Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has once again trained her guns on the Centre for depriving her State of its legitimate funds impeding its development works.
Stopping short of naming the saffron outfit, the Chief Minister said that there were “some toxic people whose only job is to create differences in the society, incite riots and insult the people of Bengal by bringing false charges,” asking the people to remain united against all kinds of diabolic machinations to drive a wedge in the society.
“They have stopped all the Centre funds, rural housing schemes, rural road projects and what not, they have withheld `1.75 lakh crore that belongs to the Bengal all in the name of misutilisation of funds and they are telling us to give details about the previous funds. We don’t have any problem, we will provide all details before them but still they will not give us our money because they the amount of developmental work we have done for Bengal and we were the first in the world to start an initiative like Lakshmir Bhandar and Kanyashree — in the dignity of our mothers, sisters and women and that has been acknowledged by the UNO as a model project,” Banerjee said contrasting her Government’s performance with that of the ones run by the Opposition parties.
“Unlike them when I give my words I keep it or else I don’t give words. They (read the BJP) are now claiming they will give benefits under (similar) scheme but they do not fulfill pre-poll promises. They did not give (benefits) in Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and elsewhere but before the elections they promised a sky,” the Chief Minister said adding even in the face of Central neglect, north Bengal had seen significant development. “I had promised Kanyashree, Laxmir Bhandar, Sabuj Saathi, Swasthya Saathi, Siksja Shree and such other schemes and kept them,” she said.
Announcing a slew of developmental projects from Dabgram-Phulbari off Siliguri, Banerjee she was ready to receive criticisms but would never accept humiliation of her State. As part of her developmental roadmap for North Bengal, Banerjee announced a series of new projects including the construction of a skywalk at the Jalpesh Temple in Jalpaiguri and the restoration of the historic Morgan House in Kalimpong.
“We have earmarked 77 acres of land for industrial park, have made the Bengal forest safari €at Siliguri, many houses and schools in the rural areas for the tribal communities… our Government is providing `1.2 lakh per family under ‘Banglar Bari (rural housing project)’ scheme to 12 lakh families… and they say that we have done nothing for the State and the region,” the Chief Minister who has recently been under attack for allowing a massive flight of industries and students from the State.
She wondered, “If we have not developed this region of North Bengal then how come the electricity consumption has gone up by so many times… earlier there this region required 800 MW of power and now it needs about 3,500 MW… is it not for nothing,” Banerjee who was speaking at a public meeting on the second day of her trip to North Bengal said.
Asking the people to “hate those who spread hatred and riots,” Banerjee alleged how some parties were inciting communal violence to reap political dividends. Apparently taking a swipe at the BJP she said “they use of divisive politics… when peace and harmony is the need of the hour.”
Drawing inspiration from Poet Laureate Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam Banerjee said “these great men did not promote communal harmony for nothing,” adding how “some people are born to spread hatred and riots. They do not care about people’s welfare. Riots burn homes, claim lives, and give politicians a chance to exploit the situation. I want peace, not riots.”
The Chief Minister also wrote on the X how, “I am happy to announce that today, the State Government has started releasing financial assistance of `158 crore directly to the bank accounts of more than 1 lakh potato farmers of Bengal under the ‘Bangla Shasya Bima’ scheme. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all the farmers of Bengal and their families.”