Asim Dasgupta warns of chit fund ‘crisis’

KOLKATA: Former finance minister Asim Dasgupta today warned of an impending crisis in the state because of an unprecedented rise in mobilisation of deposits by chit funds, willy nilly holding the Trinamul government responsible for pushing small savers towards a bubble that may burst.

“The chit funds that are mobilising money now will start facing repayment obligation after a few years… A crisis is awaiting as the model is unsustainable,” Dasgupta told a news conference this afternoon.

The growth of chit funds — sources said the number may not be less than 3,000 — in the state has become a political hot potato for the Mamata Banerjee government as the Opposition has blamed the ruling party for the mushrooming of these entities, which promise high returns to depositors.

Depositors are either promised high rates of interest — at times around 30 to 40 per cent a year — on their deposit or different varieties of assets like land or property at attractive places at a future date.

Sources in the state finance department said the annual collections by the chit fund companies would not be less than Rs 15,000 crore.......

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Asim warns of chit fund ‘crisis’

West Bengal emerges as top borrower through RBI window

RBI data show state has raised Rs 17,300 crore through state development loan

Namrata Acharya / Kolkata

BUSINESS STANDARD, January 25, 2013, 13:41 IST

In continuation with the brisk borrowing spree, West Bengal has emerged as the top borrower this financial year too.

Data from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) show, West Bengal has raised Rs 17,300 crore through state development loan, so far in the financial year. This year, the state government has a market borrowing limit of Rs 22,821 crore, which leaves Rs 5,521 crore for the next two months for the present financial year.

Notably, in spite of a cushion of Rs 5,521 crore for the next two months, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, has been ruing that the state has been denied to raise debt.

“They (Centre) had allowed the Left to make so much debt, but they have been denying us the same. Why are you trying to snatch away our livelihood? The people of Bengal will have to assert their rights and demand that the centre stop taking away all the money,” Banerjee had recently said at a public meeting.

West Bengal is seeking a moratorium on interest and repayment totaling Rs 22,000 crore on its debt for the next three years, and formulation of a debt restructuring exercise over the interim period. The debt restructuring should include debt elimination, increasing repayment tenure and reducing interest rate on loans.

“Stop taking the interest. We want justice,” the chief minister had recently said.  

However, the opposition Left Front government has been quick to retort, when yesterday, Asim Dasgupta, former finance minister, West Bengal, said the burgeoning debt of the state  was on account of higher expenditure, rather than old debt.

"The new government has been making some misleading statements. If Rs 25,000 crore is spent on debt repayment and we add Rs 41,000 crore paid towards salary and pension, there would still be Rs 34,000 crore left out of the Rs 1 lakh crore receipt," said Dasgupta.

"The people of the state would like to know if there is extra-budgetary expenditure or are they unable to provide utilization certificates," he said.

West Bengal's debt burden of according to the last Budget document was Rs 2.08 lakh crore. The outstanding debt of the government is set to increase to Rs 2.26 lakh crore in the present fiscal, making it one of the most indebted state in terms of tax to GSDP ratio.

Last financial year, West Bengal availed of relaxation of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act  twice, pushing the borrowing of the state to Rs 22,423 crore.

The continual deterioration by the state of finances is also evident from a recent report on State Finances: Study of Budgets 2012-13.

In 2011-12 (RE), all states were able to contain their interest payment to revenue receipt ratio (IP-RR) to 15%, except in case of Gujarat, Kerala, West Bengal and Punjab. West Bengal had the highest IP-RR ratio at 27.20%, with Chhattisgarh recording the lowest at 4.5%.

According to the state budget document, this financial year, West Bengal's revenue receipt is projected to be  Rs 76,943 crore and expenditure is Rs 83,801 crore leaving a huge revenue deficit of  Rs 6,585 crore.  

West Bengal's expense on salaries alone is set to increase from Rs 28,899 crore to Rs 31,184 crore by the end of this fiscal, which is about 37% of the projected expenditure of the government.

Similarly, the cost of pension and other retirement benefits is projected to increase from Rs 8,385 crore to Rs 9,582 crore.

http://business-standard.com/india/news/west-bengal-emerges-as-top-borrower-through-rbi-window/203990/on

Bengal borrows Rs 2.5Kcr from market to pay salary and pension

Ajanta Chakraborty, TNN | May 3, 2012, 04.19AM IST

KOLKATA: Ahead of CM Mamata Banerjee's meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the three-year moratorium and a debt-restructuring, the state has just borrowed Rs 2,500 crore to pay salaries and pensions.

Just when the chief minister hopes to find a political answer to Bengal's fiscal miseries, armed with the state's debt records, her borrowing has gone up yet again just to pay salaries and the likes. Sources in the state finance department indicated that Bengal's total borrowings have reached Rs 2,08,382 crore in the last fiscal - up from Rs 1,87,387 crore as on March 2011, barely two months after Mamata took over Writers' Buildings.

