Mamata seeks labs, dues and UGC rethink at Modi virtual meet -Trinamul Congress chief iterated demands she had been making at earlier meetings that had not been televised

Snehamoy Chakraborty, Anshuman Phadikar   |   TT  |   Bolpur/ Tamluk   |  28.07.20   : Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday seized the opportunity of a virtual event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and televised live to place before the Centre several demands of Bengal to cope with crises such as the Covid-19 and the aftermath of Cyclone Amphan. 

The Bengal chief minister was invited, along with Maharashtra’s Uddhav Thackeray and Uttar Pradesh’s  Yogi Adityanath, to the online event in which Modi inaugurated three high-throughput labs of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in Calcutta, Mumbai and Noida.

Shiv Sena chief Thackeray, who spoke before Mamata did, and the BJP’s Adityanath, whose turn came up after her, confined their addresses to the event and lauded Modi’s leadership in India’s fight against the pandemic.

The Trinamul Congress chief iterated demands she had been making before Modi at earlier meetings that had not been televised.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Prime Minister for his cooperation, he spoke to us on several occasions on tackling the pandemic. I would also like to thank (Union health minister) Harsh Vardhanji…. But some have been disturbing, interfering with the state… non-cooperation while occupying constitutional posts. It is not desirable,” she said at the start. 

Sources in her party said this was a reference to Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar’s activities over the past few months.

Mamata asked Modi to boast before the rest of the world of Bengal and what it had been doing by way of free treatment for Covid-19.

“Prime Minister, you can tell the world, there is a state in this country that is giving totally free treatment for Covid-19, in the 81 designated Covid hospitals,” she said.

Then, she rolled out the wish list — which she called “humble requests” — as Modi listened. In his speech, the Prime Minister, however, did not address the issues raised by Mamata. The key sets of demands from the Bengal chief minister follow:

Testing infrastructure: Mamata said the Centre’s new lab will certainly be of help, but the state, which is looking to ramp up testing from 16,000 a day now to over 25,000 by August 15, needs some such labs in the state-run hospitals.

“If you give some such labs to the state government hospitals as well, that will help us in exponentially increase testing. We used to have just one (before the pandemic), now we have 56 labs (approved by the ICMR). But of them, 26 cannot conduct more than 25-30 tests daily… small ones,” she said.

“In Bengal, there is still a dearth of (ICMR-approved) labs. That is why, initially, Bengal was able to test less initially.”

For labs to start Covid-19 testing, ICMR approval is a must. 

Central dues and aid: The Bengal chief minister said even in the face of increasing financial burden for the state, Bengal has already spent over Rs 2,500 crore for Covid-19 and not more than Rs 125 crore had been received from the central National Health Mission.

“I would like to request the Prime Minister that Rs 53,000 crore of the state’s dues still remain pending from the Centre. We have been trying for over six months to get it… please, have mercy and have some of it released, at least. So that we can continue working,” she said. 

Sources said Rs 36,000 crore of the sum quoted by Mamata are dues in centrally supported schemes and central schemes, besides GST dues, food subsidy dues and Rs 11,000 crore that the Centre owes to the state on account of devolution.

“GST compensation, April-May’s Rs 4,135 crore, we have not yet got…. My humble plea, please see to it that the money gets released,” she added.

Mamata said while Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement of the raised borrowing limit – from 3 per cent of the annual ceiling, according to the FRBM Act, to 5 per cent of the state’s GDP — was a “good decision”, it meant little in the presence of conditions for 1.5 per cent of the 2 per cent raise.

“What happened was only 0.5 per cent is unconditional. The conditions for the remaining 1.5 per cent make it impossible to make any use of the relaxation. Please get these conditions lifted,” said Mamata, who had earlier said the conditionality was unacceptable.

According to the formula laid down by Sitharaman, states need to undertake reforms in four areas and take actions in accordance with  central requirement to unlock 1 per cent additional borrowing over and above 3.5 per cent allowed unconditionally.

She pointed out that Bengal was yet to get more than the Rs 1,000 crore committed to by Modi on the day of his visit after Cyclone Amphan, over two months ago, despite having submitted details of Rs 35,000 crore for relief and spending Rs 6,500 crore on its own.

She pointed out that the Centre’s suggestion of spending on Covid-19 from the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) was problematic for a natural calamity-prone state such as Bengal.

UGC and exams: Mamata, who has been opposed to the conduct of final-year undergraduate and masters examinations, as recommended by the University Grants Commission in its revised guidelines, brought it up in her address.

“Another request… very, very important for the students,” she said, explaining how everything was worked out according to the UGC’s April 29 guidelines without compulsion for those exams.

“We did in our universities and colleges according to the UGC’s (April 29) guidelines… previous results, etc. Now, the UGC revised it on July 6, now saying exams compulsory,” she said. “If that has to be implemented, there will be big problems for the students everywhere.”

On July 6, the UGC had issued revised guidelines, saying graduating students would have to “compulsorily” complete the terminal semester/annual exams by September 30, through pen-and-paper or online or blend of the two modes.

“The HRD ministry, please, I request it to take up the matter with the UGC, so that the April 29 decision is strictly maintained, so that there is no problem for students,” she said.