West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that TMC leaders and supporters will hit the road on August 6 and hold a sit-in programme protesting the Centre's alleged indiscrimination towards the state.
"We will be holding demonstrations at every block, block headquarters to protest against the Centre's discrimination, and torture of Dalits, common people, minorities, and tribals on August 6 from noon to 4 pm. Similarly, demonstrations will be held at every ward in the city," Banerjee said.
Demanding settlement of state's dues, Banerjee alleged that the Central government has withheld the money on the advice of local BJP leaders.
"If the performance is good, then a state should be rewarded. But with their political views, they (the Centre) have withheld money for poor people. In 100 days of work, Bengal emerged as the best five times in a row. Despite that funds were not released and the poor people did not get their money. You will see the budget of 2023-24 has given the account of all the states and has given zero to Bengal. If Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha get it, why won't Bengal get it?" Banerjee asked.
She went on to clarify the reasons behind the state's debt.
"If you take a loan and don't repay it, it increases by leaps and bounds. No loans in new states. CPI(M) has also taken loans from small businesses. We had to repay CPI(M)'s loans," she Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi claimed that in 2011, the loan amount was Rs 2 lakh crore, which is Rs 5.86 lakh crore now.
Talking further Banerjee said that the state government is keen to provide government services to students of unapproved Madrasahs in Bengal.
There are many Madrasahs in Bengal which are not approved by the government. Now the state government is eager to register those madrasahs in the government register. But of course, only those who are willing will be enrolled.
"Those who study in these Madrasahs do not get many benefits from the government. That is why we have taken this decision. We are forming a committee for this." she said, adding that a committee including government officials, educationists and eminent people of the society and those associated with the Madrasahs would be constituted.
-With PTI input
