Mamata Banerjee to start dharna unless Union govt releases Bengal’s dues
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to start a dharna (sit-in protest) at the foot of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on Red Road in Kolkata on Friday, February 2 if the Bengal government’s long-pending demand for the payment of dues that the Union government owes the state for rural jobs and rural housing schemes are not met by February 1.
She announced this today (January 31) at a public meeting in north Bengal. She said that MGNREGA funds worth Rs 7,000 crore and funds for the poor to build 11 lakh houses under Bangla Awas Yojana have been halted.
She also said that her government’s officials have met Union government representatives several times over the last few years and 156 teams have visited the state for inspection, but to no avail.
She said that she would start the dharna at 1 pm on February 2 and asked officials of panchayats, panchayat samitis, zilla parishads, blocks and municipalities, and her party’s MLAs and MPs to reach the venue by 1 pm on February 3 escorting the hundreds of thousands of deprived beneficiaries.
She also asked government officials and party leaders to bear all costs of bringing the deprived beneficiaries.
