West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose, in his inaugural address to the state assembly, on Wednesday urged the Centre to release funds to the state for benefit of the poor people.

His speech comes after the Mamata Banerjee government and the ruling TMC time and again accused the Centre of “not releasing funds” to the state.

"There are three areas where the state could have done better - MGNREGA, rural housing, and rural roads. Till 2021-22, West Bengal has been number one in these areas. But this year, the state is yet to receive funds from the Centre," the governor said in his address to the assembly.

He also said, "I hope, the Centre would release the funds soon in the interest of poor people. And I am sure, West Bengal will continue to hold the No-1 place in MGNREGA, rural housing, and rural roads as soon as it gets its dues from the central government." Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari claimed that the governor was just reading out the speech prepared by the state government.

"Whatever the governor has said in the House is just a norm as he has to read out the speech that the state government has prepared. We don't agree with what he said during the address," Adhikari told reporters.

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