The state's borrowing has been upped ahead of another crucial meeting in North Block to negotiate on Mamata's demands along with the chief ministers of Punjab and Kerala in the next fortnight. The finance ministry has set up a committee headed by expenditure secretary Sumit Bose which is likely to meet senior officials from the three most debt-ridden states this month. The committee will seek commitments from the states on raising resources and reducing borrowing and non-developmental expenditure.

A finance department official explained: "We had to borrow this amount in April for basic expenses. The borrowing will continue in this manner unless the Centre does something about the state of affairs in Bengal." Officials felt that the latest borrowing would help Mamata build her case of inheriting a bankrupt government. But the saddest part is that debt-stressed Punjab and Kerala, which are also seeking a moratorium and debt recast, borrowed only Rs 400 crore and Rs 1,000 crore respectively. Andhra Pradesh borrowed Rs 750 crore and Mizoram Rs 65 crore.

Soon after Mamata gave the Centre 15 days to grant a three-year moratorium to Bengal, one of the country's most debt-stressed states along with Punjab and Kerala, Punjab and Kerala followed suit in issuing similar demands.

While Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal sought appointments with Manmohan Singh and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy had met the central leadership with his plea that his state should be treated alike and not be discriminated against. He has sought a debt recast of Rs 11,000 crore.

Punjab is seeking a waiver on outstanding dues of Rs 22,202 crore from the centrally administered small-savings scheme and moratorium on repayment of the principal and interest on other loans spaced over five years. Punjab's outstanding debt on March 2012 stood at Rs 77,585 crore and its annual interest liability was Rs 6,500 crore.

North Block officials have already communicated to Writers' Buildings that Punjab has a stronger case because the state has been striving to raise revenues and cut expenditure. Neither Bengal nor Kerala cared to do so.

Mamata, on the other had, has been bent on "not increasing the burden on common people" and had gone soft on taxes. She has already written to the prime minister for a debt recast, inclusive of waiver of part of the components, repayable in 20 years. But the sorry state of fiscal affairs has hardly dissuaded her government from spending and creating jobs.

On the contrary, responding to a populist call, Mamata had sacrificed revenues on essential items like electricity, LPG and others. Unlike most states, Bengal did not enhance the base VAT from four to five per cent.

As a corrective measure, the state recently imposed "entry tax". It is yet to be seen if the measure could help boost the tax revenues by the targeted 25% in 2012-13. If the current indicators are of any significance, it will not be an easy task at all.

Mamata is confident that the UPA will adhere to her demands even as there is no ready reference of such a debt recast in Indian federal history. Her finance minister seems to have taken a leaf out of the Greek government which has recently averted default, thanks to bailout packages and debt haircuts.

Demand coal royalty from Centre, Left’s Asim tells govt

Express News Service Posted online: Tue Oct 25 2011, 05:56 hrs

Kolkata : Amid Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s demand for a financial package from the Centre, Asim Dasgupta, the former finance minister in the Left Front government, on Monday said the state government should demand Rs 5,000 crore coal royalty from the Central government.

He said other states too have been getting coal royalty from the Centre and thus they cannot oppose the West Bengal government's demand. The state government's demand for a financial package from the Centre had angered other states like Gujarat and Tamil Nadu whose chief ministers, Narendra Modi and Jayalalitha respectively, had alleged step-motherly treatment by the Centre.

Addressing mediapersons in Kolkata, Dasgupta said the Centre has not given the state any royalty for the coal dug up from Bengal since 1991. “Moreover, there is a Supreme Court order on giving coal royalty to the states,” he added.

Dasgupta, who had been handling the state's finances for nearly two decades said the incumbent government has not highlighted the coal royalty while demanding financial aid from the Centre. He even termed that some of the claims made by the Mamata Banerjee-led government on the financial status of the state as “misleading”. “The total revenue receipt of the state government is Rs 65,848 crore of which 74 per cent and not 94 per cent, as claimed by the present government, is spent on paying salaries, pensions and interest,” said Dasgupta, who called the new government as “incompetent”.

Dasgupta said the total income of the state government stands at Rs 87,643 crore, and out of this 63 per cent is spent of salary, pensions and interest to the loans. He said the remaining, Rs 32,713, crore be spent by the state to meet various expenses.

Alleging that the incumbent government has not been able to manage the state’s finances effectively, Dasgupta said the Left Front government had borrowed Rs 5,000 crore from the open market last year, but the new government has borrowed Rs 10,000 crore in the same period this year. He also said that while last year the state government had been able to increase the tax collection to 29 per cent, this year the growth has been only 19 per cent against a target of 30 per cent.

