Kolkata: West Bengal's Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, has initiated a two-day protest in Kolkata, urging the release of owed payments under the MGNREGA and PM Awas Yojana schemes. Simultaneously, she has addressed a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the CAG report and the non-submission of utilization letters, a concern raised by BJP state President Sukanta Majumdar.
Tomorrow, the protest will be joined by MGNREGA beneficiaries who have been awaiting wages for approximately two years. Additionally, potential beneficiaries of the PM Awas Yojana will join the demonstration.
Following the initial 48 hours, various branches of the Trinamool Congress, including youth and women's wings, will continue the protest, led by Banerjee herself. She has announced that from February 5th to 14th, the youth and women's wings, along with representatives from different districts, will continue the demonstration.
Banerjee emphasized, "Around 21 lakh people have worked under MGNREGA but did not receive their wages. This is a Constitutional obligation. It is a significant offense."
Regarding the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Banerjee stated, "The time has come for the people of India to make a decision. Countless farmers have committed suicide in the country, but no one knows about it."
Regarding the budget, Banerjee remarked, "This is a vote-on-account. It's not an interim budget but a final budget. The budget has inflicted pain on the poor. They haven't allocated anything for the poor or advocated for them."
"They have reduced subsidies. Food inflation is at its highest at 10%. There is no relief for farmers. Before the Lok Sabha elections, they promised 33% reservation for women. We have implemented 50% reservation for women at the panchayat and municipality levels. We are the only political party with 34% of our Lok Sabha MPs being women, without any formal reservation," she added.
This marks the third time Trinamool Supremo Mamata Banerjee has participated in a protest. The first was in front of the BR Ambedkar statue in March, the second within the West Bengal assembly premises in November, and today, it has recommenced in front of the BR Ambedkar statue. Meanwhile, in October, Trinamool National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee led the protest in New Delhi and later in front of Raj Bhawan in Kolkata.
"In the hunger index, India's position is very low, below 125 countries. Why is India's per capita income so low? What have you done for the farmers? They are earning Rs 27 per day," stated Trinamool Asansol MP Shatrughan Sinha during the protest.
Opposition parties criticized the MGNREGA protest, labeling it as "political theater" ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. CPI-M Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya remarked, "We need to count how many protests Mamata Banerjee has organized. The central government has requested information, which she failed to provide. She is adept at protest politics."
Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, dismissed it as "theatrics," saying, "Mamata Banerjee is staging this drama ahead of the Lok Sabha polls."
Jal Jeevan Mission- Today, the West Bengal government received Rs 951 crore for the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme from the central government. The funds arrived just hours before Banerjee commenced her protest.
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