‘In 10 yrs, Centre has taken Rs 10L cr from Bengal, yet it continues to deprive the people’

MP | 6 July 2023 | Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said on Thursday that till June-end 2023 the Centre had sent 186 Central teams to Bengal to inspect if funds for Central schemes are being properly utilised but in the last 10 years the BJP-led government has taken away about Rs 10 lakh crore from Bengal and continuing to deprive the people of this state. 

Addressing the media at Press Club Kolkata, Abhishek refuted the claims made by the state BJP unit leaders that the Centre had sent funds but they were misappropriated. Banerjee said that BJP is continuing to play revenge politics for their poll debacle in the 2021 Assembly elections and for which it is depriving lakhs of people who are waiting to receive their wages for the work done in rural areas. He said that about 186 Central teams have been sent for inspection and they found nothing inappropriate and yet the funds are not being disbursed. He alleged the number of cases of fake job card holders highest in BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra etc. and yet no central teams are sent there. “This proves they are taking revenge on Bengal,” he mentioned. Abhishek alleged that in 2017 itself when the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced, the Centre took away two lakh sixty crore from the state and in total in the last 10 years, it took away 10 lakh crore. Further, he alleged that relief funds worth Rs 30,000 crore relating to Cyclone Amphan have still not been disbursed and neither has the centre disbursed funds for Cyclones Bulbul and Yaas. “Funds for Gramin Sadak Yojana are also due. The state government is spending its funds to mend roads in rural areas under the Pathasree scheme. About 12 lakh crore people have been deprived of Awas Yojana schemes,” he claimed. The TMC leader questioned why can’t the BJP start schemes such as Laxmi Bhandar in BJP-ruled states despite having a “double engine sarkar”. “I challenge them to pay at least Rs 1000 every month to women in BJP-ruled states,” he said. On the deployment of Central forces, he asked that nowhere Central forces were deployed for rural elections so why in Bengal? “Why was it not deployed in a state like Tripura where violence was rampant during the polls?” he asked, adding that TMC wants peaceful elections. Asked if the mass suspension of TMC leaders for filing nomination as Independent candidates can pave the way for a bigger rebellion within the party fold in days to come, and whether it is strengthening the hands of the Opposition since these suspended workers are joining them, he said: “We are a party who does compromise with its ideology. We had clarified that ones who will break party discipline will be taken to task and we have done so. We don’t care about the ramifications. Sometimes you need to think about your political interest considering the bigger picture.” Answering Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim of stopping dynasty politics, he said that let the PM introduce a Bill in the Parliament and stop it. “I will be the first one to vote for it. Let him make the rule that only one member of each family will be able to participate in politics. I can guarantee that he won’t do so given the number of family members of BJP leaders participating in politics,” he claimed. https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/in-10-yrs-centre-has-taken-rs-10l-cr-from-bengal-yet-it-continues-to-deprive-the-people-524695