Kolkata: Demanding the money that the Centre allegedly owes to Bengal but is continuing to withhold, Trinamool Congress (TMC), on Sunday, carried out mass sit-in protests at the block and ward levels with party leaders also using the opportunity to prepare the grounds for the upcoming Parliamentary elections where the aim is to oust the BJP government from Centre.
The protests, as had been announced by the party’s chairperson Mamata Banerjee, began at noon and continued till 4 pm. As part of it, dharnas and rallies were held in both districts and the city.
Party leaders said that the sole aim is to uphold people’s rights since the money that has been withheld belongs to the people. They said that the party is determined to keep fighting and won’t rest till the PMAY-G and MNREGA funds are released by the Modi-led central government.
In Kolkata, the protests were held in several wards of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC). Party’s senior leader and Mayor of the civic body, Firhad Hakim led the demonstrations in several places such as in Chetla, Kidderpore and Ahindra Mancha, CIT Market.
“We want to let the Centre know that their word will not be the last, but people will have the last say in a democracy. The Rupees one lakh seventeen thousand crore that the Centre is withholding has deprived the people of Bengal. The money we are demanding is not loans from the Centre but the amount that it is supposed to give to Bengal after taking it away from the state in the form of GST,” he said.
Further, Hakim said: “The fund is being withheld by the Centre because BJP’s defeat in the 2021 state Assembly elections has hurt the ego of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. People of the state rejected them and voted for Mamata Banerjee. Their ego was hurt so much that just a few days after the state Cabinet was formed, some ministers were arrested and then they went on to stop the 100 days of work. Who is Modi depriving? The poor people who live in villages and carry out rural work. The payment of such a fund has been guaranteed by the Constitution and yet it is being withheld. Even the poor are also being deprived of shelters since the funds under the PM Awas Yojana are also being withheld.”
Mamata Banerjee had said that in the 2023-24 central budget, the Central Government did not allot funds for Bengal for 100 days of work whereas funds were allotted to states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and even Odisha.
“Why not Bengal? The West Bengal government has instead given 28-day jobs to the job card holders of the MGNREGA scheme,” she informed.
She said that the Centre has also deprived Bengal of the Awas Yojana fund despite the state government contributing 40 per cent.
“The remaining 60 per cent that the Centre is supposed to pay is also given from the share of GST that it owes to the state...” she had pointed out.
“Lakhs of Dalits, tribals, OBCs, Namashudras and members of the minority community are not getting the houses due to the Centre’s deprivation tactics. The Centre is doing vendetta politics,” she said.