000 people had received the second instalment under the Paschim Banga Awas Yojana. He added that 501 houses had received solar panels and that 1.1 million (mn) Ayushman Bharat cards and Rs 0.5 million (mn) Mukhyamantri Swasthya Bima cards had been issued. He said 81,000 additional job cards were issued under the VB-RAM-G programme. Road repairs in the three municipalities are scheduled for completion by 10 October and a new fire station will bring the total to four. Adhikari urged even development across all eight districts, criticised the previous administration for neglecting the area and said his party would honour local trust.