Centre apathetic to Bengal's woes, allege Derek in 'Soja Banglae Bolchi'
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien on Sunday raised the issue of the lackadaisical attitude of the Centre in extending the needed support for Bengal to fight the aftermath of super cyclone Amphan.
In the fourth episode of "Soja Banglae Bolchi" series, O'Brien highlighted the massive damage caused to property and crops due to the devastating cyclone that the state has never witnessed in the past 300 years.
He has stated in his twitter handle that episode four is about how after natural disasters, like cyclones and floods, Centre neglects eastern India.
In the 49-second video, he said that more than 28 lakh houses were damaged and crops on 17 lakh hectares of land were destroyed due to the cyclone. It led to a loss to a tune of Rs 1.02 lakh crore. The state government has already released a fund of Rs 6,250 crore. But the Centre has provided assistance of Rs 1,000 crore. He ureged people to think about it deeply and to "stay safe and stay well" during this pandemic.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on July 27 also informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the Centre's support of only Rs 1000 crore when the state witnessed such a devastating damage.
The Prime Minister himself visited Bengal to take stock of the situation after the super cyclone that hit the state with an average speed 145 km per hour. Subsequently, two
Central teams were also
sent to Bengal to assess the damage.
The state government had also submitted a detailed report on the damage caused by
the cyclone. But, the Centre is yet to release any fund after its initial support of Rs 1,000 crore.
Despite the economy having nosedived due to the nationwide lockdown, the Mamata banerjee government has ensured necessary support to maximum number of people at the minimum time
possible after the natural calamity that heavily affected eight districts including East Midnapore, North and South 24-Parganas.
In the second video of "Shoja Banglay Bolchi" video series of Trinamool Congress, the party's Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien has highlighted the hefty Rs 53,000 crore that the Centre owes to the state.
This comes a couple of days after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to release the outstanding dues to help the state combat COVID-19 situation in a better way when it is fighting simultaneously against the disease and aftermath of super cyclone Amphan. In the 48-second video that he uploaded in his twitter handle, O'Brien has given the break-up of the total
dues raised by the state government.
He said: "Let me inform you all how much the Centre owes to the state. The total due amount is Rs 53,000 crore. It includes Rs 36,000 crore for different Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS), Rs 11,000 crores of devolution funds from the Centre, Rs 3,000 crore as GST compensation and another Rs 3,000 crore for food subsidies and other heads."
