No assistance provided to the unorganized sector as part of the centre’s aid, said Derek O’Brien (File)
Kolkata:
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) called on the center on Sunday to wipe out its dues to West Bengal, saying that the Union government owed 53,000 crore rupees to the state under various heads.
The party also demanded that the money saved from the suspension of the MPLADS fund for MPs be returned directly to migrant workers in their bank accounts.
Speaking to the media via video link on Sunday, the party’s national spokesman and Rajya Sabha member Derek O’Brien said that the center’s past contributions to the state amounted to Rs 53,000: 36 Rs 3,000 crores due to centrally supported programs, Rs 11,000 crore as deconcentration of funds, Rs 3,000 crore in unpaid food subsidies, and Rs 3,000 crore in GST from April to May.
“The total damage due to (cyclone) Amphan is estimated at Rs 1.02,000 crore. The center donated Rs 1,000 crore only. What about the balance Rs 1.1 lakh crore? The state spent Rs 1,200 crore to fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The center donated Rs 144 crore under the National Health Mission and Rs 250 crore under the SDRF. What about the remaining Rs 806 crore? “, A- he asked.
Allegating that the economic package recently announced by the center was “empty” and the reforms “hollow”, he said that the Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman had affirmed that the limit FRBM (fiscal responsibility and budgetary management) had been raised from 3 to 5%. was “incorrect”.
“This is incorrect. FRBM has been unconditionally increased from 3% to 3.5%, an increase of only 0.5%. For the remaining 1.5%, certain conditions must be met. Under the current circumstances, it seems almost impossible for any state to meet these conditions, “he said.
He also said that no assistance had been provided to the unorganized sector under the program announced by the center.
He urged the government to transfer the money saved through the removal of MPLADS funds to the bank accounts of migrant workers.
“The center has stopped MPLADS funds for two years, which represents a saving of about 8,000 rupees. Put 10,000 rupees each in the bank accounts of 80 lakh workers in the unorganized sector,” he said. .
