PM & state BJP leaders making 'false claims' on release of funds by Centre in last 3 years: TMC
Kolkata: Brandishing what it claimed was a letter of the Union Ministry of Rural Development, Trinamool Congress (TMC), on Sunday, rebutted the “false claims” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari that the Centre gave Bengal its dues for 100-day work scheme and Awas Yojana in the past three years.
TMC claimed that according to the letter, funds were only allotted before the 2021 Bengal Assembly elections. The party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has been alleging that not a single penny was given to the state in the past three years on account of Awas Yojana and the 100-day work scheme after the BJP lost the 2021 Assembly elections. He challenged BJP leaders or Central government representatives to take part in a live debate with him.
Leader of Opposition in Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, in a post on X, claimed that Rs 687,83,98,850 was provided to Bengal Government as part of the 1st instalment of central assistance for the financial year 2021-22 (after the 2021 Assembly elections) for the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) in Bengal. TMC brandished a letter claiming the Union Ministry of Rural Development told the state on December 4, 2023, that Rs. 687.839 crore in question was allocated against incomplete houses under the first segment, i.e., before 2021. The letter also stated that no funds were sanctioned after that, Trinamool claimed while writing on X that PMAY-G was implemented in two segments - one from 2016-17 to 2021-22, where the beneficiary list was drawn from the waiting list available at that time, and the other from 2022-23 onwards where the sanctioning of houses was done on the basis of a fresh field survey that was conducted in 2018-19.
Senior TMC leaders, Bratya Basu and Chandrima Bhattacharya, during a press conference on Sunday afternoon, said: “Our national general secretary had categorically said that after BJP lost the 2021 Assembly elections, not a single penny was given to the state under Awas Yojana and 100-day work scheme. What the Opposition leader claimed in his post on X was given before 2021. Earlier dues were paid that time. Abhishek is attending a rally in Balurghat’s Gangarampur on Monday. Let’s see if the BJP state president comes to take part in a debate with Abhishek,” they said.
“There’s nothing @SuvenduWB enjoys more than to lie out of his teeth to deceive the public. Since his knowledge is clearly limited when it comes to the procedure of fund disbursal, we’ll have him know: But we request PM @narendranodi – the next time you’re on a courtesy visit to Bengal please clarify under what provisions the wages of 59 lakh MGNREGA workers have been STOPPED. And please produce a white paper on funds sanctioned by GoI under Awas Yojana to Bengal in FY 21-22, 22-23 and 23-24,” TMC wrote on X.
Both TMC leaders alleged that under PM Modi’s tenure, every 4 out of 10 youths below 25 are unemployed whereas in Bengal unemployment rate stands at six per cent. In India, the unemployment rate remains at nine per cent. Around two crore employment has been created in Bengal.
Mocking “Modi ki gurantee” they said Modi had said that the farmers’ income would double but in reality, farmers are committing suicide in BJP-ruled states. In Bengal farmers’ income increased three times. Multi-dimensional poverty index rate stands at 34 per cent in Bihar, 23 per cent in Uttar Pradesh, 21 in Madhya Pradesh, 19 in Assam and 12 in Bengal.
