TMC demands white paper on Bengal’s dues, says Centre owes Rs 52K cr under MGNREGA

Kolkata: After the BJP-led Centre failed to publish a white paper on allocations of funds to Bengal under MGNREGA and Awas Yojana even after 636 days elapsed since Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had demanded for the release of it, the MPs of the ruling party in Bengal staged protest in the Parliament complex on Wednesday, holding up blank sheets of paper.

Trinamool Congress protest in the national capital was a symbolic push for what they say the Centre has refused to provide for nearly two years: a detailed white paper on funds allocated to Bengal. Abhishek Banerjee, in March 2024, threw a challenge at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home minister Amit Shah to release a white paper on the allocations of funds to Bengal. He had also challenged them to an open debate.

Trinamool Congress MPs from both Houses stood together with white placards, repeating their demand that the Union government explain why dues for Central schemes remain unpaid. They said that the protest will continue throughout the Winter Session.

“In March 2024, Abhishek Banerjee threw a challenge at Modiji and Amit Shah to release a white paper on the allocations made to Bengal. It has been 21 months since then, but the BJP and the Modi government have not been able to say what they gave to Bengal and its allocations,” Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev.

Trinamool leaders have repeatedly claimed that the Centre owes Bengal more than Rs 2 lakh crore, including Rs 52,000 crore under MGNREGA. Trinamool Congress on X wrote: “It has been 21 months - 636 days - since Shri @AbhishekAITC challenged the BJP to release a White Paper on funds for Bengal under MGNREGA and Awas Yojana after their humiliating 2021 defeat. Still no answers. Still no accountability. Bengal has endured neglect, deprivation, and deliberate injustice - yet our people remain unshaken…. If Delhi refuses to listen, Bengal will go there and make them hear. Joy Bangla! In another post, it stated: “The @narendramodi government is withholding nearly ₹2 lakh crore that rightfully belongs to Bengal. From MGNREGA wages to housing scheme funds, money meant for the poorest has been blocked out of sheer political malice. This is what @BJP4India’s Bangla-birodhi politics looks like, punishing the people to settle scores. But we will not step back.” “We will claim every rupee that belongs to Bengal. Our fight has begun, and it will continue till justice is done. Today, our MPs raised their voice outside Parliament, demanding an end to this deliberate deprivation,” it added further.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress has written to a Parliamentary committee stating that dues of Rs 53,695 crore have not been given to Bengal under disaster management.