The Centre has released Rs 5.36 lakh crore to West Bengal in the last five years, the Narendra Modi government has disclosed to counter allegations of pending dues made by the Mamata Banerjee-led state government. Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress had amped up the attack on the BJP and the central government in the run-up to Lok Sabha elections and had pegged the issue as ‘Banglar Bonchona’ (depriving Bengal) in Sunday’s mega rally in Kolkata.
During an earlier dharna to demand the wages of 21 lakh MGNREGA workers in the state, Mamata Banerjee had alleged that the Centre “thinks it will starve Bengal to death”.
The Centre has maintained that there are discrepancies and suspected corruption in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) work in Bengal which is why it had paused the payments.
With the TMC painting the BJP as ‘anti-Bengal’ ahead of Lok Sabha elections, the Modi government has come out with numbers to claim that, in the last five years, it released Rs 5.36 lakh crore to West Bengal, which is over and above the food subsidy worth Rs 80,000 crore and fertilizer subsidy worth Rs 30,000 crore given to beneficiaries in Bengal.
SPENT 170% MORE ON BENGAL’S POOR THAN UPA: MODI GOVT
The central government said it has released Rs 93,171 crore to West Bengal for rural development. Interestingly, Bengal has been the highest recipient of rural development grants in six of the last 10 financial years.
While Rs 2,151 crore was released for the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen), Rs 13,649 crore was released for the state’s urban development. Giving specifics, the Modi government said it sanctioned 4,89,959 houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in urban areas alone. The Centre was also quick to point out that free food grain was given to 6 crore people in Bengal.
Dismissing allegations of depriving Bengal, the Centre pointed to how there has been a 170% rise in expenditure on rural development in the state from the UPA era to the Modi era.
CENTRE’S SPEND ON BENGAL TRIBALS & WOMEN
Detailing how it has spent a massive sum on different sections of Bengal’s society, the Centre highlighted it released Rs 834 crore for tribal welfare and Rs 5,744 crore for women’s development in the last six years.
In scholarships alone, Bengal’s tribals received Rs 231 crore, the Centre said. Meanwhile, out of the Rs 5,744 crore for women’s development, Rs 5,239 crore was released for the Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0. Additionally, Rs 171 crore was released for Mission Vatsalya and Rs 334 crore was released for Mission Shakti, all meant to help the women of the state.
As many as 14 lakh bank accounts have been opened for girl children of West Bengal under the Sukanya Samrdhi Yojna, according to details given by the central government.
RS 15,000 CRORE RELEASED FOR BENGAL ROADS
The Narendra Modi government said it released Rs 15,675 crore for Bengal road projects, Rs 19,483 crore for developing railway infra and Rs 16,300 crore for projects under ports, waterways and Sagarmala.
It also cited projects worth Rs 24,000 crore by defence PSUs. It recalled the multimodal terminal in Haldia which was completed under the Modi government. The Centre also cited the 173% rise in railway budget allocation from the Manmohan Singh era to the Narendra Modi era.
HELPING BENGAL’S FARMERS
Ensuring farmer welfare, the Modi government gave Rs 30,000 crore in fertilizer subsidies in the last five years to Bengal and cited the release of Rs 8,492 crore under the PM-KISAN scheme.
Around 20 lakh kisan credit cards with a combined limit of more than Rs 10,000 crore have been sanctioned, while Rs 230 crore grants in aid have been approved under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana for Bengal. The latter will directly benefit 1.62 lakh farmers, the government said.
It cited the release of Rs 283 crore for the animal husbandry sector in the last six years and Rs 78 crore under the Blue Revolution to help the fisheries sector.
SCHEMES FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT THE MOST
Under the PM Jan Dhan Yojna, 5.07 crore bank accounts were opened for financial inclusion. Under the PM Suraksha Bima Yojna, 2.75 crore enrolments for accident insurance took place. Under PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, 1 crore enrollments for life insurance took place, while over 48 lakh people subscribed to the Atal Pension Yojana.
Over Rs 195 crore has been disbursed to 1.79 lakh beneficiaries under the PM SVANidhi scheme. Around Rs 2.37 lakh crore has been given under PM Mudra Yojana ever since its launch, the central government said.
VIKSIT BENGAL = VIKSIT BHARAT
This seems to be the guiding principle of the Centre’s expenditure pattern, say those associated with many state project implementations. As many as 29 major projects have been completed in the last 10 years.
Under the Jal Marg Vikas Project for capacity augmentation of national waterways, Bengal’s Haldia-Varanasi route got a new lease of life, while the cargo handling capacity of Shyama Prasad Mookerjee Port in Kolkata surged manifold from 70.85 MTPA to 92.77 MTPA.
In the medical field, the Centre set up three ESIC hospitals in Darjeeling, North 24 Parganas and Paschim Medinipur in the last five years while establishing 359 Jan Aushadhi stores in the state that provide medicines at affordable rates.
The Ramakrishna Mission in Kolkata has received more than Rs 34 crore financial assistance, more than Rs 5 crore has been released to Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Foundation, and more than Rs 16 lakh has been given to upgrade the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya in Barrackpore, the Centre said.
The Centre also provided Rs 30 crore for the development of Belur Math and ensured that Rabindranath Tagore’s Santiniketan became a World Heritage Site, the government said.