Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused the Centre of bias and deprivation, alleging it had not allocated funds for the state for relief and rehabilitation work in Kalimpong in the aftermath of the unprecedented flash flood in the Teesta in neighbouring Sikkim.
Mamata’s allegation in a post on X added another dimension to Trinamul’s narrative on the Narendra Modi government’s “step-motherly treatment” of the state by crippling its finances.
On Friday, the Union home ministry headed by Amit Shah approved the release of Rs 44.80 crore to Sikkim as an advance from the Centre’s share of the state disaster response fund.
However, no such assistance has yet been given to Bengal although Kalimpong district has suffered large-scale devastation. Parts of Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar in the Teesta’s downstream have also been affected.
“But I am stunned by the central discrimination against our affected people of Darjeeling and Kalimpong and north Bengal, despite the gravity of disaster and number of deaths there too. We are not beggars and we are certainly for Sikkim, but we want equality of treatment and non-discrimination in matters relating to central help in disaster management,” Mamata posted on X.
She said the disaster, “which has struck our brothers and sisters at Sikkim, has struck my people at the Darjeeling hills and in Kalimpong also”.
“The sensitive chicken’s neck area of West Bengal has been affected. From the night of the flash flood occurrence, I have been working 24×7 with my entire administration to save people from further distress, and have rushed in all help, including Rs 25 crore assistance to GTA in thehills. Ministers and senior IAS officers have been dispatched and teams are on the spoteven now. We have helped and will help the Army authorities and the Sikkim Government in all ways, and will workwith the people of Sikkim shoulder to shoulder,” Mamata wrote.
The chief minister’s comments came at a time when her party has launched an aggressive movement against the Centre for halting funds for a number of social welfare projects, including the NREGA and the housing scheme.
Led by Abhishek Banerjee, beneficiaries of the schemes and Trinamul functionaries have held protests in Delhi. For the past two days, he has been leading a dharna in front of Raj Bhavan in Calcutta demanding that governor C.V. Ananda Bose give them an audience and take up the issue with the Centre.
Anit Thapa, the chief executive of the GTA, also attacked the BJP and the Centre.
“For the past 15 years, people of the Darjeeling and Kalimpong hills have voted for the BJP. The party got an MP from the Darjeeling seat thrice in a row. Even then, the Centre is apathetic towards the people here, hundreds of whom have lost their homes and belongings in the devastating flood,” Thapa said.
The state, he said, has extended an assistance of Rs 25 crore.
Raju Bista, the BJP MP of Darjeeling, shot back: “The Centre allots funds on the basis of ground reports sent by the state administration. In our case, the Bengal government has not done anything so far. The central government stands in solidarity with the people of our region and will provide full financial support too,” he said.