Mamata Banerjee Accused of Misusing Mid-Day Meal Funds

Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari said on Monday that Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister, will be taken into custody for the alleged misappropriation of federal money given to the state for welfare initiatives under the Prime Minister Poshan (mid-day meal) program.

Adhikari mentioned three incidents that deal with the misappropriation of cash under the mid-day meal program and said Mamata was utilizing the money for other reasons. These cases are reportedly under investigation by the CBI.

The BJP leader threatened to arrest the chief minister for distributing various perks and financial help using the funds that had been purportedly siphoned by three block development officers (BDOs) from the mid-day meal program.

"The first person to be detained in relation to this fraud is the BDO of Hingalganj (North-24 Parganas), as he purchased blankets valued at Rs 1.89 crore, which Mamata Banerjee then distributed. The second person to be detained is the BDO of Rampurhat, Birbhum. Mamata used the money from the midday meal to provide checks to the Bogtui massacre victims. The BDO of Bhagabanpur I (in East Midnapore), who used the money Mamata Banerjee instructed her to use to write checks to the families impacted by the Coromandel Express disaster, will be the third person to be arrested. "Mamata Banerjee, the queen of thieves, will be arrested after these three," Adhikari said to BJP employees at a protest rally on Red Road in Calcutta.

Hundreds of blankets were given out by Mamata to underprivileged residents of Hingalganj, a rural area of the Sunderbans, in November 2022. The chief minister gave checks to the relatives of ten people who were murdered in political unrest in Birbhum's Bogtui in April of last year. She gave checks to the surviving relatives of those slain in the rail tragedy in Balasore, Odisha, in June of this year.

The money that was taken out of the mid-day meal scheme's account and utilized to provide benefits in those three cases, according to the BJP,

Adhikari's statement on the corruption in the midday meal program was made on the same day that Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan said in Parliament that the Bengal government was suspected of embezzling Rs 4,000 crore intended for Prime Minister Poshan.

"They (the Bengali government) have embezzled Rs 40,00 crore from the PM Poshan Yojana, or Mid-Day Meal Plan. A CBI investigation into this relationship has been ordered by the Indian government. Everything will surface," Pradhan said in the legislature.

According to a BJP insider, the party sought to link the chief minister to the midday meal program in order to fabricate a story about corruption. Scandals have already been thrown by the BJP to put the Trinamul Congress administration under pressure.

"The chief minister's name is exclusively associated with the midday meal program. The BJP leader said, "The party had previously brought up the same problem, but Adhikari brought it to light after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's remarks on the floor of Parliament.

According to a top state government official, Mamata's charges will be dropped since the administration diverted funds intended for one program to meet other pressing requirements. Is it true that the funds were transferred back to the original account prior to the end of the fiscal year?

"Taking money out of one fund and utilizing it for an emergency is perfectly acceptable. Only if the funds are not promptly refunded to the account would it be considered misappropriation, the official said.

Adhikari was reminded by Trinamul leaders of the Narada images, where he was purportedly seen collecting money.

"The individual who was seen taking money is the same one who is yelling and calling everyone criminals. How could he label another person a thief?" questioned Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary of Trinamul.

On Monday, the Bengal BJP stepped up its criticism of Mamata for the corruption that exists both within and outside the Assembly. With the slogan "Mamata Chor (Mamata is a thief)" emblazoned on their t-shirts, Adhikari and over sixty BJP MLAs marched from the Assembly to the B.R. Ambedkar monument, where the party planned a four-day protest.

State finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, a representative of Trinamul, accused Adhikari and other BJP MLAs of defaming the chief minister by donning such attire, and she filed a case at the Hare Street police station.