‘Bengal only state in country alongside Tamil Nadu that showed positive GDP growth during Covid’

Kolkata: Parliamentary Affairs minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay in the Assembly on Friday said that Bengal is the only state in the country alongside Tamil Nadu that had shown positive growth in its GDP during Covid when the entire country’s GDP growth was on a negative curve. He was taking part in a discussion on the state Budget.

During the discussion, Chattopadhyay hit out at BJP MLA Ashok Lahiri for the latter’s comment that the Mamata Banerjee government is giving doles to the people ahead of Lok Sabha elections. Chattopadhyay said that the developing countries aim to provide money to the people through various social sector schemes. Even the developed countries like the USA and UK also indulge in the practice of giving doles. Countering Lahiri’s statement that the state government presented a “Kalpataru” Budget ahead of Lok Sabha elections, Chattopadhyay said: “Nobel laureate Abhijit Binayak Bandyopadhyay has justified the practice of giving doles to uplift the weaker section in the society. Bengal’s economic direction is on the right track with the Chief Minister government sending money to the poor people through schemes. Markets are not run by the rich. The Union government has been trying to increase the number of the rich in the country. Around 40 per cent of the country’s wealth is in the hands of 1 per cent people. The Centre is trying to ensure that the poor become poorer and the rich become richer.”

Trinamool Congress MLA Narayan Goswami while taking part in the Budget discussion in the Assembly said that the state Budget has covered people belonging to all sections of the society. Bengal’s economy has expanded four times from 4,60,959 crore in 2010-11 to Rs 17,00,939 crore in 2023-24.

“The Mamata Banerjee government believes in decentralization of power. Services are given at the doorsteps of the people. Around 11 crore people have attended Duare Sarkar camps and around 8 crore people have availed services at the doorsteps. This government is truly called a government by the people for the people. It is the objective of the government to bring the backward sections to the forefront through schemes and the Bengal government has been doing so,” Goswami said.