Centre Denies Fund Delay, Says Bengal Failed to Check Corruption

The delay in the release of funds under some schemes was allegedly caused by the state government's failure to check corruption, according to Union Minister for Rural Development Giriraj Singh, who claimed that the Center had sent more than Rs 2 lakh crore to Bengal under various development projects in the previous nine years.

Bengal's current administration dismissed the allegations.

"We were not biased... However, MGNREGA concerns began to surface, and the state refused to work with the inquiry teams sent to Bengal. Additionally, more than 25 lakh fake employment cards were discovered during Aadhaar seeding (with job cards). Ek to chori, aur uppar se seenazori? You defaulted and you're happy of it, Singh questioned at a news conference in Bihar on Monday.

According to Singh, Bengal has collected more than Rs 54,000 crore over the last nine years through MGNREGA. He added that Bengal had only received Rs 14,900 crore under the similar plan during the UPA administration.

He further refuted the claim that Bengal was being denied grants by the Narendra Modi administration by comparing the amounts provided by the NDA and UPA regimes.

"While just Rs 5,400 crore was spent on the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana while the UPA was in office, more than Rs 11,000 crore was invested during the Modi administration. While the Modi administration allocated Bengal Rs 30,000 crore, the UPA government only spent Rs 4,400 crore on the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, according to the minister.

Singh added that Bengal received funding totaling Rs 25,000 crore from the BJP-led Centre under the finance commission, as opposed to the state receiving grants totaling Rs 3,200 crore (under the head) during the UPA administration.

The Bengali government, however, made an effort to deny the Union minister's accusation.

"The state provided the Center with full cooperation each time it dispatched teams to inspect the projects. In order to combat alleged corruption under the 100-day job scheme, the state even carried out every proposal provided by the Centre. However, monies haven't been provided despite all of this, according to a senior administrator.

According to a bureaucrat who is aware of the happenings, the state's failure to take action to recover the plundered cash and punish those responsible for the embezzlement is the reason the Center postponed the disbursement of funding under rural development projects.

"FIRs were filed against several panchayat functionaries as part of the state's effort to collect some money. According to the Union government's recommendations, the Center should have released cash as soon as the state began taking action, the bureaucrat claimed.

The Trinamul Congress also criticized the Union minister, claiming that the rise in the amount of money released under the programmes was not a charitable act by the BJP-led Central Government but rather a need in light of the changes in the population, the economy, and the cost of living.

The minister's references to the UPA rule in his comparisons are meaningless. He ought to have mentioned the growth in Bengal's recent tax and cess collections relative to those collected during the UPA administration, according to a Trinamul leader.