Centre’s financial package an ‘ashwa dimba’: Mamata Banerjee

KOLKATA: Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee called the Centre’s Rs 20 lakh crore financial package an “ashwa dimba, misleading and a big zero” and said it did not have anything for either the country’s hungry migrants or the state governments fighting Covid-19. It was part of the Narendra Modi government’s continuing attempts to “lock out” the states, she added.
Banerjee’s “horse’s egg” description of the Centre’s “stimulus package” came a few minutes after Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s briefing in New Delhi.“The entire package is misleading. There is not a single measure to beef up public spending when the country has slipped into recession. There is nothing for the unorganised sector. The Rs 3 lakh crore loan for the MSME sector is nothing; Bengal alone gives Rs 90,000 crore support to MSMEs,” she said.
The package did not have anything for either the health system and the market or any additional grant for states implementing the programmes, Banerjee said, adding: “The Centre is bulldozing the federal structure and trying to lock out states. It has not released the Rs 52,000 crore it owes Bengal.”
The Bengal CM also took a dig at Modi’s “atmanirbharta (self-reliance)” emphasis. “Bengal took to self-reliance when the entire country was placing personal protective equipment orders with foreign companies and MNCs. Bengal placed orders with MSMEs and self-help groups following WHO standards,” she said, adding that the state saved a huge amount in the process.
Taking a dig at the PM’s The Bengal CM also took a dig at Modi’s “atmanirbharta (self-reliance)”CM MamOur state-based enterprises prepared 7.5 lakh PPE, 45 lakh masks and 2.6 lakh litres of sanitisers, working 13.2 lakh man days during the lockdown. We saved a huge amount because of local production,” Banerjee said.
Our state-based enterprises prepared 7.5 lakh PPE, 45 lakh masks and 2.6 lakh litres of sanitisers, working 13.2 lakh man days during the lockdown. We saved a huge amount because of local production,” Banerjee said.
Despite all the constraints, Banerjee announced an ad-hoc festival bonus of Rs 4,200 for 2020-’21 for state government employees drawing salary up to Rs 34,250 and a festival advance of Rs 10,000 to employees under the Rs-41,100 salary bracket.
The Bengal government, Banerjee said, had adopted the global practice of conducting a “sentinel survey” in districts to identify people with fever, cough or respiratory distress. “Bengal is the first state to start this community prevalence survey for Covid-19. Two hundred samples will be collected in a week from each district and the people surveyed, particularly pregnant women, will be divided into low- and high-risk groups. The data will help us develop a dynamic, real-time response to Covid-19,” she added.
State finance minister Amit Mitra pointed out that the actual money flow (out of the Rs 20 lakh crore package) to the public would be only Rs 4.2 lakh crore (2% of the GDP instead of 10%). “The RBI’s liquidity-boosting measures announced earlier amounted to about Rs 8 lakh crore. And PM Modi allocated Rs 1.7 lakh crore for free foodgrain supply in March. The two add up to Rs 10 lakh crore. And, of the remaining Rs 10 lakh crore, only Rs 4.2 lakh crore will go to the public. This is only 2% of the GDP,” Mitra said.
CM Banerjee also announced the Matir Shristi project to boost rural economy. “We have identified 50,000 acres in six districts (Bankura, Purulia, Birbhum, Jhargram, West Midnapore and West Burdwan), where we will engage self-help groups to start horticulture, fisheries and animal husbandry,” the CM said.