Supplementary grants for current fiscal passed in Assembly

kolkata: The demands for supplementary grants for the year 2021-22 was passed at the state Assembly on Thursday which is of prime importance for the continuation of the various projects, particularly in the social welfare sector.

"If the supplementary grants are not approved, the expenses will be stopped and many projects will be halted. We have taken pioneering steps in health, foodgrains distribution, relief and rescue in natural calamities, water supply etc. The total supplementary budget of over Rs 15401 .75 crore will be meant for spending on these fronts," state Finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said during her reply on demands for supplementary grants.

Referring to the query of BJP MLA Bishnu Prasad Sharma, on taking a loan, Bhattacharya said that Covid was unprecedented and the natural calamities that had hit the state were also not thought of when the Budget was made.

"Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is always true to whatever she commits and for providing benefits to over 10 crore people in the state, we had to borrow," she added. She accused the BJP government at the Centre for doing nothing to help the student community to get world-class quality education in India since 2014.

"This is the cause why our students migrated to Ukraine, Russia and elsewhere to study in the medical stream," the minister said. "However, in Bengal we had 1355 seats in 2011 that has now gone up to over 5000," she maintained.

Speaker Biman Banerjee on Thursday criticised the BJP MLAs for being absent during the reply of the state Finance minister describing it as a cause for "alarm for democracy".

"I am shocked to find the BJP legislators, who had made the queries, staged walk-outs and remained absent from the house as the minister delivered her reply," Speaker Biman Banerjee further added.