"No Central funds if Bengal doesn't paint health centres saffron": alleges Mamata Banerjee

New Delhi [India], December 17 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asserted that the central government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has halted funds for various social welfare programs, alleging a desire to impose a "saffron" hue on the state's initiatives.
Mamata Banerjee, who arrived in the national capital, is slated to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to press for the release of central funds earmarked for diverse social welfare initiatives. She will also participate in the INDIA Alliance meeting on December 19.
"On December 19, I will attend the INDIA Alliance meeting and on December 20, I will meet the Prime Minister at 11 a.m. I will take along a few MPs with me. The centre has stopped our funds and is not willing to release our dues. West Bengal is the only state whose funds have been withheld. Funds have been stopped for our Banglar Bari scheme. We have finalised a list of 11 lakh beneficiaries, but even then our funds have been withheld. The centre has done the same for the Grameen Sadak Yojana," CM Banerjee said while addressing the reporters.

She explained the shared financial responsibility of central government schemes, emphasizing that the state contributes its share through taxes collected, primarily GST.
"Although these are central government schemes, they do not bear the whole cost. The amount is divided between the centre and the state. The centre collects the tax from the state, and that is our share in these schemes. Now we only have one tax, namely, GST. Hence, we give our share through the tax collected from the state," she added.
Alleging a motive of the central government to promote the "saffron" (BJP), Banerjee stated, "They have stopped the funds for the health department also because they want us to paint everything 'saffron'. They are doing the same in the metro stations as well. I even saw many houses near Siliguri painted in saffron. Now they want to do the same with the health department buildings as well. Why will we do it? We already have two official colours in our state, which are white and blue. This is not the colour of our party. Is it justified that everywhere they will put the BJP's logo and paint the buildings saffron?"
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) party has been protesting against the central government, alleging a delay in fund allocation under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and other social security schemes for West Bengal.
However, the Ministry of Rural Development has stated that the release of funds for West Bengal was stopped on March 9, 2022, in accordance with Section 27 of MGNREGA because of the state's non-compliance with the directives of the central government.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal CM further alleged that the BJP-led centre is changing the syllabus as per their whims and fancies.
"They are changing the syllabus as per their whims and fancies. This is a planned method to perturb and disturb the people. We will raise our voice against this and we are raising our voice against this. All this will be part of the meeting. This is why I am going to Delhi," CM Banerjee said.
Tying the suspension of MPs from the Parliament to the security lapse incident, she stated that the MPs were suspended for raising their voices against the incident.
"It was a security lapse and the Home Minister also admitted that. This is a very serious matter and there is no doubt about that. Let them investigate the matter. We don't compromise our security. It was a grave security lapse for the New Parliament. Our leaders raised their voices against this but they were suspended. Derek O'Brien and 14 other opposition MPs were suspended from the Parliament for this," Mamata Banerjee said.
However, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla clarified on Saturday that there is no association between the suspension of the MPs and the Parliament Security Breach incident and that the MPs were suspended to maintain the sanctity of the House.
A total of 13 MPs were suspended from Parliament on Thursday "for creating a ruckus" in the House over their demand for a statement on the breach.
Among the 13 MPs suspended from the Lok Sabha, nine are from the Congress, two from the CPM, one from the CPI, and one from the DMK.
Meanwhile, the security breach happened on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack. Two people--Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D--jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow gas from canisters and shouted anti-establishment slogans before being overpowered by the MPs.
Outside it, in another incident, two protestors -- Neelam (42) and Amol (25) -- protested outside the Parliament with similar gas canisters. However, all four were sent to seven-day custody of Delhi Police Special Cell on Thursday.