He also rejected the government's claim that the state has “humongous” debt. The former finance minister said that while Bengal has a debt of Rs 1.92 lakh crore, other states like Maharashtra has a debt of Rs 2.36 lakh crore and UP has Rs 2.35 lakh crore as debts as on March 31,2011.

Asim data duel with Mamata

THE TELEGRAPH, Issue Date: Tuesday , October 25 , 2011

Calcutta, Oct. 24: Former finance minister Asim Dasgupta today opened a war of numbers with Mamata Banerjee by calling into question the data used by the chief minister to seek special assistance from the Centre to overcome Bengal’s financial woes.

During her meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week, Mamata had highlighted that the state government was left with only 6 paise from every rupee it earned to fund development and blamed the crisis on the Left’s 34 years of “misrule”.

“Out of one rupee, 94 paise are spent on salary and other responsibilities of the state. Only 6 paise are left for development. How will we do with such little money? The Centre has to think,” she had said in Delhi.

Dasgupta said that according to the financial statement (Abstract of the Annual Financial Statement 2011-12 and Trends of Expenditure and Growth Trajectories) tabled by his successor Amit Mitra, the state’s outgo on salaries, pension and interest payment constituted 74 per cent of the revenue receipts.

No one from the government was available to explain the accounting Mamata had used to arrive at the 94-paise figure.

“I don’t know how the figure of 94 was arrived at,” Dasgupta said.

“If the Centre extends help to the state government, it will be good. But what was said while seeking extra assistance was misleading and incomplete,” he added.

Dasgupta has held several news conferences in the past five months to rebut Mamata’s claim that the Left’s misrule had plunged Bengal into bankruptcy. On all such occasions, the attempt was to defend the Left record and its policies by rolling out economic data.

Today, he went on the attack, first questioning the numbers that form the basis of Mamata’s strident demand for special central assistance, the absence of which even after five months in power appears to be frustrating her. Non-Congress states have opposed a special package for Bengal, alleging this would amount to discrimination against them.

“This government had set a target of 30 per cent growth in tax revenue collection, but till now the growth has been only around 19 per cent. In the corresponding period, we had achieved a growth of around 29 per cent last year,” said Dasgupta.

The former finance minister also mentioned that the new government’s market borrowing had touched Rs 10,000 crore — the highest among all states — in the five months of the current fiscal year while the Left Front had restricted it to Rs 9,500 crore for all of 2010-11.

“Government employees have not received even one instalment of the dearness allowance this year,” he said. The issue of arrears and DA for government staff is sensitive as the state employs over 10 lakh people.

Bengal becomes biggest borrower

THE TELEGRAPH, Issue Date: Wednesday, July 27, 2011

SAUMITRA DASGUPTA AND DEVADEEP PUROHIT

July 26: Bengal has become the biggest borrower among all states in the country, both the current and previous governments going neck and neck in raising loans in the first four months of this financial year.

Data available with the RBI suggest that the new Trinamul Congress-led government has raised Rs 5,000 crore in the two months since Mamata Banerjee took over as chief minister of the cash-strapped state on May 20.

The coalition government’s borrowing blitz began on June 7 when it raised Rs 3,000 crore and followed that up with two tranches of Rs 1,000 crore each on July 5 and 19. These loans came on top of borrowings worth Rs 5,173 crore by the Left Front government during its final months in office.

The combined effect of the borrowings by the two governments is that Bengal has now earned the dubious distinction of becoming the biggest borrower among the states. Last year, Bengal was ranked sixth among states in terms of annual borrowings.

Bengal’s borrowings now stand at Rs 10,173 crore — almost 70 per cent higher than last year’s level of Rs 6,000 crore during the same period. What’s worse is that its borrowings in the first four months of the current financial year at Rs 10,173 crore is 7 per cent higher than the Rs 9,500 crore it had borrowed in the 12 months ended March 31 this year.

State finance minister Amit Mitra declined comment on the borrowing programme of the state government.

“The borrowing spree will compound the problems that the government is facing. The government will have to find ways to increase its own revenue,” said a senior state government official on condition of anonymity.

Although the Centre has increased the plan budget for the state from Rs 17,985 crore to Rs 22,214 crore and promised to give more funds to Bengal, it has also suggested that the state government find ways to shore up its revenue collections.

While the state waits for Delhi to loosen its purse-strings, the question that is being asked at Writers’ is why does the government need to borrow so much? Is it to pay salaries, pension and interest on outstanding loans?

The available figures, however, don’t support this hypothesis. The monthly outgo on salaries, pension and interest on outstanding loans is around Rs 4,000 crore while the revenue earnings per month are around Rs 5,500 crore.

