Bengal doesn’t need to rely on Centre to ensure social security for its people: TMC

kolkata: With the BJP alleging that corruption is likely to soon take place with the state panchayats given the charge to identify eligible beneficiaries for National Old Age Pension Scheme and Widow Pension Scheme, TMC rubbished the claim and said that Bengal does not need to depend on BJP government at the Centre to ensure social security for its residents.

The genesis of this slugfest lies in the comment of the Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.

He wrote on social media that the Union Ministry of Rural Development has sanctioned the inclusion of new eligible beneficiaries under The National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP). As per this sanction, 1,66,453 beneficiaries can be further selected to receive the benefits of the National Old Age Pension Scheme and 68,630 beneficiaries can be further selected to receive the benefits of the National Widow Pension Scheme from the waitlist. He alleged that since the panchayats in the state have an alleged chequered history of extortion against distributing relief materials after Cyclone Amphan, there are high chances of corruption when the verification process for enlisting eligible beneficiaries will be carried out by them. Reacting to the allegation, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh alleged that the Leader of the Opposition has the habit of lying through his teeth. He alleged that Adhikari is just bitter about the fact that Bengal does not need to depend on the BJP government at the Centre for providing social security to its people. Kunal said that the state government in its last budget provided almost 17 lakh and 15 lakh people old age and widow pensions with no instance of corruption.

Kunal wrote on his Twitter handle: “He’s just bitter about the fact that we don’t rely on @BJP4India to ensure social security for our residents. Given how they halted WB’s rightful MGNREGS and Awas Yojana dues, can U blame us for being selfsufficient? GoWB, in its last budget, provided almost 17 lakh & 15 lakh people Old Age & Widow Pension, with no instance of corruption.”