The Hindu, October 25, 2011 00:00 IST
“Why no
mention made of this legitimate demand by State?”
Even as
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee pressed for a special financial package for West
Bengal, the former Finance Minister, Asim Dasgupta, pointed out that the State
government had made no mention of coal royalty arrears to the tune of Rs. 5,000
crore payable by the Centre. “The arrears in coal royalties are a legitimate
right of West Bengal.
The order
given by the Supreme Court establishes this right. At least Rs. 5,000 crore is
payable but we find that this demand has not been made by the State,” Dr.
Dasgupta told journalists here on Monday.
“No other
State can make this claim as they have already received the royalty. West
Bengal is the only State that has been deprived.”
As for
the demand for a special financial package, Dr. Dasgupta said, “It was never
done when the Left Front was in power, but we will be pleased if the Centre
provides assistance to the State.”
However,
the the State government, while demanding assistance from the Centre, had made
statements that were “misleading and incomplete,” he said.
The State
had claimed that it was paying 94 per cent of its total revenue as salaries,
pensions and interest. However, according to the books placed during the
Assembly budget session, West Bengal had spent only 74 per cent of its total
revenue and only 63 per cent of its total income under these heads, he said.
Also, the
State borrowed heavily from the market, Rs. 10,000 crore in the five months the
new government had been in power.
The
market borrowings of the Left Front government during the same period last year
were Rs. 5,000 crore, he said.
· No
special package was given when Left Front was in favour
· In pressing demand, Mamata government has made ‘misleading' claims
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