“A new government has to deliver on its promises and a lot of new projects are being taken up. As most of them have been announced without obtaining consent from the finance department, borrowing is the only option,” said a state government official.

Some of the big announcements by the chief minister include laying embankments in Aila-affected areas, rural healthcare upgradation, creation of 36 primary health care centres in Jungle Mahal, drinking water projects in Purulia, West Midnapore and Bankura, jobs for 10,000 tribal young men and women as part of a special police force in Jungle Mahal and the creation of 46,000 teachers’ posts.

“The state government doesn’t have the funds to roll out all these projects at one go and that’s why there is a need to borrow,” said an official. Borrowing by a state government is not a sin and Bengal can borrow up to Rs 17,000 crore a year.

But excessive borrowing has its ramifications. The borrowings will put a greater strain on Bengal’s finances since the interest payout will increase with yields (the rate of interest that the bond holders earn) climbing by 44 basis points from around 8.17 per cent last year to around 8.61 per cent at present.

The rising yields appear to have deterred the other states from accessing the RBI loan auction window. That’s the reason why Bengal’s borrowings account for almost 28 per cent of the total state government borrowings of Rs 37,023 crore till date.

Uttar Pradesh — the second highest borrower this year — has raised Rs 5,000 crore till date, less than half of what Bengal has garnered in the four-month period.

Rahul misinformed, says West Bengal Minister

KOLKATA: Reacting to the comments of AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi on the West Bengal government's ‘utilisation' of funds given by the Centre under the Rural Employment Guarantee Schemes, Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta said the Congress leader had been given incorrect information.

 

“Political statements should be countered politically but at an administrative level, I can say that the picture is the opposite of what is being portrayed,” Dr. Dasgupta told journalists.

Pointing out that the State was awaiting the release of Rs. 1,400 crore, which was its due from the Centre on the rural employment guarantee schemes, he said the people were suffering. “It is no case for petty politics.”

“Shortage of funds”

The truth was that the State was facing shortage of funds and some pancahayat bodies and zilla parishads has had to raise loans for Rs. 25 crore just to meet payment obligations to the rural folk, some of whom are in acute distress due to the drought which has hit 11 districts.

In the wake of the drought, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had written a letter on the pending payments to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Following this, Rs. 170 crore was released.

“Irresponsible”

CPIM) Central Committee member Mohd. Salim on Monday dismissed as “irresponsible” AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi's remarks at a rally here about the siphoning off of Central funds, including those for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) in West Bengal. Mr. Gandhi should instead focus on why the parallel scheme guaranteeing employment in urban areas had not been formulated, he said.

Mr. Salim said a complete audit of the funds released under the MNREGS was conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India as well as by third parties such as NGOs.

 

As a parliamentarian and senior leader of the Congress, Mr. Gandhi should have read the CAG reports and consulted the concerned Minister before making “such irresponsible statements,” Mr. Salim said.

“The State government has not been able to implement the scheme because the Centre has not been able to release funds. Finance Minster Pranab Mukherjee himself admitted recently that there had been delays in the allotment of MNREGS funds,” Mr. Salim said.

Mr. Gandhi should instead focus on why there had been no progress in the introduction of a similar scheme guaranteeing employment to the unemployed in urban areas, Mr. Salim said.

Mr. Salim was also critical of Mr. Gandhi's remarks predicting the demise of Communism in the State comparing it to the fall of the Soviet Union.

The rank and file of the Congress was depleting in West Bengal under the influence of the Trinamool Congress. This should be of greater concern to the party, he said.

THE HINDU, Published: September 7, 2010 

West Bengal govt announces pension for accredited journalists

KOLKATA: The West Bengal government on Sunday announced a post-retirement pension scheme for journalists and promised to implement a health insurance scheme for them soon.

"All accredited journalists will be given a monthly pension of Rs 2,000 after retirement. We are planning to raise this amount in the future," finance minister Asim Dasgupta said at an Independence Day function at the Press Club, Kolkata.

The minister said he had discussions with chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee about a health insurance scheme for journalists and hoped he could announce a positive decision soon in this regard.

The state government has already decided to allow free travel to journalists in state-run public transport, including buses, trams and ferries.

ALTERNATIVE ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE IN THE BENGAL BUDGET

KOLKATA(INN): The budget placed in the Assembly for 2010-1011 by the state LF government’s Finance Minister, Dr Asim Dasgupta makes a precise policy statement that permeates the budget.

Dr Dasgupta notes that in the environment of the price rise affecting the country, the welfare role of the state government, operating as it does in a limited power framework, has to be strengthened.

The main direction of the budget is thus to increase generation of employment and the income of the common people, especially the poorest of the poor.

