Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman charged that several welfare schemes introduced by PM Modi have not reached the people of West Bengal due to CM Mamata Banerjee's reluctance to permit their implementation.
She said among the schemes the people of the state are being deprived of are Ayushman Bharat, PM Kisan and Awaas Yojana.
"An atmosphere of terror has been created in the state by the TMC. West Bengal has been destroyed by the party," the finance minister said.
"Your money was ready in Delhi, but the TMC government has not allowed that to be spent here," she claimed.
Accusing the TMC dispensation of indulging in financial irregularities during the implementation of several schemes, she claimed that only being part of syndicates of the ruling party can assure one of the benefits in West Bengal.
"The poor people of the state are not getting the benefits of free ration given by the Centre under the PDS scheme, but the state's minister is eating away with the funds meant for it," she said.
Sitharaman said scams like school jobs and PDS (Public Distribution System) have taken place in the state, leading to the arrest of former ministers Partha Chatterjee and Jyotipriya Mallick by central investigating agencies.
Both are currently out on bail.
"Even funds under the midday meal scheme for the students were misappropriated by using bogus names of beneficiaries," she alleged, while addressing a cotton weavers' conference of the BJP's handloom and weaver cell at Kalna in Purba Bardhaman district.
The minister said that under the TMC rule in West Bengal, people have to give money to syndicates to get every work done or receive benefits of welfare schemes.
"A BJP government in the state will ensure people receive benefits of all central welfare schemes, along with new schemes the new government will roll out," she said.
The finance minister asserted that "syndicate raj will be ended in the state".
Stating that around 3.7 lakh people in West Bengal are involved in handloom saree production, Sitharaman said this is an asset which should be incentivised and given all kinds of assistance, "but the TMC government provides them with no support".
Sitharaman said that powerlooms and the import of cotton sarees from countries like Bangladesh are a challenge to the handloom industry in the state.
She said that in West Bengal, there has been a reduction in handlooms by about 60 per cent, while daily earnings have dropped by over 50 per cent.
"But I want to assure you that this situation will change," she said, asserting that the BJP will win the 2026 assembly elections in the state by defeating the Trinamool Congress.
She said the Prime Minister Viswakarma Yojana will benefit the weavers, but the Mamata Banerjee government is denying people its benefits.
She said the 'Chai Srameek Protsahan Yojana', which can benefit over three lakh tea garden workers in north Bengal, was not implemented by the TMC government.
Sitharaman said tea garden workers in Assam benefited around Rs 400 crore from the project, but West Bengal's tea garden workers did not receive the benefits because of the state government's reluctance to implement it.
"Funds are ready, but Mamata Banerjee is not allowing it in the state," she said.
With inputs from PTI
