Mamata Banerjee is currently in Delhi on a four-day visit during which the chief minister is likely to meet non-Congress Opposition leaders too.
New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded immediate release of pending dues of the central schemes.
A letter to the PM read, “I request for urgent release of funds due to state for implementation of schemes including MGNREGA, PM Awas Yojna and PM Gramin Sadak Yojna…Dues from central government on these schemes amount to about Rs 17996 crore…Substantial amount on account of many developments and welfare schemes…estimated to be around ₹ 1,00,968.44 crore is also due…With such large amount remaining outstanding, state is facing extreme difficulty to run affairs and take care of people of state.”
This is not the first time West Bengal has been asking for release of dues. Earlier, Banerjee had blamed the Centre of delaying GST dues. In June, principal chief advisor to the West Bengal chief minister Amit Mitra alleged that the Centre has not released dues worth Rs 27,000 crore to the states.
However, even before Banerjee landed in Delhi, her scheduled meeting with Modi had sparked off speculations, more so as it came days after the arrest of her party’s top leader and state minister Partha Chatterjee and his aide Arpita Mukherjee.
Banerjee is currently in Delhi on a four-day visit during which the chief minister is likely to meet non-Congress Opposition leaders too. Later in the day, she is scheduled to meet President Droupadi Murmu.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on August 7, will also attend a meeting of Niti Aayog, which will be presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Banerjee had skipped the council’s meet last year and this year, she is expected to raise concerns of non-payment of GST dues and federalism issues.