Production has to be increased and to increase the production in agriculture and industry must be done in such a manner that employment and income of the mass of the people shall ne widely increased, special focus being on minority communities, backward classes and women.

In the case of agriculture, land reforms shall continue creating more opportunities for the poor kisans and lessening whatever remains of monopoly control in the countryside. Dasgupta maintained that the highest employment generation in the rural area continued to be from the land plots of small and marginal farmers, a thesis we recall he had propounded at a seminar way back in 1985 as a member of the state planning board.

Acquisition homestead land for the poor kisans will continue. Irrigation facilities shall increase further along with use of improved seeds, organic and bio-fertilisers, and newer agricultural techniques. The rate of growth of the state-level GDP has gone up to 4.2% as compared to (-) 0.2% for the country as a whole.

Production of cereals and lentils as well as vegetables and fish and fruits has increased as an ongoing process. The plan outlay for agriculture has been fixed as Rs 228 crore from Rs 178 crore in the last FY.

The allocation for irrigation has been increased, as has been that for forestry. The credit system for the rural banks has been made more user-friendly with adequacy of funds flow. The procurement price for agricultural products has bee widened. The average daily wage rate in the villages has gone up to Rs 83 and is increasing further.

With the demand emanating from the internal market, including a powerful rural market, increasing. Industrial development has grown apace. The potential for a take-off has been created for sectors related to small, medium, and large industries.

The investment last year in the industrial sector, Rs 7000-odd crore has been realised from 121 industrial units and has created more than 45,000 additional employments.

However, in the realm of employment generation, the self-help groups that number 10.46 lakhs top the list. They have created an additional 3.5 lakh employment last year.

Other highlights of the budget are:

• Poor APL people supplied with rice at Rs 2 per kilo

• Wage for unemployed workers of closed units increased

• An additional 44 sector workers added to the pool of unorganised workers’ benefits

• Minorities’ development budget head has been doubled

• Assistant teachers, para teachers’’ pay increased

• Newer employment schemes in the cities in the pattern of rural employment planning

• 4200 additional schools to be set up

In concluding his budget statement, Dr Asim Dasgupta said that in the path of development being chalked out by the Left Front government from 1977, the honour and privileges of the mass of the people had always been held high. The masses shall overcome as always the obstacles created by the urban and rural stakes, and the ‘people shall create history’ in the days ahead. (B PRASANT)

WB govt to provide financial assistance to Aila victims

KOLKATA: In what could provide some succour to those devastated by Cyclone Aila, the West Bengal government has decided to offer monetary assistance to over 3 lakh villagers for rebuilding their homes.

The size of the housing package isn’t known immediately. It could be anything between Rs 75 crore and Rs 350 crore, a senior official familiar with the matter told mediapersons. The state government will offer Rs 2,500 to Rs 25,000 per family depending on the extent of damage of their dwelling units. The state machinery is busy assessing the damage and puttting together a list of potential beneficiaries. The state’s finance department has firmed up the package a couple of days ago and activated banks to disburse the sum to villagers in North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas, the two worst-hit districts by Aila.

Accordingly, the state through banks will shell out Rs 25,000 per household for building a pukka home and Rs 10,000 for erecting a kuccha house. Likewise, it would offer Rs 5,000 and Rs 2,500 per family for repairing partially damaged pukka and kuccha dwelling units respectively.To avail of the benefit, villagers will need to have a savings account with any nearby bank. Incidentally, according to primary estimates, merely 20-25% of the targeted beneficiaries have bank accounts, raising questions about the success of the scheme. Given the magnitude of financial exclusion, state finance minister Asim Dasgupta has appealed to the likes of Allahabad Bank, State Bank of India, Uco Bank, United Bank of India (UBI) and West Bengal State Cooperative Bank to open zero-balance and no-frill accounts in a war footing. When contacted, UBI general manager Swapan Biswas said: The finance minister has called on select bankers just recently and made an appeal to open new bank accounts in seven days. The monetary assistance to end-users will flow via banks, It would be an daunting task for bankers by any stretch of imagination and may take at least a month.

Financial Assistance Plan per household:

For complete destruction of pukka houses: Rs 25,000

For partial damage of pukka houses: Rs 5,000

For complete destruction of kachcha houses: Rs 10,000

For partial damage of kachcha houses: Rs 2,500

VAT panel to meet Pranab by mid-June on GST

New Delhi, June 3, 2009: Confident of meeting the schedule of introducing the Goods and Service Tax in the beginning of the next fiscal, state finance ministers will meet the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee around mid-June on various issues relating to the new tax system.

"I am very happy to know that the Union Finance Minister would be having interactions with state finance ministers on many matters, including GST, and so it will be in the middle of this month we will have the meeting on the GST," VAT panel Chairman Asim Dasgupta said here. He exuded confidence that GST would be introduced in the beginning of the next fiscal, as scheduled.

