‘Centre owes us Rs 7K crore under 100 days work scheme’
kolkata: Accusing the Centre of stalling money for the poor people through non-disbursal of wages for 100 days work, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that over Rs 7,000 crore is pending from Centre for the 100 days work.
“The Centre has not disbursed payment for 100 days work till date. I would not have raised my voice if they had done so. These things cannot be hidden. Rs 7000 crore are due and I will urge the Centre not to deprive the poor people of their dues. We have tried our best to compensate for the apathy of the Centre. The state government has created 10 lakh mandays and given jobs to 10 lakh job card holders from state government’s fund,” Banerjee said addressing a distribution programme at Panchla in Howrah. She reiterated that the same holds true in the case of rural roads and the Bangla Awas Yojana (housing scheme).
“Fund for 11 lakh rural houses in Bengal is due. The food subsidy has been cut drastically. People tell me to provide them with houses. How can I? They (Centre) do not pay for housing,” she remarked.
Banerjee said that the Centre collects income tax and customs duty from Bengal and then sends central agencies to raid and harass our leaders.
“The Central government is even taking away the GST. In return, they are refusing to clear the share of the state that they owe us,” she added.
According to Banerjee, the rural roads in many places are in bad shape but the Centre has not provided funds.
“We have identified several roads that are badly in need of repair and we are working at a Rs 2000 crore plan for doing the needful. They are only busy in false propaganda and that too by depriving the poor,” she maintained.
Hitting out at the divisive tactics of the BJP (without taking the name of any party), Banerjee said: “We won’t let anyone divide Bengal. We will never support those who incite violence and rioting. Remember, we need to keep our country and our state safe. I believe my religion is humanity, my caste is humanity. My education and my dream are working for humanity. Let us all live in peace,” she asserted.
She also hit out at the erstwhile Left Front government accusing them of destroying the industrial prospects of Howrah.
“Howrah was once the hub of talent and industries. But during the Left Front rule, everything was destroyed. We have tried to mend this. I want you all to feel proud that our state secretariat, Nabanna, is also in this district,” Banerjee said.
Hailing the students and the youth who attended the distribution programme as the country’s future, Banerjee urged them to take responsibility for leading the state and the country and tread the right path.
“I will continue to work for people’s welfare till my last breath. I want the same to continue and so I have created three generations. What I am telling the youth today, I have taken lessons from the greats like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Nazrul Islam to name a few,“ Banerjee said.
