Kolkata, Jun 24 (PTI) TMC MLA Kunal Ghosh on Wednesday welcomed several announcements made in the West Bengal budget, including proposals for recruitment, salary hikes for employees and contractual staff, while seeking clarity on the funding sources for the schemes.
Participating in a discussion on the budget in the Assembly, Ghosh said the TMC favours giving some time to the saffron party dispensation to settle in.
“While I fully support finance minister Swapan Dasgupta’s plan to provide relief to the people and create new jobs, it is not clear whether the funds will come from Delhi or be generated within the state,” he said.
Ghosh said Dasgupta’s budget speech repeatedly mentioned the central government, maintaining that a self-reliant Bengal is better than being dependent on Delhi.
“Had there been elaboration in the budget proposals about earnings, then there would not have been questions over funding of various projects announced,” the TMC MLA belonging to the Mamata Banerjee-allied group in the House, said.
Maintaining that the budget proposals were good, he asserted that several welfare schemes introduced by the previous Mamata Banerjee government had also benefited the people.
Dasgupta tabled the medium-term fiscal policy statement and fiscal policy strategy statement in the House, following which discussion on the budget commenced.
“We cannot say everything about the previous government was bad; it did much good work,” he said, adding, “Certainly there were lapses and deficiencies.” Ghosh claimed that the conditions for obtaining benefits under the Annapurna Yojana for women and the Ayushman Bharat healthcare scheme were unclear and require some clarification from the government.
He also urged the government to initiate an investigation into illegal filling up of waterbodies and agricultural land situated beside the Eastern Metropolitan bypass in Kolkata.
Responding to opposition allegations of high debt, he said both the Centre and previous governments had also resorted to borrowing.
“The central government also takes debts, and the erstwhile Left Front government also did that,” he said.
Meanwhile, TMC MLA Samir Jana also welcomed several welfare and infrastructure announcements in the budget but said allocations for some projects appeared inadequate.
Jana, the MLA from Patharpratima, said several projects announced in the budget presented on June 22 required higher financial allocations for effective implementation.
He said expectations were high as the state now has a “double-engine government” with the same party in power at both the Centre and the state after nearly five decades.
Stating that the budget sought to address the aspirations of all sections of society, Jana said, “The government has tried to meet the expectations of all sections of the people and has also allocated funds for implementing these promises. It is an inclusive budget.” BJP MLA Rajesh Kumar said this budget is for correction and not just allocation.
“This government is trying to fix what was broken,” the former IPS officer said, pointing out that the previous government had continuously blocked police modernisation.
Stating that the CAG report indicated utilisation certificates for Rs 2.29 lakh crore central funds were not provided by the previous TMC government, Kumar said this is why central funds to the state had dried up.
He thanked the finance minister for allocating Rs 100 crore to implement Dial 112, a pan-India helpline number, in the state for citizens in emergencies.
The BJP MLA also thanked the government for deciding to employ 20,000 police personnel.
Participating in the discussion, BJP MLA Hiranmay Chattopadhyay said the budget was not merely a financial document but a roadmap for the state’s economic revival.
“This budget is a blueprint for the state’s rejuvenation, industrialisation, employment generation and overall development,” the Shyampur MLA said.
Claiming that industrial growth had suffered during the previous regime, Chattopadhyay said Howrah, once known as the ‘Sheffield of the East’, and industrial centres such as Haldia, Durgapur and Kharagpur had witnessed a prolonged decline for over a decade during the TMC rule.
He also called for an outcome audit of expenditure incurred by the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC).
BJP MLA Prasun Banerjee of Chanchal constituency said the budget contained several significant measures aimed at accelerating the state’s development.
“A holistic approach has been adopted in the budget to address the problems faced by tea garden workers. The steps are in the right direction to solve their problems,” he said.
Banerjee also praised the government’s initiative to install solar power systems in households under the PM Surya Ghar scheme.
TMC MLA of Kharagpur Sadar constituency Dinen Roy commended the first BJP government in the state for the announcement to set up an AIIMS and other medical and educational institutions in north Bengal.
“Except for a small section of the population, most people depend on government healthcare facilities. After several years, the government has addressed this issue,” Roy said.
He said the proposed institutions would benefit not only the people of north Bengal but also residents across the state.
“The entire state is happy with this decision,” he added. PTI AMR MNB
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