August 4, 2016
Abhishek Banerjee speaks on the Supplementary Demands for Grants
Speaker Madam / Deputy Speaker Sir, I thank you for this opportunity to speak on the Supplementary Demand for Grants (2016-17).
This is my first speech after the historic win of the Ma Mati Manush Government in West Bengal and I rise here today with pride and dignity, with my head held high representing my state and its people who chose truth over lies & hype.
Two months ago, the people of my State had three choices.
One, an ideology-less / unethical / venomous alliance.
Two, a party that runs on media hype & encourages religious fundamentalism.
And three, the Trinamool Congress, which worked for development, peace, prosperity and communal harmony.
The choices were clear. And the people spoke Loudly and Clearly.
They blessed Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress with an even bigger mandate this year, profoundly and wholeheartedly they elected
…a Government that worked sincerely,
… a Government that worked transparently,
… a Government that delivered on its promises,
Moreover they chose Government that is fearless, bold & honest.
Now let us look at the promises made by the Central Government. A Government that speaks about ‘cooperative federalism’. A Government that talks about ‘strengthening the Centre-State relationship’. A Government that tweets on every subject, but remains silent and mum and silent when Dalits are killed and young minds in Kashmir are pained and anguished.
This Government often speaks about ‘competitive federalism’. About States competing with each other to perform better. But in the past two years, cooperative federalism has merely been a slogan. An empty slogan, not the reality.
The CM of West Bengal wrote to the PM of the country in April-May 2015, almost 14 months back detailing the ways in which the Centre was short-changing the States.
There has been no positive response.
If one may recall the past, in 2012, the former CM of Gujarat and the present Hon’ble PM of the Nation, Mr Narendra Modi wrote about cooperative federalism in his blog.
I quote –
“Sitting in New Delhi, the Centre may not always be able to do justice to the potential and needs of various states across India. By virtue of being closer to the people, State Governments can respond much better in understanding and fulfilling the expectations of the people through good governance.”
Sound good, Sir. Beautiful words but unfortunately forgotten just after covering a mere distance of 920 km, that is after taking the flight from Ahmedabad to Delhi. Such is the magic in Delhi’s air.
From this Government’s record, it is clear that there is no cooperative federalism. There is no competitive federalism. Madam/Sir, indeed no cooperative federalism…what we have, is unfortunately … CAMOUFLAGED CENTRALISM. Yes, camouflaged centralism.
There has been talk of fiscal transfers to the States. But unfortunately the reality is that the Central Government has withdrawn its financial support from nearly 39 major schemes like National E-Governance Action Plan, Modernization of Police Force, additional central support for LWE affected areas, Backward region grant funds, special assistance for hill areas, schemes for setting up 6000 model schools, central support to states for setting up export infrastructure and other allied activities, national mission for food processing and tourist infrastructure. This is not the end 58 important schemes like rashtriya kisan vikas yojana, national food security mission, bringing revolution to eastern India, national rural drinking water, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and national livelihood mission, the central government has substantially , Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and national livelihood mission, the central government has substantially reduced its funding. Funding for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has been reduced from Rs 9000 crore to just Rs 2000 crore.
Is this what we call cooperative federalism? No Sir, this is camouflaged centralism!
West Bengal is being weighed down by a massive debt of more than Rs 3 lakh 8 thousand crore left behind by the previous Left government who ruled and ruined the state for 34 long years. Other States like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh also have debt in excess of Rs 2 lakh crores. Has there been any waiver? Has there been any support? Has there been any debt relief? Has the Central Government taken any initiative to reduce the debt burden or truncate the same???
Is this cooperative federalism? NO Sir, this is camouflaged centralism!
The Planning Commission has been abolished and the States have lost an important platform to raise matters. Sir, meetings are being called without consulting or discussing with anyone. You give Chief Ministers time to speak based on the colour of their party flag and your political equation. This is very unfortunate sir.
This Government also talks about competitive federalism. Good. They want one State to compete against the other State in good spirit. But let us take this concept of competitive federalism to another level and see how State Governments are doing when they are comparing with the Centre. Since I am from Bengal, I will take that as my benchmark. How has the Centre fared. And how has Bengal fared?
- Inflation
In the Supplementary Demand for Grants, Rs 40,000 crore has been allocated as Ways and Means Advance to the Food Corporation of India. Given the inflation situation in the country and the crucial role of the Public Distribution System for the common man, it is not clear why this allocation was not made during the Budget Session and is coming up at this stage.
Bengal has the lowest inflation rate in the country, less than 3%, according to the latest Economic Survey published by the Central government. The inflation rate for the entire country is 5.7%. From day one of this Monsoon Session, my colleagues from Trinamool in both Houses have been strongly raising this issue of price rise both inside and outside Parliament.
- Let’s take MGNREGA.
The BJP has always criticised MGNREGA as a failure and have ridiculed it as a scheme for ‘digging holes’. This is reflected in the scheme’s overall performance. The average days of employment per household has been dismal, below 50 days per year. Last year, it was only 34.84 days per year. In Bengal the story is different. MGNREGA aims to provide at least 100 days of wage employment per year. 85 lakh person-days of work has been generated and we have spent more than Rs 18,000 crores towards the scheme in the past years. Again, undoubtedly the best in the country.
This Demand for Grants adds Rs 5000 crore to the MGNREGA fund. This is a good step but again, it is not clear why such an important allocation is appearing as a Supplementary Demand for Grants. This shows the attitude of the central government towards the common people and the downtrodden of this country.
