KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hit back at a section of the media for drawing inferences regarding her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will arrive here on May 9 on a two-day visit.
"When I don't meet the PM, media says I am always fighting. When I meet him, they say we have a deal. I am in favour of making the federal structure of India stronger. I will meet the PM during his state visit. It is my constitutional duty which I have to perform," Banerjee said during a workshop with councillors here.
Taking a swipe at the media, she said these days "anything and everything is presented as news". "Facts are not even cross-checked. Lies are spread for TRP," she said. The Trinamool Congress supremo complained that many welfare schemes have been put in the back burner as the central government stopped the flow of funds.
"They have reduced funds for Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS). There are no funds for mid-day meal scheme. How will poor students survive?
"The centre has slashed allocations for various schemes like Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Backward Region Development. So many people will be out of work if 100 Days' Work Scheme is curtailed. "I will raise all these issues with the centre," she said. Banerjee had earlier said her government will give a memorandum to Modi regarding the development of Bengal.