Mamata to host CMs' convention in Bengal

Saugata Roy,TNN | Nov 11, 2015: KOLKATA: BJP's Bihar drubbing is set to renew the battle over the 'straining' of Centre-state ties. On the backburner since the run-up to the polls, the issues will likely form the bedrock of the chief ministers' convention that Mamata Banerjee plans to host in Bengal in the New Year. 

Sources hinted that Mamata may give an open invitation to all chief ministers as a follow-up of the meeting she had in Delhi with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar couldn't attend it as he was busy with Bihar elections. He had sent a letter extending his support. 

But how many chief ministers will respond to Mamata's call for a federal bloc, if not a front? "Mamatadi's stature and popularity inside and outside Parliament is quite high," Trinamool Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien said. 

Topmost on the agenda is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to speak directly to chief secretaries of states once a month to track the progress of centrally as sisted projects. Going by the plan, the PM will video-conference with chief secretaries under the Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implem- entation (Pragati) scheme. 

The plan sounds like Rajiv Gandhi's 'PM to DM' plan, minus the CM. The decision has sparked a controversy with Trinamool seeing it as an infringement on the state's domain. "The Prime Minister could have talked to CMs over the progress. Why is he getting in touch with chief secretaries directly?" Mamata said. Many other states are %also miffed over this decision. 

"The Centre has discontinued many social sector schemes, including those running in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) areas in Jangalmahal. Now they are trying to monitor the projects themselves," the CM said. 

Mamata is also worried with the prevailing uncertainty over the state's plan size after Modi chose to do away with the Planning Commission. "I am yet to know about the state's plan size. We are acting on a tentative plan. The Planning Commission is no more. Neither is the National Development Council. The situation is the same for all states," she said. 

The Modi government has set up the NITI Ayog instead, transferring the planning-expenditure function to the Union finance ministry while other allocations to states have been left to the respective ministries. States will now have to lobby hard with ministries to get funds released. Earlier, the Planning Commission used to transfer funds for the state plan from the share of Union taxes. The funds went for centrally sponsored projects in states and also for the state plan. 

Mamata is also not quite happy with the Centre incorporating a new clause in the IAS training module that says that all new recruits will have to serve for three months under the central government before they take up jobs in states. While the Centre sees it as a bid to introduce these new IAS officers with field-level officers across the country, some states see it as an intervention into the state's rights. However, the Bengal chief minister is yet to make up her mind on this issue.