The BJP’s bid to negate the claims of the Trinamul Congress that the Election Commission of India did not allow the Bengal government to release funds to the victims of the recent storm in north Bengal to build new homes has fallen flat.
The BJP, which lagged behind chief minister Mamata Banerjee in reaching out to the affected people in different stretches of Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar districts where the storm razed several houses on March 31, depended heavily on a letter sent by the EC.
In the three districts, Lok Sabha elections will be held on April 19.
On Monday, Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, posted on X a letter issued to the chief electoral officer (CEO), Aariz Aftab, by Rakesh Kumar, a secretary of the EC, on April 9. The letter mentions that ex-gratia can be provided to the affected families at the existing rates without involving any political functionary.
“The Election Commission of India, on the 9th of April, 2024, granted exemption for payment of Ex Gratia & House Building Grant (H.B. Grant) from Model Code of Conduct (MCC). This message was conveyed to the West Bengal Government on the 9th of April, 2024 itself, so that the People of Mainaguri & Jalpaiguri who lost their homes in the devastating tornado, could receive the House Building Grant as soon as possible (sic),” Adhikari wrote in his post.
“Thus there is no embargo on the release of funds for Disaster Management & Civil Defence Development, a large chunk of which is provided by the Central Govt through NDRF,” he added.
Soon after his post, Raju Bista, the Darjeeling MP who is contesting as the BJP candidate from the seat for the second time, made a similar post on his X-handle.
The posts sought to disprove the claims by Mamata and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee that the EC had not granted permission to the state to disburse Rs 1.20 lakh each to construct new dwelling units.
Trinamul, on its official X handle, posted that the EC had granted permission only to distribute the ex-gratia, that is, Rs 5,000 for those whose houses had been partially damaged and Rs 20,000 for those whose homes had been completely destroyed.
“BJP knows they are losing Jalpaiguri, so they have started misleading people and don’t want the houses of storm-affected people to be repaired. Instead of being on the ground and assisting those in need, BJP leaders are indulging in disruptive propaganda,” read the post by Trinamul.
Senior state government officials have explained that “existing rates” to repair houses damaged in natural calamities are — Rs 20,000 for houses that were severely damaged and Rs 5,000 for partially damaged houses. A sum of Rs 1.20 lakh is given to the rural poor under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) to construct new houses.
“So, if the EC exempts the payment of the ex-gratia and the house building grant from the ambit of the model code of conduct (MCC), it clearly means the poll panel has allowed to release Rs 20,000 and Rs 5,000 to the victims based on the intensity of the damage,” said an official.
Another bureaucrat in Nabanna said he was not aware that the EC had given permission to release Rs 1.20 lakh to the victims for constructing new dwelling units.
“So far I know, permission was given to release Rs 20,000 to those whose houses were completely destroyed and Rs 5,000 to those whose houses were partially damaged. The funds have already been transferred to the bank accounts of the victims,” the official said.
None in the CEO’s office was ready to comment on the issue.
On Monday evening, sources in the Jalpaiguri district administration said they had started transferring Rs 40,000 to the homeless families, who were earlier provided with the ex-gratia of Rs 20,000.
While addressing public meetings in Cooch Behar and Alipurduar, Mamat said her government would provide funds to the homeless people under the housing scheme.
