March 24, 2013
Trinamool Chief Whip in RS Derek O`Brien counters Union Finance Minister on Bengal issue
Trinamool Congress MP and Chief Whip in Rajya Sabha, Derek O'Brien disagreed with Union Finance Minister on the issue of giving special packages to the State, saying `the experienced finance minister has got his facts completely wrong` and accused him of playing political games.
`May I urge him to read Chapter 12, page 218 of the 12th Finance Commission report. The finance commission clearly spells out that there are six different ways of dealing with debt restructuring, which includes debt moratorium and other methods of government,`said O'Brien said. `Secondly, it is the finance commission by a government order that has mentioned Kerala, Punjab and Bengal as debt-stressed states. Of these three states classified in this sub-set, Bengal has the highest debt-GDP ratio. Then there is the KPW (Kerala, Punjab, West Bengal) committee, which has been constituted but has met only once. The finance minister is skirting the facts and playing political games instead.`
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