Centre should ensure peace and harmony is maintained in India, says Mamata Banerjee at EZC meet

Banerjee, who was in Bhubaneswar to attend the Eastern Zonal Council meet presided by Home Minister Amit Shah said there was no discussion on CAA, NRC or NPR as they were not 'on the agenda'.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Home Minister Amit Shah and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during 24th Eastern Zonal Council meeting, in Bhubaneswar, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. (Photo | PTI)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Home Minister Amit Shah and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during 24th Eastern Zonal Council meeting, in Bhubaneswar, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. (Photo | PTI)

BHUBANESWAR: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday raised the issue of Delhi violence at the Eastern Zonal Council (EZC) meeting presided over by Union Home Minister Amit Shah here.

“At the beginning of the meeting, I said that I feel sad for what happened in Delhi. There is an urgent need to restore normalcy in Delhi and help the victims and affected families,” she told media persons here.

Observing that many people, including a police constable and an IB staffer, had been killed in the violence, Banerjee requested the government to ensure that peace and harmony prevailed in the country.

“If there is any problem in one part of the country, it may spread to other parts as well.  So they (Centre) should ensure that peace and harmony is maintained in the country,” she said.

Banerjee, however, said there was no discussion on National Register of Citizens (NRC), National Population Register (NPR) and Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

“There was no discussion on NRC, NPR and CAA. They were not even on the agenda. They never raised the issues, we didn’t either. There was also no discussion on law and order,” she said.

She, however, raised about the issue devolution of Central funds to Bengal adding that the state had also not received any assistance from the central government for cyclones Fani and Bulbul.

“The Centre had assured us that the state will receive GST revenue dues within two months but we are getting them after six months, leading to financial crunch,” the West Bengal Chief Minister said and added that she demanded an increase in devolution of funds to state governments.

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