Right when the city is gearing up for civic elections tomorrow, the state’s governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has accused the state government of “unconstitutional diversion of funds” for running the ‘Maa canteen’ scheme and sought information from the state finance secretary regarding the source and the amount spent towards running the scheme till 31 March 2021.
The Governor has been in constant loggerheads with the state government over a range of issues, the recent of which includes BSF’s jurisdiction in the state and the municipal elections. The governor has now brought serious charges against the government as he took to his social media handle to accuse the Mamata Banerjee led government of unconstitutional diversion of funds.
He explained his suspicions by reminding that then state finance minister Amit Mitra made a budget statement for the year 2021-22 where he announced the “common kitchen under Maa scheme that aims to provide two square meals a day to poor people at a subsidized rate. Under the scheme, several such canteens were to be set up across the state. For this, Dr Mitra had announced a sum of Rs 100 crore was allocated for the next financial year (2021-22).
The Governor pointed out that the statement was made on February 5, 2021, much before the starting of the financial year 2021-22. This new scheme Maa was to be operationalized for the period 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 with an allocation of Rs 100 crores. He said it was gathered from the public domain that the chief minister launched the Maa canteens in mid-February 2021. He alleged, it is thus apparent that for about a month and a half, prior to April 2021, the scheme was already functional and during this period there was no legitimate allocation to this effect.
Citing how it violates the constitution, he emphasized that Article 204(3) states that “Subject to the provisions of Article 205 and Article 206, no money shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund of the State except under appropriation made by law passed in accordance with the provisions of this article.”
The governor has now sought information from the finance secretary on the amount spent on the scheme ‘Maa’ during the financial year ending on 31 March 2021. He inquired into the source of funding and the authority that sanctioned the funds. He demanded that information sought should reach him at the earliest, not later than a week from today. Dhankhar wrote on Twitter that Amit Mitra’s silence on the Bengal Global Business Summit report card indicates all there is to hide.
Regarding this matter, Serampore MP Kalyan Banerjee has criticized Governor Dhankhar for raising a finger at the state government’s Ma Canteen scheme.
“How can he demand an explanation from the state finance secretary on the expenses incurred on Maa Canteen? He has no words of praise for the large number of beneficiary schemes implemented by the chief minister towards the welfare of the common mass,” he said.