West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee along with nine party MPs on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to release pending central funds for the state.
Emerging from the meeting with the PM Modi, Banerjee said that the PM has proposed that officials from the state and Centre can sit together and clear the issues.
Prime Minister’s Office tweets, “CM of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee along with a delegation of MPs called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi” pic.twitter.com/oIhWm5Je8a
— ANI (@ANI) December 20, 2023
She also submitted a three-page letter giving details of the due amount and how the state has fared over the years in terms of performance.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee submits letter to PM Modi urging him to release funds due to the state
“There is a due of nearly Rs 1.16 lakh crores from Govt of India on account of various Centrally Sponsered Schemes and pending claims for natural disasters over past years..,”… pic.twitter.com/bZfYqkqtOE
— ANI (@ANI) December 20, 2023
In a three-page letter, she wrote, “Despite our excellent all round performance in all areas, we are not getting our share of resources from the central pool, which rightfully belong to the people of the state.”
She said that depriving the people of Bengal of their rightful claim on development funds have pushed millions into untold misery and poverty.
“You will certainly appreciate that in a democracy where the interest of the common people is supreme and above all other trivial considerations, this deprivation is not only unfair but also unpardonable,” she added.
The Bengal Chief Minister said there is a due of nearly Rs 1.16 lakh crore from the Centre on account of various centrally-sponsored schemes and pending claims for natural disasters over past years.
“The outstanding dues include ‘core of the core’ social schemes like MGNREGS, PMAY, PMGSY, NHM etc,” she added.
In the letter, the CM also mentioned that she has flagged the issue several times in the past and also met the Prime Minister on three occasions for his personal intervention.
“It saddens and pains me that there has been no positive response,” she wrote.
Speaking to the media after the meeting in the Parliament complex, Banerjee said 155 central teams have already visited West Bengal.
Talking about the pending MGNREGA funds for the state, she said 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 (Pradhan Mantri) 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,” said Banerjee.
“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 Rs 1.15 lakh crore to West Bengal.
With inputs from agencies
from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/0l1gWdA
via
No comments:
Post a Comment