After the meeting, Banerjee said the Prime Minister had proposed that officials from the state and the Centre can sit together and clear the issues, while speaking to the media, in the Parliament complex, accompanied by nine of her party MPs.She however added that central teams have been given all clarifications by state government on issues raised by the Centre.
The tug-of-war between the Bengal government and the Centre over release of funds to the state, has been going on for while and TMC has held a protest led by its general secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee here in October. BJP has accused the Mamata Banerjee government of siphoning off funds meant for Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojna and MGNREGA.
Speaking of MGNREGA funds, Banerjee said on Wednesday that it is mandatory under the Constitution to pay the workers. “We didn't even get a penny for 100 days of work (under MGNREGA) in the budget for 2022-23.”
“Funds for Aawas Yojna have been stopped, rural development schemes have been shut, and the health mission programme has also been shut. We are also not getting funds under the Finance Commission,” Banerjee alleged.
“Our officials have given all the clarification they asked for. PM has said a joint meeting will be held by the Centre and state officials. I said we have given clarification 155 times. We can do that once again, they can decide the formula. In a federal structure, the central government has a share and the state also has a share,” she said.
“It is not right to stop the money for poor people,” Banerjee said, adding that the Centre owed nearly Rs 1.16 lakh crore to the state under various centrally sponsored schemes and pending claims for natural disasters over the past years.
The TMC delegation led by Banerjee submitted a memorandum to the PM, which said despite the legacy of a burden of nearly Rs 2 lakh crore of debt of the previous regime and even after repaying a staggering amount of Rs 5 lakh crore towards debt and interest (debt of Rs. 1.98 lakh crore and interest Rs 3.23 lakh crore), West Bengal has achieved unprecedented progress during 2011-2023 period.
Banerjee said in the memorandum that the GSDP of West Bengal during the last 12 years has increased from Rs 4.60 lakh crore in 2010-11 to Rs 15.54 lakh crore in 2022-23, an increase of 3.37 times.
“This reflects the remarkable progress made by the state in all sectors. There has also been a marked improvement in all fiscal parameters achieved by way of implementation of far-reaching reforms in financial and revenue administration,” the CM said. “Despite our excellent all-round performance in all areas, we are not getting our share of resources from the central pool that rightfully belong to the people of the state. Depriving the people of Bengal of their rightful claim on development funds has pushed millions into untold misery and poverty,” she added.
Banerjee also flagged a “disturbing and unwelcome development” where central ministries have “unilaterally decided the name, logo and colour schemes” for buildings mandatory for getting funds under centrally sponsored schemes. “It is important to note that the logo being imposed resembles more to the symbol of the ruling party at the Centre, rather than the logo of the Government of India,” she pointed out. “As chief minister of an important state and in that capacity, you had fought for the rights of the state and its people in our federal structure. States have a very important role to play in the development of this great country,” she said.
Any step taken unilaterally by the Centre that undermines the position of the state or the sentiments and self-respect of its people will only weaken this country, she said. “We cannot and should not allow people of any state to suffer for whatever reasons,” she added.
Mamata Banerjee meets PM Modi, demands release of pending funds - IndiaTimes
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