The cash-strapped Mamata Banerjee government has sought Rs 2,000 crore from the Centre to implement the Nation... Read More

KOLKATA: The cash-strapped Mamata Banerjee government has sought Rs 2,000 crore from the Centre to implement the National Food Security Act.

Though Mamata doesn't quite share a congenial relationship with the Modi government and the state BJP has been taking her government head-on on a host of issues, the undercurrent could not dissuade her from sending an emissary to Delhi to ask for Rs 5 crore "immediately" and additional food grains worth Rs 1,200 crore, along with the Rs 2,000 crore related to the Food Security Act.

State food minister Jyotipriya Mallick went to Delhi on Friday to meet Union ministers Arun Jaitley (finance), Ram Vilas Paswan (food) and Radha Mohan Singh (agriculture) and table the demands. The food minister told TOI, "We have asked for an immediate disbursal of Rs 5 crore for setting up PDS vigilance vans - Rs 3 crore of it will be needed for advertisements etc." He added, "We have told the Centre that Didi wants 100% coverage of the Food Security Act and not 65% as being suggested. For this, we'll need Rs 2,000 crore."

Mamata has been blaming the Centre for the non-implementation of the Food Security Act. She also rejected a meeting with the Union food and public distribution minister last month as the latter turned down her government's plea to extend the deadline for implementing the act by six months. The earlier deadline for the National Food Security Act was July 4.

The state food minister has also submitted to his Union counterpart an extra allocation of food grains for PDS worth Rs 1,200 crore.

Mallick said the immediate disbursal of Rs 5 crore would be needed for better monitoring of the PDS in Bengal and "small-sized cars" to ensure door-step delivery to the poor.

The state government, Mamata had said, was awaiting the report of the 14th Finance Commission on West Bengal's financial demands. The debt-ridden Bengal government had in November last year placed a proposal before the 14th Finance Commission demanding Rs 2,55,000 crore for five years (2015-20) to improve the state's physical and social infrastructure.

Repeated meetings with the previous UPA government on a moratorium on repayment of the state's debt yielded no result. The state has been pressing for a three-year moratorium on its debt servicing loan payment.

On June 9, state finance minister Amit Mitra reiterated the demand at a meeting with Union finance minister Arun Jaitley with state finance ministers. He placed a 10-point demand before Jaitley, including a list of government schemes which needed funding from the Centre.

