Why TMC desperately needs central dues to run Bengal's economy

Kolkata: Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of Bengal, met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday afternoon for about 45 minutes in New Delhi and requested his assistance in hastening the release of funds owed to Bengal as a result of various central programmes, tax devolution, and disaster relief, which together totalled Rs 1,00,968.44 crore as of July 31. However, politically this meeting was crucial. The economy of Bengal is in shambles and if the centre does not release the funds then the Mamata Banerjee government might will have to stop several welfare schemes.

What is the effect of Partha Chatterjee's arrest and SSC scam

Recently, the enforcement directorate arrested one of the closest lieutenants of Mamata Banerjee, suspended cabinet minister and TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee, along with his alleged close associate Arpita Mukherjee. These arrests were made over the alleged irregularities in the hiring of teachers through the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC). During the investigation, the ED recovered a huge amount of cash of over Rs.50 crore along with jewellery and other fraudulent financial transaction documents from the accused.

Political analysts in Bengal believe that this situation has already irked a significant population of the youth. In this situation, the insiders of the TMC believe that the opposition will try to attack the party on the grounds of the economy. Meanwhile, a senior BJP leader told the Newsdrum on the condition of anonymity, "Everyone knows that in Bengal the economic condition is not good. Today the people have witnessed how the TMC has betrayed the trust of the electorate by indulging in such massive financial scams. We have already submitted a report to the central leadership regarding the financial condition of Bengal, and based on that, we will reach out to people."

How welfare schemes are increasing debt of Bengal

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, frequently makes the assertion that she will maintain social development projects, particularly those involving women and farmers, in political rallies and administrative review sessions. According to the chief minister, she is funding these social development initiatives with state internal income. The chief minister's claims that the state government spends a lot of money on social development programmes in the state have raised doubts, nevertheless, in light of a recent Reserve Bank of India (RBI) assessment of the state's finances.

According to the results of the RBI's most recent report, "State Finances: A Risk Analysis," spending on four of the state government's most publicised projects for farmers' and women's welfare amounts to just a little more than 1% of the state's own revenue creation. According to the survey, even Punjab, the state with the highest debt burden, is ahead of West Bengal in this regard.

These four social development programmes are Lakshmir Bhandar (monthly financial assistance for unemployed women regardless of financial background), Rupashree (a programme to sponsor the marriages of girls from financially underprivileged families), Kanyashree (a financial incentive programme to encourage girls to continue their studies), and Krishak Bandhu (financial compensation scheme for the family in case of death of a farmer in the state.) According to the RBI data, the state government spends an average of slightly more than 1.1% of its revenue on these four programmes. The RBI study also provided a breakdown of the budgeted costs for each of these programmes and their share of the state's anticipated 2022–2023 revenue generation. The Kanyashree scheme will have a maximum projected cost of Rs 1866.20 crore, followed by the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme at Rs 10,767 crore, Krishak Bandhu at Rs 5,494 crore, and Rupashree at Rs 750 crore.

How the politics is brewing over Bengal's economic condition

Following the alleged financial irregularities with respect to the SSC scam, The political storm in Bengal is increasing against the Mamata Banerjee government. While the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has already taken to the streets and is also fighting several legal battles against the TMC government in the Calcutta High Court, the BJP is all set to launch a state-wide campaign against the government.

In this situation, the political parties are joining hands with the agitation of other aspirants who cleared the examinations like SSC, primary teacher recruitment examinations and others. Similarly, the opposition is also trying to raise the issue of pending Dearness Allowances (DA) of government employees. Meanwhile, in May this year, the Calcutta High Court upheld a State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) order and asked the state government to release Dearness Allowance (DA) and Arrear Dearness Allowance to its employees in accordance with the West Bengal Services (Revision of Pay and Allowance) Rules, 2009, within a period of three months.

Sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party observed that in a recent meeting with the central leadership, the party president JP Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah asked the saffron party to hit the streets on the issue of financial irregularities of the TMC government. The state leaders of the BJP are also of the opinion that after the new governor is appointed in the state, the party will put pressure on the Mamata Banerjee government by giving jobs to the protesting aspirants and clearing DA dues.

A senior BJP leader who does not want to be named said, " Former governor of Bengal Jagdeep Dhankar raised the issue of alleged financial discrepancies in several schemes of the West Bengal government. For example, there is no audit done by the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). We will demand scrutiny of all these issues."

However, the TMC leadership has not agreed with all these allegations. According to the TMC, the state has the second largest number of micro, small and medium enterprises in the country. Similarly, the TMC leaders have pointed out that the national periodic labour force survey of 2017–18 showed that Bengal has kept the unemployment rate below the national average. According to this survey, the unemployment rate in Bengal during 2017–18 was 4.6%, which is lower than all India's unemployment rate of 6.1%.

Why is Mamata Banerjee growing apprehensive of dues of the center

TMC insiders said that this is the time for the party to focus on troubleshooting issues such as allegations of financial irregularities and others. They also believe that the party will need to make an all-out effort to reach out to the people and explain the allegations raised against the TMC. A senior TMC leader who does not want to be named said, "Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee have made it clear that it is time for us to rectify the mistakes. There are several good projects that happened under Mamata Banerjee, but due to certain issues now, the opposition has successfully moved the focus away from real development. We want to apologise and tell the people about the good works done by Mamata Banerjee."

The political analysis of Bengal believes that Mamata Banerjee understands that if the Centre does not clear the dues, then the financial condition of Bengal will deteriorate. In the upcoming elections, the key to Mamata Banerjee‘s success is her welfare schemes, and if due to a fund crunch, the schemes get hit, then the politics of TMC will face a massive setback.