"As you know, the scheduled target date for introduction of GST is April one 2010 and we want to stick to it," Dasgupta, who is West Bengal's Finance Minister, said. When asked whether he is hopeful of meeting the deadline of April one, 2010, he said,"of course."

Right now, only broad structure of GST, which would replace excise duty, service tax at the Central level and VAT at the state level has been agreed upon between the Union Government and states. It has been agreed that the new tax system would have two structures, one at the state level and another at the Centre. However, its exact rate and items to be brought under it still remain to be decided. Also, legislative action would have to be completed after an agreement is reached between the Centre and states on various aspects of GST.

"When I say it is the beginning of April one, 2010, that means before that there are certain legislative actions required and implementation starts from April one, 2010," Dasgupta said.

Before GST is introduced, its draft structure would be put on the website and interactions would be held with traders and industry to incorporate any changes in the final tax system.

"Before that (April one, 2010), we will put on the website what is the strucutre...We will have detailed interaction not only with the industry, but with the traders at the national level, at the state level also," he said.

By the time GST is introduced, Central Sales Tax (CST), which is a tax imposed on inter-state movement of goods, has to be brought to zero since it distorts the very purpose of GST of making India a common market. CST currently stands at two per cent.

When asked whether he saw any difficulty in reducing CST by the Centre to one per cent this fiscal and zero by next fiscal, Dasgupta said, "I can make any comment only after the meeting of the Empowered Committee (of state finance ministers on VAT)."

West Bengal FM to discuss cyclone aid with Pranab, Chidambaram

KOLKATA,1st June: West Bengal Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta is leaving for Delhi on Monday night to discuss the State government's demand for at least Rs 1,000 crore as cyclone relief with Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram.

A memorandum has already been prepared on the basis of sectorwise inputs on destruction caused by cyclone Aila across several districts.

Chief Secretary Asok Mohan Chakraborty, who has been asked to submit the memorandum to the Centre, has already rushed to Delhi.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will visit the cyclone-hit areas of Hingalganj and Sandeshkhali in North 24-Parganas district on Tuesday, State's Irrigation Minister Subhas Naskar told reporters after reviewing the situation with Mr. Bhattacharjee. He visited Gosaba and Basanti in South 24-Parganas district recently.

State's Disaster Management Minister Mortaza Hossain, who was also in the review meeting with the CM, said the State government had released Rs 67 crore so far. Steps had been taken to ensure relief material reaches the grassroot level immediately.

Giving details, Mr. Hossain said the death toll had climbed to 126. A total of 67 lakh people have been affected and 8.94 lakh houses destroyed.

Over 3.78 lakh people have taken shelter in 765 relief camps, he said. 

West Bengal demands Rs 1,000 cr for Aila-hit areas

New Delhi, June 02: West Bengal on Tuesday demanded at least Rs 1,000 crore from the Centre's National Calamity Contingency Fund immediately to step up relief work in the wake of the damage caused by cyclone Aila. 

After submitting a memorandum to Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram in this regard, state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta expressed hopes that the Centre would soon send a committee to assess the damage caused by the cyclone, so that the required funds from NCCF can be obtained.

 "After this meeting, it appeared that Chidambaram will form this central team very quickly," Dasgupta told reporters here. He said the central team will visit cyclone-affected parts and make a recommendation to the home ministry. To a query over Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's demand that funds should be routed from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh through gram panchayats instead of the state government, Dasgupta said, "I do not comment on everybody's comment."  Dasgupta said the total requirement for relief works is huge, estimated at Rs 1,934 crore. 

State government to continue distributing rice for Rs 2 a kg

Kolkata: After the humiliating electoral setbacks in the Lok Sabha polls, the Left Front government in Bengal has another serious concern at hand — a steep price rise that is rattling the common man.

Not taking any chances, the state government is planning to take up a few measures to tackle the situation. This was announced on Thursday by Minister for Finance Asim Dasgupta at Writers’ Buildings where he held a meeting with Minister for Food and Supplies Paresh Adhikary. “The issue of price rise has become a serious one and the chief minister has expressed grave concern over this. He is going to call a meeting with all concerned on this issue very soon,” Dasgupta said.

He, however, said that price rise was not confined to West Bengal only. “So many factors are there that determine prices. Every state has been affected by this menace. We will have to take effective measures to tackle it,” the minister said. What has become a more serious concern for the state government is the rising price of potatoes and green vegetables. Potato is now selling at Rs 16 per kg at various markets of Kolkata.

