Allocation of funds for state to fight COVID-19 stands at zero: Derek

Kolkata: In the third video of "Shoja Banglay Bolchi" series, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien on Friday attacked the Centre as its allocation for Bengal to fight against COVID-19 stands at "zero".

Trinamool Congress launched a video series on social media in which the achievements of the state government in the past nine years that kept Bengal ahead of all in most sectors is getting highlighted.

Besides attacking the Centre for not extending financial support to fight the pandemic, O'Brien in Friday's video also raised the issue of sending faulty test kits to Bengal. He said: "The test kits that were sent to Bengal in April were faulty and those had to be withdrawn."

In the 44-second video that he uploaded on his Twitter handle, O'Brien further stated: "Till June, Bengal government has spent Rs 1,200 crore to fight against COVID-19. The Centre has given Rs 400 crore for National Health Mission (NHM) and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). But, allocation to fight against COVID-19 was zero."

This comes a few days after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to release a special fund to fight the pandemic as the state had so far received only Rs 125 crore under the NHM to combat the disease. She had also informed the Prime Minister that the state has been asked to utilise the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) to fight the disease. "But what will the state do at the time of any natural disaster like flood and cyclone if SDRF fund gets utilised for this purpose," Banerjee had said while seeking intervention of the Prime Minister in this regard.

She had also urged him to release the legitimate outstanding dues of around Rs 53,000 crore to help the state fight COVID-19 situation better. The Chief Minister has strongly demanded withdrawal of all conditions on borrowing under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act.