Centre gives Bengal only Rs 417 crore when it owes state about Rs 60K cr

Kolkata: When the Centre owes around Rs 60,000 crore to the state, the Union Finance ministry on Friday released just Rs 417 crore as grants-in-aid covering deficit on post-devolution account for Bengal.

The amount of Rs 417 crore for Bengal is a part of Rs 6,157 crore that the Finance Ministry had released for 14 states on Thursday as recommended by the 15 th Finance

Commission.

This comes when the Centre "is depriving" Bengal by not clearing the dues of Rs 53000 crore that include Rs 36,000 crore for different Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and around Rs 3,000 crore for food subsidies and other heads. At the same time, the Centre has not cleared the GST compensation worth Rs 4135 crore.

Instead of clearing the GST compensation, the Centre has put forward the options of borrowing by the states in the wake of Covid that left a deep adverse impact on the country's economy. The Bengal government has, however, rejected both the proposals of borrowing.

The request of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee even to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clear the state's legitimate dues has "fallen into deaf ears". Banerjee even suggested to clear the same in phases if it is not possible in one go as it is extremely needed to fight against Covid, mainly when the state government also had to release Rs 6250 crore to tackle the aftermath of super cyclone Amphan. The state government has already spent Rs 2500 crore to fight against Covid.

It may be mentioned the Centre had provided the similar amount under this head to the state government in July and August as well. When Bengal is provided with Rs 417 crore, the Centre has given Rs 1270 crore to Kerala, Rs 952 crore to Himachal Pradesh and Rs 631 crore for Assam.