West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday sought an additional Rs 47,000-crore bailout package for the next four years from the Centre to tide over the financial crisis. She also asked the Comptroller & Auditor General (C&AG) to initiate a probe on the state’s finances during the last 34 years of Left Front rule.
In her first meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Delhi after becoming the chief minister, Banerjee is believed to have asked for Rs 47,000 crore in addition to the annual plan allocations.
She has handed over sector-specific demands to the Centre with special emphasis on education and health. She has also sought the Centre’s assistance to fulfill her subsidised food programme in tribal-dominated and Naxal-affected areas.
“I have not asked for any special package or any undue advantage. But you cannot compare West Bengal with any other state. Nothing has happened in the state during the past 34 years.”
Banerjee, who is holding as many as 15 portfolios, described the financial situation of the state as “horrible and terrible”.
Banerjee and West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra also met Expenditure Secretary Sumit Bose who accompanied Mukherjee in the meeting. Banerjee alleged that the previous Left government had already withdrawn Rs 9,000 crore of the total annual allocation of Rs 17,000 crore by the Centre to Bengal.
Banerjee will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday and Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Wednesday before returning to Kolkata.