Kolkata: BJP MLA Sajal Ghosh on Tuesday asked in the Bengal assembly whether a secular govt can have a minority department.
He said, “After the budget was presented aon Monday, many people asked me what specific provisions were made for minorities in it. Today, I want to pose a major question to the govt itself: if our state is secular or neutral, if the Constitution says we are secular, is there any need at all for a separate ‘minority department’? By using these two labels — minority and majority — we ourselves are building walls between people and dividing society. I do not know this, so I am asking.”
The BJP govt in Bengal has reduced the fund allocation for the minority affairs and madrasa education dept in its first state budget, cutting the outlay by Rs 3,548 crore, or over 60%, compared with the previous Trinamool govt’s interim budget for 2025-26 in Feb.
Presenting the state budget for 2026-27 on Monday, finance minister Swapan Dasgupta proposed an allocation of Rs 2,165.4 crore for the dept, down from Rs 5,713 crore earmarked by the Mamata Banerjee govt in its interim budget.