Kolkata, May 21 (IANS) After working well past midnight on her first day in office Friday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee skipped her weekend holiday, spending a hectic day in office Saturday holding a series of meetings.

 
 She also kept up to her image of a commoner by using the general lift at the secretariat and asking police officers not to stall traffic on the roads to facilitate movement of her convoy.
 
 Banerjee, who walked two km to the secretariat amid milling crowds after being sworn in at Raj Bhavan Friday, stayed put at the Writers' Buildings for eight hours up to 12.30 a.m., holding her first cabinet meeting and then finalising the portfolios of her ministers.
 
 Before leaving the secretariat, she asked all ministers to get down to business Saturday. Similar directive was given to all the departmental secretaries and other secretarial staff.
 
 Banerjee herself was back at office a little before noon, and immersed herself in a series of discussions with officials of her departments. She took stock of the situation in health, land and land reforms, power and agriculture.
 
 The 56-year-old chief minister then called School Education Minister Rabindranath Bhattacharya and Higher Education Minister Bratya Basu alongside senior officials of the two departments for a detailed briefing on the state of affairs in the key sector.
 
 Banerjee's Trinamool Congress had made the alleged politicisation of and lack of quality in education its major campaign plank in the recent assembly polls.
 
 "For long, nothing was done in these sectors. I have received lot of reports. We will go through them and then get back to you," she said during a chat with media persons.
 
 In the afternoon, she went around the secretariat to get a first hand experience of the ground situation in the British era building.
 
 Banerjee asked journalists not to follow her. "I have to go to various portions of the secretariat. We will expand the chief minister's secretariat. We have to make it bigger. We also have to earmark spots for setting up a proper canteen and other infrastructure," she said.
 
 A little later she again came to the media podium and handed over  a cheque of Rs.1 crore to Chief Secretary Samar Ghosh from the money she had received by selling off her paintings two months back.
 
 "The state government has a dearth of funds. This money will go to the relief fund," she said.
 
 As evening descended, Banerjee refused to take the VIP lift and walked down the stairs earmarked for commoners on the first floor and left the secretariat.
 
 She boarded her vehicle but without any pilot car, and began a tour of parts of the city despite the inclement weather.