Union Minister Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for going against her government employees and moving to the Supreme Court in the dearness allowance (DA) matter.
While addressing a press conference on the Union Budget, Yadav said, “Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is the only CM who files and fights cases against her own employees. Twenty lakh people are fighting for the Sixth Pay Commission, but already, the Seventh Pay Commission is what all other Central government employees are getting”.
“She has gone to fight against the implementation of SIR, but for DA, she has gone against her employees. She has lost, and she should apologise. She has failed to give respect to her own employees.”
Yadav stated that national security is a major issue due to significant infiltration from Bangladesh, and that Banerjee is “compromising national security”. He also spoke out against the state government for its appeasement politics.
According to Yadav, several factors are behind the decline in West Bengal’s per capita income, and people are migrating to other states. “In West Bengal, the health care system and the education system are down. Political killings and violence during elections are the highest in West Bengal. Here, political appeasement is the highest,” said Yadav.
Yadav also accused the Bengal Government of not utilising the funds allocated by the Centre and alleged corruption in Central programmes.
The Union Minister said the Centre’s Cha Sundari project was launched in Assam, West Bengal, and Meghalaya. “Each state was to make a committee, but for the last four years, Bengal has done so. There were so many provisions for the tea estate workers. The Assam government made the committee and utilised Rs 370 crore.”
Yadav said that the Surat–Dankuni Freight Corridor is expected to reduce transportation costs by 30 per cent. The Siliguri–Varanasi corridor and developments in Durgapur will enhance overall logistics efficiency.
A ₹10,000 crore MSME Growth Fund has been proposed, but Bengal is always deprived by its present government’s poor governance, he added.
“During the tenure of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, 6,800 listed companies have reportedly shut down, and the MSME sector has suffered,” said Yadav.
While pointing out that the Rural Development Ministry alone has granted ₹1.10 lakh crore to West Bengal, he alleged that the Trinamool government represents poor governance. He said the implementation of MGNREGA has been flawed, with allegations of mismanagement of funds. He said that the utilisation certificates for PM Awas Yojana funds have not been properly submitted; there have been allegations of corruption in PM Poshan Yojana; and Disha meetings mandated by the Centre have not been held in the state.
“Schemes like Ayushman Bharat and PM-Kisan have not been allowed to function fully. The state is operating with low capital expenditure, borrowing continuously without increasing income, thereby jeopardising West Bengal’s future. This is not just the Trinamool’s last budget, but its farewell document,” said Yadav.
He remarked that Bengal is the land of great scientists like Satyendra Nath Bose and Jagadish Chandra Bose, yet allocations for science education have not been made, but “₹5,713.61 crore has been allocated to madrasas”. In North Bengal, with a population of 3 crore, only ₹910 crore has been allocated.
He further stated that despite West Bengal’s strong potential in textiles, the state government has no clear roadmap to develop the sector.