Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday issued her rebuttal of Amit Shah’s charges on Bengal’s growth and infrastructure, urging him to do his homework and run a fact-check on things he said in public as he was the Union home minister, before demanding a treat of Gujarati cuisine from him.
The Bengal chief minister, with relatively less belligerence, addressed a news conference at Nabanna in the afternoon to counter Shah’s allegations regarding the lack of development in the state.
Every answer, I have given. Now Amit Shah owes me a treat,” said Mamata.
“I want to have Gujarati food, including dhokla (a vegetarian dish made with a fermented batter derived from rice and split chickpeas)…. Something else too, Dineshda (Trivedi) gets for me, I can’t recall the name… but I love it. He (Shah) has to treat me to good dhokla and that other thing,” she added.
Mamata said Shah had said a lot of things at his news conference on Sunday, but the likes of the Union home minister and the Prime Minister should make sure what they were saying was correct.
“I make mistakes too…. If I say incorrect things, I rectify them. There is no shame in it…. Bengal means a bad state. Bengal means there has been no development. Bengal means there is no employment…. Now, the shiny, thriving Bengal makes you envious, prompting you to say such things. Speak the truth in your criticism, I have no objection. If you don’t, every statement will be challenged,” she said.
Some of the key points raised by the Trinamul Congress chief follow.
GDP and industry
What Shah said: Bengal is in the 20th place in industrial production. It occupies the 16th place in terms of rate of increase of the state GDP. A child born now will have interest burden of Rs 50,000 on their head, because of the state’s debts
Mamata’s response: The Centre’s data, as of July 31, 2020, state in terms of GVA (current prices) of the industry sector, Bengal is fourth in India. The Centre’s data, on the same date, say Bengal is in second place nationally, in terms of growth of the state GDP. Debt as a percentage of the GSDP in 2010-11 was 40.65 per cent, lowered to 33.3 in 2019-20.
The Centre says Bengal is the number one state in poverty alleviation, in 100-day employment guarantee, in rural housing, rural roads… development in sectors such as micro, small and medium enterprises, in e-tendering and e-governance. “Our GSDP has increased by over 2.6 times, and over one crore jobs have been created in our tenure.”
Healthcare
What Shah said: Bengal is in the 23rd place in terms of beds for every 1,000 patients. Thirty-nine per cent of appointment of doctors remains to be done. Appointment not done for 87 per cent of specialty and surgeons.
Mamata’s response: There are 85,642 beds now in state-run hospitals, compared to the 58,647 beds in 2011. The state now has 15,338 doctors, compared to 4,800 in 2011 and the doctor to population ratio in Bengal is 0.59 per thousand, which is the second highest in the country.
Education
What Shah said: Ninety per cent primary schools have no desks, 30 per cent do not have adequate classrooms, 10 per cent have no electricity, 56 per cent have no toilets.
Mamata’s response: Over 93 per cent schools have furniture, around five per cent do not have adequate classrooms, over 99 per cent have electricity, every school has toilets.
Roads
What Shah said: Roads are in a bad condition.
Mamata’s response: The state government has built 88,846km of rural roads since 2011, the most in the country. Over 13,700km of the 19,689km of state highways are in very good condition. Work is going on for further improvement of 3,865km.
Power
What Shah said: The quality of electricity is not up to the mark.
Mamata’s response: Cent per cent electrification was achieved in 2018. There is excess capacity and no shortage of supply. Average power availability across the state in 23.7 hours a day.
Bengal is one of the eight states in the country, according to the Centre, which supply 24x7 power. Quality power provided to all segments of consumers, low-voltage problems eliminated.
