Minister demands probe into ‘PM Cares’, BJP alleges ‘large-scale theft’ by state

Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari claimed that the Centre had only asked the state government to send an MGNREGA audit report, but the latter failed to do so. “The Union government also stopped payment for the PMAY project due to rampant corruption in the scheme. If this theft stops, I will also go to Delhi and claim the money, if the need be,” he said.

To the BJP’s insinuations about the alleged misappropriation of central funds, Chandrima Bhattacharya, who is Minister of State for Finance (Independent charge), asked if the ‘PM CARES Fund’ should also come under scrutiny. This triggered a ruckus, leading to the walkout from the House.

TMC deputy chief whip Tapas Roy said the Leader of Opposition acted in an undignified manner, making some gestures, while BJP MLA Asok Dinda clapped which is shameful.

Speaker Biman Banerjee said, “Such behaviour lowers the dignity and esteem of the House and such acts pain me. I will call upon every member to maintain House decorum and not behave in an undignified manner.”

The Speaker also expunged a phrase used by BJP MLA Hiran Chatterjee during the debate. In the absence of the Opposition MLAs, the motion was passed by voice vote.

Earlier during the debate, Adhikari claimed that most of the 1.75 crore beneficiaries under MGNREGA were not deserving ones.

He said, “There have been instances of members of the same family getting different job cards” while the deserving ones were left out. We don’t want the funds to be stalled but the theft has to be stopped… You (state) have chosen beneficiaries by political considerations.”

Adhikari also accused the TMC government of renaming several central schemes.

Maintaining that both the Centre and the state should work “in cohesion” in a federal set-up, Bhattacharya said, “As per the principles of the Constitution, our country should be run by people, not by any political party, not by any individual. One should not act as a political activist but as a citizen of the country.”

She added, “As far as corruption allegations are concerned, they were false. We submitted every report that the Centre had asked for. The Centre refused to pay the dues even then. And even if there is corruption, why did the Centre stop the funds meant for the poor who worked in the job scheme? It is not their fault.”

Later, on the TMC’s allegation that he danced like someone participating in a ‘kirtan’ by raising both hands while staging the walkout, Adhikari said, “The TMC has such a culture. We don’t. These are all baseless claims.”
The TMC government’s move to bring the motion against the Union government over alleged witholding of funds comes in the wake of the party’s renewed effort to put pressure on the Centre.

On July 21 Martyr’s rally in Kolkata, TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had called for a peaceful sit-in outside houses of BJP leaders across the state over the issue. However, in a setback to the ruling party, the Calcutta High Court on Monday restrained it from holding its August 5 protest, saying such protests could cause inconvenience to the general public.

While campaigning for the panchayat elections recently, Abhishek Banerjee had claimed that the Centre “has blocked Rs 7,500 crore under the MGNREGA scheme and Rs 8,200 crore under the PM Awas Yojana”.
He has alleged that the BJP government at the Centre was spending thousands of crores of rupees on constructions like Central Vista and new Parliament building, while “not releasing funds” for over 11 lakh people in Bengal for their basic housing programmes.