Abhishek to FM: Provide white paper on NREGA funds to Bengal
Times of India | 31 July 2024
Kolkata: Trinamool general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday demanded a white paper on MGNREGA funds allocation for Bengal. Banerjee along with Trinamool MPs walked out of Parliament after there was no mention of the state being deprived under MGNREGA scheme and PM Awas Yojana in Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s 100-minute long Budget reply speech.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Banerjee said a minister should speak on the basis of facts and documents in Lok Sabha.“This is why I had asked her to publish a white paper... Kaagaz jhooth nahin bolta (documents don’t lie),” he said.
Banerjee said when the Budget was tabled in Rajya Sabha after Lok Sabha, the FM had said that in the past 10 years, they had allocated thousands of crores to Bengal but state govt was not able to use that money properly. “I had asked a simple question to Nirmala Sitharaman — after BJP lost the 2021 assembly elections, how much was released for Awas and MGNREGA schemes? Twenty-nine AITC MPs were in the House today. We thought the FM might furnish a white paper but she was unable to do so. She has been systematically lying in both Houses and has misled the people of the country as well as Bengal,” the MP said.
Banerjee wrote on X shortly thereafter: “During her budget reply, which lasted over 100 minutes, the hon’ble finance minister made hundreds of false claims but failed to mention Bengal’s deprivation even once. The union govt claimed in Parliament that no state is being ‘denied any money’. But even 138 days and 3,319+ hours later, BJP leadership has failed to provide a white paper on MGNREGA and Awas Yojana since their 2021 defeat in Bengal. The stress of being on borrowed time is becoming more evident with every such cover-up.” He also brought up CM Mamata Banerjee allegedly not being allowed to speak during her allotted time at the NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi last week.
Banerjee said even though Trinamool had lost Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri, they hadn’t stopped providing social welfare benefits like Lakshmir Bhandar to women in these constituencies. “Find even one woman in Purulia or Contai who can say that they didn’t vote for Trinamool and didn’t get Kanyashree. We don’t engage in politics of discrimination,” he added.