Mamata to meet PM Modi on Dec 20 over release of financial dues

Kolkata, Dec 12 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on December 20 to seek the release of financial dues to the state, a top official said on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has agreed to Banerjee’s request for an appointment with Modi, he said.

“The meeting will take place around 11 am on December 20,” the official told PTI.

Banerjee had earlier this week claimed that the Centre owed Rs 1.15 lakh crore to West Bengal on various accounts, including 100 days of work under MGNREGA.

Speaking at a public distribution programme at the Kanchenjunga Stadium in Bengal’s Siliguri on Tuesday, she alleged: “The Centre has stopped giving money for state projects, including schemes for the minorities and widows.”

The chief minister also accused the BJP-led central government of withholding the state’s share of GST collection.

“Earlier, the state used to earn by way of sales tax. Now, the entire tax amount goes to the Centre in the name of GST. West Bengal is yet to get its share,” the Trinamool Congress supremo said.

Banerjee, while addressing a public meeting in Alipurduar on Sunday, had asserted that the BJP-led NDA government should either release funds due to West Bengal or vacate office.

“Funds to the tune of Rs 1.15 lakh crore due to Bengal will be sought… We will raise the slogan that (either) give the poor people’s money or leave the chair,” the CM had said.

The BJP leadership in the state has maintained that release of funds to Bengal under MGNREGA was suspended owing to its failure to submit accounts of monetary assistance provided earlier.