Kolkata: Criticizing the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (C&AG) report which claimed that the state government delayed in submitting fund utilisation certificates for central schemes, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’ Brien accused the BJP government at the Centre of committing a “Fiscal Federal Terrorism” against Bengal by continuing to withhold funds.
Recently, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi refuting the claims of the State Finance Audit Report for 2020-21 of the C&AG that the state government delayed submission of utilisation certificates of Rs 2,29,099 crores from 2002-03 to 2020-21.
After Banerjee announced on Saturday that the state government will clear the dues of 21 lakh MGNREGA workers by February 21, Derek O Brien on Sunday said: “The announcement made by the Chief Minister of Bengal will combat BJP’s fiscal federal terrorism that involves depriving Bengal of its rightful dues.”
He added: “The Fiscal Federal Terrorism of BJP is because they cannot fight Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress in Bengal. Loans amounting to more than Rs 12,00,000 crore have been written off by this Central government. If they can write off these loans, why penalise the people of Bengal for Rs 6,913 crore?”
Derek pointed out: “The issue of utilisation certificates was never asked for. We have enough data available to show how no utilisation certificates worth thousands of crores were submitted for BJP-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand.”
Referring to Banerjee’s promise on Saturday that the state will clear the dues of the workers, the MP said: “Yesterday was the culmination of a journey that began on May 12, 2022, when the Chief Minister of Bengal wrote to the Prime Minister. A delegation of MPs met the Minister in Delhi in April. In October 2023, everybody was involved in the dharna in Delhi led by the AITC National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee. We all saw what happened in Delhi. All this culminated in the huge announcement made yesterday where the Bengal government pledged and committed to clear the pending dues of 21 lakh MGNREGA workers, which the Union Government – by an Act of Parliament – was supposed to pay within 15 days of work.”
He remarked: “The announcement made yesterday will change the federal outlook in the years to come in India, where the Union Government is depriving the state because they politically oppose the state.”