Last Update: February 18, 2023, 00:13 IST
File photo of West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee. (PTI file photo)
Banerjee insisted that her government was doing its best to balance the needs of all
Faced with growing demands for a hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) by West Bengal government employees, the state’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday said that he is not a magician who can fulfill all wishes.
Banerjee stressed that her government was doing its best to balance the needs of all.
“I am not a magician that on asking money will come down from the sky, as Sweet did in Gopi Gayane Bagha Byne (film). Money has to be collected,” she said.
The CM was referring to Satyajit Ray’s 1969 fantasy film ‘Gopi Gayane Bagha Byne’, in which sweets descended from the sky.
Addressing the government services delivery program in Bankura district, he said, “Despite the absence of the Centre, we have given three per cent DA.”
Finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, while presenting the budget on February 15, announced an additional three per cent DA for government employees and others, which the Center had been demanding at par.
Attacking the BJP-led NDA government, Banerjee claimed that the Center was not providing funds for the 100-day MGNREGA employment guarantee scheme.
“Even those who have worked under the scheme are not being given wages under the scheme,” he said.
Alleging that the BJP-led NDA government at the Center was not releasing funds to West Bengal for schemes like MNREGA, housing or road construction, Banerjee said her government does not evict poor people, but gives them the right to land. Gives
Claiming that the BJP government at the Center is depriving TMC-ruled West Bengal, she said, “It seems like they are giving away their money. It is our money which they are taking in the name of tax collection and the state governments are entitled to their share of it.” Banerjee said the people of the state wanted their rights and not handouts.
He said that if his brothers and sisters move forward, then only Bengal will move forward.
The Chief Minister, who is visiting the district ahead of the panchayat elections, also spoke about her government’s schemes for minorities, scheduled castes and tribes and OBCs.
Banerjee said that 1.5 crore people work in the MSME sector in West Bengal.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)