Centre should scrap GST if it can’t clear states’ dues: Mamata Banerjee

Addressing a rally in the tribal-dominated Belpahari area of Jhargram district on the occasion of the birth anniversary of freedom fighter and tribal leader, the chief minister said the BJP-led government must either make the payment or the party must step down from the seat of power.

“They are not releasing funds under the MGNREGA scheme. The BJP has to step down from power if it does not clear our dues… Jodi amader bokeya na dey, tahole bondo kore dik GST (The Centre must scrap GST if it is not able to clear the state’s dues). They are not doing us any favour by giving us GST dues; it is people’s money that they have taken through GST,” she said at the birth anniversary programme of tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda.

Banerjee said that she had also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and raised the matter.

“We had agreed on implementing the GST; we thought the Centre would clear our dues. But now the Centre is taking away all money collected as GST but not giving us our dues.

The Central government seems to have forgotten that getting the money back is our constitutional right. It is mandatory for the Centre to pay back the state’s dues.”

“A year ago, I met the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and requested him, but nothing moved forward. Does he want me to fall on his feet and beg for our money? Why should we pay GST if the Centre is not clearing our dues?… Amrao tho bondho kore dite pari, keno GST tax debo? (If the Centre can’t give us the money, we can also stop paying GST). The country is for the people, not for politicians. This is not BJP’s money, it is people’s money,” she said.

Banerjee said the Union government is constitutionally bound to pay the state for MGNREGA, the 100-day work scheme. “I would like to tell the central government that releasing funds for the 100-day work scheme is a constitutional norm. The Centre must pay; it is not an obligation, but a compulsion as the law has been passed by both Houses of the Parliament,” she said.

Hitting out at Bengal BJP leadership for asserting that it would ensure the Centre stopped funds flow to the state, Banerjee sought to know if that money was “personal property” of saffron party leaders.

Later, interacting with the locals, Banerjee claimed that shortage of central funds was the primary reason for the piped water project under Jal Jeevan Mission to have come to a halt.

“By 2024, all the houses were to get piped drinking water. But the Centre has stopped giving funds, which is why the project has come to a halt. Once they pay, we will start implementing it. We are fighting against the injustice meted out to us by the Centre,” she said.

“We were busy making houses under the Banglaar Baari scheme, but the Centre stopped paying. Over 50 lakh houses are left to be built under the scheme. We were busy building roads under the Grameen Rasta scheme, but they stopped the funds again. Our rights are being taken away, and we are not okay with it. Birsa Munda wouldn’t have been okay with it either,” the CM said.

Meanwhile, reacting to Banerjee’s allegations, BJP leader Rahul Sinha said funds flow was stopped as the TMC government failed to submit utilisation certificates on the money spent under MNREGA. “Let the state government first submit the utilization certificate for the funds received earlier; only then it will start receiving funds again,” Sinha said.

Mamata cooks at roadside stall

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee cooked and served food at a roadside stall in Jhargram on Tuesday.
In a video tweeted by her party, the Trinamool Congress chief could be seen frying snacks at a shop and serving them to people. “A people’s leader in the true sense, she certainly knows how to win the hearts of people!” the party tweeted.
In July, a video clip of Banerjee making momos at a roadside stall in Darjeeling had gone viral.

—With PTI, Jhargram