Kolkata: State Finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya on Thursday was vocal with the demand of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) to the tune of Rs 2330 crore which the Centre owes to the state at the 27th meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
The meeting was chaired by Union Home minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah.
“The Centre has now stopped the BRGF, but this amount was the Centre’s commitment to us before winding up the scheme. The Union Home minister has instructed his concerned officials to look into this issue and do the needful,” Bhattacharya said.
She maintained that the issues related to embankments and desiltation that involves neighbouring eastern states in Bengal were also raised and discussed in the meeting. Apart from Bhattacharya, the meeting was attended by Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, Chief Secretaries and other senior officials of the member states and senior officials of the Central government.
The Eastern Zonal Council comprises the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Bengal.
Bhattacharya said that she has assured the Centre on behalf of the state government that Bengal is leaving no stone unturned for acquisition and quick handover of land for outposts of the Border Security Force (BSF) in the state, as it is a matter of national security.
“We cannot evict people at the drop of a hat in border areas that are congested but require infrastructure from the BSF. In such areas, we are dealing with caution and carefulness. However, full cooperation is being extended to the Centre,“ she added.