- As for financial growth, the Gross Value Added Growth of Bengal is at a 12.02% high while India is at 7.3%. Sir also there has been recent tendency of the central government to fund various developmental schemes by imposing cess. For instance 0.5% Swaach Bharat cess, 0.5% Krishi Kalyan cess has been levied on the service tax. Sir, the collection of cess does not form a part of the divisive pool and does not get shared with the states. This amounts to depriving and ignoring the states from the collected funds and this goes against the spirit of cooperative federalism.
If I am to read the Constitution of India, Article 271 Sir, it says clearly “ Surcharge on certain duties and taxes for purposes of the Union Notwithstanding anything in Articles 269 and 270, Parliament may at any time increase any of the duties or taxes referred in those articles by a surcharge for purposes of the Union and the whole proceeds of any such surcharge shall form part the Consolidated Fund of India.”
Sir, I would request the Hon’ble Finance Minster and the Government please use such article in the Constitution in the good spirit of the country. So everyone in the country and every people of the country including the farmer, worker and also the state gets benefitted. That should be the spirit Sir.
- If we talk of social and rural development.
The Centre’s budget for Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, a scheme that was modelled and repackaged on West Bengal’s Kanyashree scheme created by Hon’ble Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee, is a mere Rs 75 crores. I wonder how much of it went into newspaper ads and social media campaigns. What is the budget for the Kanyashree scheme in West Bengal today? More than Rs 1000 crores. It is not 100 cr, not 200 cr not 500cr, but 1000 cr Sir. That is 10 times more than the Centre for just one State. That’s Bengal for you Sir!
- If we take Minority development.
Sir, let the facts and figures speak for itself. Let’s look at the numbers. The Budget increased four times in five years in Bengal. And what have the Centre done? They can’t even run a portal to distribute minority scholarships. But then do they care about minorities? Do they care about the oppressed? Do they care about the farmer? Do they really care? The answer is no Sir.
Respected Speaker Madam, I have explained to you briefly how one State government has brought peace, harmony and development, and won a second term. How schemes are implemented successfully on the ground. How people co-exist irrespective of their caste, creed or religion and irrespective of what they eat or where they pray. And while doing all this, the State of West Bengal still has a GDP that doubled from Rs 4.61 lakh crore in 2010-11 to Rs 9.20 lakh crore in 2015-16.
Bengal is moving ahead Sir.
Compare this to a Central Government who believes they are an event management agency. They create big ads with big promises. Write catchy slogans. Make lots of noise. Try and do headline management. But the result is total mismanagement. Today after almost 69 years of independence we don’t need to know what must be done to strengthen the nation any longer. The Government at the Centre and also the Hon’ble minister must ask itself a simple question. Are you doing even 1% of what you think must be done or must be done??? The answer will be no again.
Mr. Prime Minister and Mr. Finance Minister are active on social media – Facebook, Twitter. I have no problem with that. But I would humbly like to suggest to them to take some time off from their screens and get the DVD of Satyajit Ray’s beautiful film – Pather Panchali (which if translated to English means Song of the Road). The film is about Harihar and his family suffering in poverty. Harihar moves to the city looking for employment. In the meantime, his daughter falls ill. They don’t have the money to buy medicines or take her to the hospital. Unfortunately, on Harihar’s return to his village, his daughter had already passed away. The family continues to suffer.
This film was based on a story written by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, one of the leading writers of modern Bengali literature, way back in 1929 but it reflects the current situation today. There is unemployment everywhere and access to proper healthcare seems like a distant dream.
But when you want to change the lives of people, how do you do it?
– You change lives by setting up fair price shops selling medicines with up to 70% discount
– You change lives by giving proper shelter and houses free of cost to economically weaker section of people under the GEETANJALI scheme.
– You change lives by making all districts across the State “Open Defecation Free”
– You change lives by electrifying households under the Sabar Ghare Alo scheme.
– You change lives by giving 45 lakh Sabuj Sathi cycles to girls and boys, so a 50-minute walk to their school becomes a 5-minute sweet and smooth ride.
Lives have been changing, in Bengal.
As for the BJP-led NDA government, all you have given the country so far are Achhe Slogans, Achhe ads, Achhe tweets. Achhe Sapne aur Achhe Jumley. 25 mahina baad ek asha aur umeed ki kiran lekar jo achhe din ke sapne dekhe the.. Woh har hindustani aaj jaan na chahta hai yeh achhe din kab ayenge? Kashmir mein border par khada hua jawan yah Kanyakumari mein rah dekh raha Kisaan kisi ke bhi achhe din nahi aye.. Sir, baatein bahut huyi lekin desh ki zamini haqeeqat mein koi badlav nahi aya. Achhe din ke naam pe desh ko dhoka diya hai.
The Government must stop its step-motherly attitude towards the States. It must come out of the bubble it’s trapped in Delhi.
I come from India, not Delhi.
I come from the states of India with optimism in my heart. I come from West Bengal. I come from where federalism is not just a mere slogan but genuinely means something. Believe me, an anger is rising against your Government and this Demand for Grants keeping away the larger interest of the country in mind will only add fuel to the fire. I would humbly caution you as a political colleague of this august House with a stake in India. I am not politically associated with you, but I care for India.
And you are letting INDIA down.
That’s all I have to say. Thank you.