Dasgupta said the state government would be able to achieve the target of procuring 16 lakh tonnes of rice, as per the target set for this year. “We have already been able to procure 11 lakh tonnes of rice and we are sure that we will be able to procure the remaining 5 lakh tonnes in the next five months,” Dasgupta said. The finance minister said the state government was determined to continue with the scheme of distributing rice for Rs 2 a kg among the poor. “We have already allotted Rs 422 crore for this scheme,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, the state government is also planning to build more godowns for foodgrains. At present, there are 174 such godowns in the state.

 

SLANDEROUS LIES OF CONGRESS AGAINST LEFT FRONT GOVERNMENT AND REAL FACTS

BY Dr. Asim Kumar Dasgupta

On the eve of the forthcoming parliamentary elections on 5th April, 2009 the External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on behalf of the Congress Party packaged baseless lies as a “report card” against the Left Front Government in West Bengal. On the 6th of April 2009, the State Left Front Chairman and Secretary of CPI(M) State Committee Biman Basu refuted the so called facts and canards in detail. However, I am once again putting together a comprehensive rejoinder to the numerous false charges in their write-up.

Slander 1: There has been no development in education during the tenure of the Left Front Government. The percentage of drop-outs in West Bengal is 82.7% which is way above the national average, and the quality of school education in the state is very bad, etc.

Real Fact: During the tenure of the Left Front Government special priority has been given to spread access, quality and continuity in education starting from the primary level upwards. This effort is not only limited in admitting children to schools, but emphasis is also given to involving women self-help groups in mid-day meal scheme in all schools and reduce the tendency to drop out. Simultaneously attention is given to activities of school-wise mother-teacher committees, village-based education committees and school inspectors to improve the quality of education. As a result according to the latest information from NUEPA (2007), the drop-out rate in primary schools of West Bengal has gone down to 8.56% which is in fact less than the national average of 9.36%. From the same source, we learn that at the junior high school level also this rate has gone further down to 7.34%. According to the last available state-wise information published by NCERT (2005), the students of West Bengal are at the top in the nation in overall qualitative evaluation of all the subjects after the completion of fifth standard in school.

The Congress “Report” is falsely critical of the education system under Left rule; and also in effect insults the honourable teachers and the students of West Bengal while real facts are showing diametrically opposite scenario.

Slander 2: The Left Front Government has failed to provide safe drinking water to the inhabitants of the state. Using information from the National Family-wise Health Survey (2005-06) it states that while safe drinking water is provided to 84.2% and 78.4% families in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra respectively, while in West Bengal only 27.9% families have access to safe drinking water.

Real Fact: The sample survey which has been referred to in this “Report” uses a very small sample for West Bengal. While the number of total families in West Bengal is around 2.29 Crore (1.34 Crore in rural area and 0.45 Crore in urban areas), this survey takes a sample size of 5992 families, which is a meager 0.03% of the total. In sharp contrast, according to the survey conducted by the State Government in which complete information from 1.34 Crore families in 40000 villages and around 0.40 Crore families in urban areas was collected, 90.5% rural families and 96.8% urban families have access to safe drinking water. Therefore here too the actual position is are just the opposite of what has been projected in the “Report.”

However, the Left Front Government feels that there is still some more scope for improvement and targets have already been fixed to make safe drinking water available to 100% families in urban and rural areas of the state. Simultaneously steps have been taken to supervise and maintain all water projects through panchayats and municipal corporations.

Slander 3: In the area of public health nothing much has been done during the Left Front rule because the average Body Mass Index of women in West Bengal is less than the national average in comparison and so on.

Real Fact: Information on women’s health is taken from the National Family-wise Sample Survey which has a serious statistical problem of very small sample size, as mentioned earlier. According to the latest round of this survey (2005-06), as far as BMI is concerned 51.8% women in this country have normal BMI while in West Bengal this ratio stands at 49.6%. What this so called “Report” forgets to mention is that the same source of information reveals data lower than West Bengal in some other major and more affluent and developed states like Maharashtra (49.3%), Karnataka (49.2%) and Gujarat (47.0%). Moreover, according to the latest report of FAO (2008) special mention has been made of India in the area of food insecurity and problems of women’s health; and more specific and serious concerns are expressed regarding some other states like Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Orissa and Maharashtra. We feel instead of singling out a particular state by using this problem to make vulgar political points it is much more desirable to find a humane acceptable way towards solution to this problem through discussions with all the states in the country.

