WB govt lends help to legendary cartoonist

The treatment costs of legendary cartoonist Narayan Debnath will be borne by the government, the West Bengal government has recently confirmed.

The 86 year old legend is the creator of numerous popular cartoon characters like Handa-Bhonda, Nonte-Phonte and Bantul the great. He also holds the world record of creating more than 1,500 comics where all those story, script, dialogue and drawing have single handedly done by him.

Suffering from kidney-infection and several others, age related ailments, the ex-Bangladesh Liberation warrior Debnath fell seriously ill on last Sunday at his Shibpur residence. “As soon as word of this got around, Writer's Building took action,” confirmed the cartoonist's son Tapas Debnath. Agro-marketing Minister Arup Roy was sent to his Shibpur residence and he was shifted to a private hospital in Kolkata with immediate effect.

The Debnath family has welcomed this gesture on the part of the government, thanking West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for it. Talking to TSI Swapan Debnath, Debnath's elder son, sounded overwhelmed. “This is not about bearing the medical cost. By taking this decision, the Bengal government has actually shown true respect to him. We are really grateful to Ms. Mamata Banerjee for her gesture to felicitate a genius and to stay with us when it’s really needed. ”