Trinamool Congress attacks government for refusing to transfer resources

NEW DELHI: The Trinamool Congress on Monday hit out at the Centre for refusing federal transfer of resources to bail out state governments like West Bengal, experiencing severe financial crisis. Participating in a debate on the budget in the Rajya Sabha, Trinamool member Sukhendu Sekher Roy said the Centre should share revenue with Bengal as also other states on 50-50 basis rather than the Centre taking the major chunk.

“When we look at the budget, a very unpleasant question comes into my mind whether we are living as a federation,” Roy asked. The Trinamool member also hit hard at the Centre and said that the Centre should not expect state governments to “move around with a begging bowl”.

Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley, who spoke before the Trinamool member, charged the government with bringing retrograde laws through the budget. “You have slipped into the budget, in the Customs Act, the bail provisions of POTA and TADA,” he said. He called for “proportionality of the offences and the manner in which the law deals with offenders.”