The progress of public healthcare in a state is ideally measured by looking at how rapidly a reduction in overall mortality rate and child mortality rate has been achieved and what has been the role of the state government in that reduction. The point to be noted here is that while only 40% patients get the opportunity to be treated in a government hospital nationally, in West Bengal 73% of the total patients get treatment in government hospitals. In the Left Front era this welfare role of the state government has been institutionalized and re-enforced; and the endeavour to provide decentralized preventive healthcare and treatment through panchayats and municipal corporations adds more strength to this emphasis, particularly on the basis of expansion of healthcare by employing more health workers. As a result of all these the latest published data of the central government (Source: SRS survey, 2007) show that mortality rate per thousand has gone down from 10.9 in 1980 to 6.3 now, which is much lower than national average of 7.4. Incidentally among the major states West Bengal has the lowest mortality rate and Kerala stands just after West Bengal at 6.4. Child mortality rate per thousand has also gone down from 91 in 1980 to 37 currently, which is lower than the national average (57) and fourth among the major states after Kerala (14), Tamil Nadu (36) and Maharashtra (37). Here one outstanding fact is that the child mortality rate decreased to even below 10 in Kolkata and the 41 adjacent municipal areas due to the involvement of the municipal corporations in the decentralized healthcare system. Moreover, this rate is even lower than the child mortality rate in municipal areas of Kerala.

If one takes all this information together the real picture becomes clear that West Bengal has come up at the top level in the country in public healthcare, but this kind of an intellectually and politically honest and principled approach would have highlighted the successes of the Left Front Government. As a result, the authors of this report and their allies would have been in a politically uncomfortable situation; and that is precisely why they created a huge gap between the reality and their slander to utilize this pack of lies politically.

Slander 4: During the Left Front Government’s tenure poverty and hunger have become significant in West Bengal. Murshidabad is the poorest district in the country and so on.

Real Fact: Information provided by the Planning Commission is the most acceptable source for comparing state-wise figures for population below the poverty line in our country. According to those statistics, during Congress rule in West Bengal in 1973-74 the percentage of population below poverty line was 63.43%, which was much higher than the national average of 54.88%. This was the intensity of poverty in the state during Congress rule. In contrast, during Left Front tenure using land reform as the basis and implementing alternative policies the percentage of population below poverty line rapidly decreased. The same Planning Commission’s latest information reveals that in the year 2004-05 this figure has come down to 20.6% which is less than national average of 21.6% unlike the Congress-ruled era in the State. Therefore, the scenario has transformed in favour of common people compared to the dismal situation during Congress government.

After knowing this what do the authors of this slander do and where can they find some faults? They incoherently quote from an article written by Dreze and Deaton (EPW, 14th February, 2009) and say that the percentage of population without adequate food intake is 11.7% which is higher than national average of 2.5%. The architects of this slanderous report either tried to exploit this article or they could not find the time to read it fully, or else they have deliberately hidden the facts. Page 45 of this article clearly mentions that these ratios were derived from a survey whose questionnaire was changed in between to a more controversial and questionable one. In the changed methodology the surveyors were instructed to write down the answers by asking questions based on completely psychological perceptions instead of asking objective and scientific questions. This methodology resulted in varied and unexplainable sets of answers from different states, and hence the authors cautioned that using this set of information may give rise to suspicious results for a state-wise comparison. Without reading this, or may be by hiding this, the authors of the Congress Report utilized this unreliable information.

That is not all. The authors forgot that the last National Sample Survey on state-wise information of food intake was published in that very year of 2004-05 based on solid objective and material information(61st round). That survey clearly spells out that in rural West Bengal per capita calorie intake is 2070 which is not only more than the national average of 2047 but also it is higher than Maharashtra (1933), Gujarat (1929), Karnataka (1845) and Tamil Nadu (1842).

West Bengal government undertook a survey in each village of each district which shows that at present the percentage of population not getting adequate food is only 3.59%. If the urban data is added to this then this ratio will go below 2.5% for the entire West Bengal. Therefore once again real facts and slander propagated as facts are absolutely different even in the matter of food intake.

The Congress report states that Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) has conducted a survey which shows that 56% of Murshidabad district’s population lives in abject poverty and this district is the poorest district in the country. We don’t know about any such survey conducted by ISI, but according to the family and district-wise survey conducted by the state government the population living in abject poverty in Murshidabad is 4.3% (not 56% as mentioned in Congress Report), and as far as this ratio is concerned Murshidabad is better than some of the districts in West Bengal itself.

However, the main reason for economic hardship of the common people of Murshidabad is the erosion of soil in the banks of the Ganga-Padma river. Since this erosion takes place along the international border the state government repeatedly petitioned the central government to treat the problem of erosion in the banks of Ganga-Padma as a crucial national level issue and the central government take adequate responsibility to solve this problem. In spite of this, the central government under both the Congress rule and the NDA rule (of which Trinamool Congress was a constituent) did not pay any attention to this legitimate demand of the people of Murshidabad. So, the majority (around Rs. 400 Crore) of the total money spent (Rs. 717.89 Crore) on preventing this erosion from 1977-78 to 2008-09 was done by the Left Front Government of West Bengal on its own.