West Bengal’s dues should be cleared in new year, PM should visit Manipur: TMC’s Derek O’Brien

New Delhi, Jan 2 (PTI) The Centre has a long list of steps to take in the new year, including clearing West Bengal’s dues under the MGNREGS and other central schemes, controlling violence in Manipur, besides curbing inflation and addressing unemployment issues, TMC leader Derek O’Brien said on Thursday.

In a post published on his blog, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader listed 25 things that the Centre needs to do in 2025.

Controlling inflation should be the first step, he said, adding that ensuring an increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), attracting foreign investment, making the rupee stronger, providing “food for all” and ensuring equal wages are among the economic measures that the Union government should take.

Stressing that the Centre should “favour the common man”, O’Brien said in the last four years, a total amount of Rs 5.65 lakh crore has been written off for the industrial sector, while agriculture, the largest employment-generating sector in the country, received the least attention in terms of loan write-offs among all sectors from the Scheduled Commercial Banks.

The TMC parliamentary leader in the Rajya Sabha said the Centre should ensure dignity of life for farmers, adding that according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 30 farmers commit suicide every day and since February 2024, 22 farmers have lost their lives and more than 160 have been injured while agitating for a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

Demanding that the Centre clear the dues of West Bengal, O’Brien said the Union government owes Rs 1,500 crore to the state under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

“The non-payment of the funds has directly affected the livelihood of 59 lakh MGNREGS workers,” he said.

On Manipur, he said violence has continued for more than a year, causing the displacement of 67,000 people, of which 14,000 are schoolgoing students.

“The prime minister is yet to visit the state,” O’Brien said.

Talking about Parliament, he said since 2019, more than 100 bills have been passed in less than two hours and in the 17th Lok Sabha, nine of the 10 bills introduced were marked by zero or incomplete consultations. He also stressed that a deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha should be selected soon.

The TMC leader pointed out that the number of opposition MPs suspended in the last five years has increased 13-fold and 95 per cent of the cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the last 10 years were against those from the opposition.

O’Brien also stressed that minorities should be safeguarded.

“The NCRB recorded 378 instances of communal violence in 2021 and 272 such instances in 2022. In 2023, India witnessed 668 documented hate speech incidents against one community alone. One hundred and twenty-eight properties were demolished between April and June 2022, following communal violence and protests,” he said.

Talking about women’s safety, he pointed out that section 63 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita deals with the offence of rape but provides an exception for marital rape. He also said the government should ensure equitable representation for women in the legislature.

Among other suggestions, the TMC leader said the Centre should focus on creating safe infrastructure and pointed out that 244 train accidents took place between 2017 and 2022. He also urged the Union government to act against incidents of cyber fraud.