West Bengal | Why Mamata Banerjee is staging dharna against Union govt

Ahead of the state budget on February 8, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sat on a 48-hour dharna in Kolkata on Friday (February 2) to protest against non-clearance of the state’s dues by the BJP-led government at the Centre.

The chief minister is expected to visit New Delhi next week to take up the state’s demand with the Union government.

Meanwhile, just before Banerjee sat on a dharna wearing a black shawl at 1 pm, the Centre released Rs 1,000 crore to the state for the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme.

Ahead of Lok Sabha elections, the TMC plans to make non-release of funds a major election issue, dubbing it as discrimination against Bengal. The TMC has lined up statewide protests over the issue.

Earlier, Banerjee urged party workers and those affected by the non-payment of funds to participate in the dharna being staged at the BR Ambedkar statue in the Red Road area in Kolkata.

Why is Mamata Banerjee protesting against the Centre?

Banerjee alleged that the Centre was not clearing the state’s dues amounting to thousands of crores, which is taking a toll on various schemes. The state government claimed that the Centre owes the state Rs 1.5 lakh crore, including Rs 7,000 crore for MGNREGA and PM Gramin Awas Yojana (PMGAY).

The CM said around 156 central teams have visited the state to check whether the schemes were being implemented properly. State officers met their central government counterparts last week in connection with it, she said. “Despite all these, the Centre is yet to pay us our dues,” she added.

Banerjee had set on a dharna in March last year too on the same issue. She had also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December last year.

Why is the BJP opposing Mamata on the issue?

The BJP cited a CAG report to allege that “mother of all scams” to the tune of about Rs 2 lakh crore had taken place in the state.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi recently, state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar accused the TMC government led by Mamata Banerjee of treating the public money like her own. “Her government has tried to loot public money everywhere. The CAG report is a slap on her government's face and exposes it,” Majumdar alleged.

According to the BJP, the CAG report highlighted that over 2.4 lakh utilisation certificates, required to be submitted for completed projects within a fixed time, were not filed by the state government. “The CAG report clearly shows that the TMC government had not given utilisation certificates for a sum of over Rs 1.95 lakh crore. Nobody knows where did the money go? Something fishy was seen in three departments, including rural and urban development and school education. MGNREGA money was stopped due to corruption and we all know former education minister is behind bars,” said Majumdar.

CAG findings

The BJP leader also claimed that the CAG had found that the state government had not provided “utilisation certificate for Rs 3,400 crore appropriated from the contingency fund”.

Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said, “The Centre had allocated thousands of crores of rupees to West Bengal under the PM housing scheme despite not receiving audit reports. The prime minister had granted Rs 3750 crore to the state for relief package following Cyclone Amphan. But what about the utilisation of those funds? A 'cut money syndicate’ is looting the state.”

When questioned about the allegations, the chief minister said, “Members of the PAC (Public Accounts Committee) see each and every account. Ask them how much property they have accumulated by depriving the poor.”

What’s the Centre’s stand on Mamata's allegations?

After meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah on February 2, Governor CV Ananda Bose said all dues would be cleared once the state government meets the requirement laid down by the Centre for implementation of the schemes.

The Centre took exception to the state government’s decision to change names of certain central schemes for which it also gives a matching share.

The Centre also wants the state to brand all the schemes with Modi’s picture despite the fact that funds for these schemes are shared by the Centre and the states.

Leader of the TMC in the Lok Sabha, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, on Wednesday raised the issue of “non-payment of funds” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament. In response, the prime minister asked him to read the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report first before raising the issue.