She slammed the Trinamool Congress government for “poor law and order situation” and “corruption” and sarcastically said, “Corruption, poor law and order and extortion that are making the state stand out.”
Speaking on the Trinamool’s Congress’ continuous claims on Centre withholding MGNREGA dues of Bengal, Sitharaman deliberated on how the Centre could release the funds “when there are 25 lakh fake job card holders” and noted that “it is public money, not private property.”
Sitharaman, who was speaking at a programm titled “Viksit Bharat: 2047” organized by a cultural platform of BJP, also said that the state government did not allow farmers and fishermen to get the benefits of central government schemes.
Accusing successive state governments in West Bengal of “economic mismanagement”, Sitharaman said the culture of syndicated crime and extortion has become synonymous with the state.
“In order to make Bengal’s hand work and art attain global standards, 58 items from 23 districts have been brought under “One district-one product” programme,” the Union Finance Minister said.“Rural transformation is absolutely important in eastern India. Agri productivity in Bengal is much below other paddy producing states. This is due to not enough mechanization, lack of investment in rural infrastructure, produce never reaches the local market and thus starts the sorrow story,” Sitharaman said. “Many central government schemes for Krishak and fishermen-crucial for Bengal are not reaching them,” Sitharaman said today.“Bengal is a blessed land and we don’t make much of our tourism here. We can sectorally see where we can lay emphasis and due diligence can be done,” she said talking about Bengal’s tourism opportunities.
Sitharaman said that India has moved up to become the fifth largest economy and poised to become the third largest global economy.
She said a new government will be formed after the general elections due in April-May and the BJP is confident that Prime Minister Modi will return to power with a greater majority.
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