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Reminiscent of the days ahead of Presidential election when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had tried to garner support for nomination APJ Abdul Kalam to corner the UPA government, the Trinamool Congress chief on Friday returned to the social-networking website to register strong protests against the Centre’s decision to hike the diesel price by Rs 5 per litre and limiting the subsidised LPG cylinders to six per year.
Mamata accused the COngress-led UPA government of not exploring alternative options to mobilise resources and pointed to recovery of “black money” as an alternative way to raise resources, which “could have given a respite to the common people”. “One should remember, if the kitchen is hurt, the woman is hurt, then the people at large become stronger to bring about a change,” she posted on her Facebook page.
“.... the Centre should now start thinking of utilising a large amount of black money lying in the country and abroad. A substantial amount of it can be gainfully utilised for developmental work. Further, a large amount of ‘benami’ assets and funds need to be unearthed. This can also be used for development of the country,” she wrote.
Earlier, speaking to mediapersons, Mamata used the opportunity to drive home the point that there are “anomalies in sharing the financial resources between the state and central governments”.
“In a federal structure, Centre is supreme. It makes policies and impose taxes. At the same time, the Centre takes away about 70 per cent of the tax proceeds collected from the states and leave behind a meagre 30 per cent for utilisation by the states. As per the present formula, our state receives only 2.3 per cent of the total taxes collected by the Centre. My state is very much willing to provide full relief to the common people and farmers affected by the increase in prices of domestic LPG and diesel. But at the same time, Centre must allow us to collect all taxes that are now taken away by the Centre. This will enable the state to provide full relief and subsidy,” she stated.
She further said that the Central government should always hear the voice of the states to make the federal structure work. “The state government is directly connected to the roots and feels the pulse of the common people and farmers. To make the federal democracy flourish, the voice of the state must be heard,” she added.
