Smriti Irani slams West Bengal govt for failing to utilise allocated funds

Union Minister Women and Child Welfare Smriti Irani said in Kolkata today that the Centre has allocated three times more money to West Bengal in the last few years and slammed the West Bengal government for failing to utilize funds for centrally-funded projects. Amid continuous allegations by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee against the Centre withholding MNREGA and PM Awas Yojana funds, the Union Minister claimed that the state has failed to utilise the funds provided by the Centre.

Slamming the West Bengal government, the Union minister said the Mamata Banerjee government has failed to utilise the funds provided by the Centre. “The West Bengal government could not utilise Rs 260 crore provided by the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare. The state has failed to utilize the money,” the minister said.

Countering the Union Minister’s claims, state Minister for Child and Women welfare Sashi Panja said, “The minister must clearly say what fund she is talking about-What is this Rs 260 crore? The rice grain for children does not reach us in time.”

The Union Minister of Women and Child Welfare said that there has been an increase of funds nearly three times compared to the allocation in the previous years, since 2014. The union minister also alleged that the state has been unsuccessful in utilising the funds provided by the Centre.
Meanwhile, Trinamool National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee claimed in a public rally today that the Centre is withholding funds as they were defeated in the 2021 assembly polls by the Trinamool Congress.