Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee government has increased the budget exclusively for development of North Bengal by over 800 percent in the past 10 years compared to that of in the last fiscal of the Left Front government.
This comes when the state has spent Rs 4,968.51 crore since 2012-13 fiscal only through the North Bengal Development department that was set up by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in 2011. Apart from the development work carried out by the North Bengal Development department, other departments including Tourism, Industries, MSME, Transport, Agriculture, Irrigation, School Education and Higher Education have undertaken different projects involving investment of crores of rupees from its own funds.
This comes when BJP demanded to create a separate Union territory by dividing North Bengal from the state. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also the present North Bengal Development minister, condemned the same and said that she will never allow bifurcation of Bengal. Since inception of the North Bengal Development department with first budget allocation of Rs 200 crore in 2012-13 fiscal, the North Bengal Development department only executed more than 2,500 projects till the last fiscal in eight districts — Malda, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, North and South Dinajpur. As many as 2,171 projects completed till December 31 in 2019.
There was no separate department to undertake development of North Bengal districts during the Left Front regime and only Rs 85 crore and Rs 59 crore were sanctioned in 2011-12 and 2010-11 financial years respectively for development of North Bengal. Soon after coming to power, Banerjee increased the allocation to Rs 200 crore in 2012-13 fiscal that has gone up to a whopping Rs 776.51 crore.
"The budget for the North Bengal Development department has increased by around 813 per cent in the past 10 years if we compare the same with that of 2011-12, the last budget of the Left Front government," said a senior state government officer.
Sabina Yeasmin, who is at present the minister of state of the department, said: "I was born and brought up in North Bengal and witnessed a sea change in terms of development after the TMC government was formed. Basically, Oppositions have no issues left. So they are defaming the state by appreciating the 800 per cent increase in the budget in the past ten years for development of the region".
Prior to 2010, the Left Front government used to sanction a consolidated budget for development of North Bengal, sunderbans and Paschimanchal unnayan. It was Rs 285 crore, Rs 190.23 crore and Rs 264.50 crore in 2009-10, 2008-09 and 2007-08 respectively. The same in the last year of the Left Front government (2011-12 fiscal) was Rs 245.42 crore while it became Rs 655.63 crore the next year with formation of the Trinamool Congress government, the officer pointed out.