Bengal committed to continue with schemes despite Centre not releasing funds: Minister

Kolkata, Mar 10 (PTI) West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya on Monday said in the assembly that despite the Centre not releasing the state's dues for various development projects, the state government remains committed to working for the poor.

All the schemes are being run by the TMC government in the state and it has allotted due funds for the 2024-25 fiscal in the supplementary grant, she said.

"We had launched the Kanyashree, Sikshasree and Lakshmir Bhandar schemes and have been running all these social welfare projects along with other social security schemes to help the people of the state who matter to us most," said Bhattacharya, a minister of state with independent charge.

The schemes she mentioned are financial assistance programmes of various types.

"We keep hoping to get central funds but our hopes never get fulfilled. As the Centre is not forthcoming in releasing due funds for Bengal and withholding the amount for years, we have to mop up resources and make provisions for supplementary grants as not a single project should stop," she said.

Bhattacharya asserted that the Centre has not been allocating state's dues for healthcare and water supply projects.

"Despite the Centre's stand, the poor people should not be deprived of the benefits," she said.

The BJP-led central government has been claiming that the state administration has not been following norms in various projects, forcing it to stop releasing funds.

The minister described the behaviour of BJP MLAs who staged a walkout from the House after suspension of a party member and eviction of two others by the Speaker as the "height of arrogance which goes against democratic principles".

Bhattacharya said, "Learned economists like Ashok Lahiri questioned the necessity of allocation of supplementary funds. But when I am here to reply to their queries, they are abstaining. Whom are they serving by this?" The House later put to voice vote the proposal for Rs 19,462 crore supplementary grant allocations which was unanimously passed with the opposition BJP staying away.

The minister also referred to the sanction of spending over Rs 400 crore in the 2024-25 fiscal as a supplementary grant for running the schemes but that allocation was not put for voting. PTI SUS NN

Source: PTI