BJP makes bogus promises : Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata/Malda, (thestates.news)| Accusing the BJP of making “bogus” promises or “jumlas” to fool the people, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged that as and when election approaches, the BJP will come to Bengal and make fake promises like giving out LPG cylinders free of charge and likewise. “But soon after, you will see that all these were nothing but bogus promises or ‘jumlas’ to fool the people, ” she stated.

Taking strong exception to the Centre’s “non-release” of MGNREGS funds, Banerjee said, “Yesterday, a septuagenarian came up to me asking for his due wages for the 100 Days’ Work Scheme. I told him that the amount Centre collects from the State as taxes, it issupposed to release funds from that amount for the 100 Days’ Work Scheme. But till date,

Centre hasn’t released funds amounting to Rs 7,000 crore to Bengal. “”The central government has made people work, and are now refusing to give the due wages.They should know that it is mandatory to give wages of MGNREGS workers, ” she said.

Iterating that despite securing first place in the 100 Days’ Work Scheme for five consecutive
years, the state has not been given the fund it rightfully deserves, Banerjee said, ” Unlike other political leaders, I don’t lie. I am a common human just like everyone else. Lying is neither
my passion nor my profession. I do politics to serve the people. “
“Our State government has managed to give work under the 100 Days’ Work Scheme
to 40 lakh people and has created 10 crore mandays. I would urge all DMs, Panchayats, Municipalities to make sure that those who have not received their wages for the 100 Days’ Work Scheme, these people be involved in other works undertaken by the State government, ” she informed.

Conveying her gratitude to the people of Bengal for their constant love and support of she said, ” Today, I have completed 12 years as the CM of West Bengal. I am extremely grateful  to the people of Bengal for their constant love and support. I don’t take any holiday or breaks. My only goal is to work for the development of Bengal and its people. Before we came to power, the roads of Bengal were in a dilapidated condition with full of potholes. But the same has changed

after we took over. “

” Earlier, Centre used to cooperate with us and the State used to collect the taxes. But now it has changed as there is only one tax and that is GST, which is collected by the Centre. Of the taxes collected, the portion which we deserve, even that is being withheld. Remember, this is the funds
that we need to use it in our welfare schemes The funds for repairing and construction of roads, too, have been withheld. Despite that we have constructed over 1 lakh kilometre of rural roads. We have now undertaken another project named ‘Pathashree-Rastashree’, wherein we will construct 12,500 km of roads across Bengal. The expense for this project is completely borne by the State government, ” she mentioned.

“Some of you come up and say that you did not receive funds for houses, because that, too, has been halted by the Centre. Even scholarships for OBC students has been stopped by the Centre. But our State Government has initiated ‘Medhashree’ scholarship for OBCs, so that our students are not deprived of their education, ” the Chief Minister added.

” Previously, for ‘Aikyashree’, a scholarship for the minority community, the total amount was borne by the Centre. But now, our State Government bears that cost too. Even for ‘Kanyashree’ and ‘Rupashree’, the cost is borne entirely by the State. We also provide welfare services like ‘Samajik Nirapotta’, ‘Manobik Suraksha’, ‘Duare Ration’, ‘Swasthya Sathi’, ‘Krishak Bandhu’ and ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’. From giving out salaries of teachers and State government employees, police and home-guards, to giving monetary support to financially weaker sections, our government provides it all, ” she stated.

“We also give school uniforms and stationery at free of cost to the students of the State government-run schools. Not just this, we also provide funds for the maintenance of the burial grounds and crematoriums. For all this, we use our State government funds. Under the ‘Bhabhishyaat’ Scheme, we will give loan amounting to Rs 5 lakh. Earlier, there was a need for a guarantor and the beneficiaries had to deposit Rs 25,000 to the banks, ” Mamta Banerjee said.”But now, the same will be done by the State government and we will also be the guarantor. Over the next five years, 10 lakh people will benefit from the ‘Bhabhishyaat’ scheme, ” she added.(UNI)