Misuse of Public Money by Bengal Govt.

Govt trapped in Mamata's populism

By Ajanta Chakraborty | Feb 5, 2013, 06.51 AM IST

KOLKATA: Who is right - the chief minister or her finance minister? When CM Mamata Banerjee claims that her government has fulfilled 90% of her development programme, finance minister Amit Mitra fusses and frets just to make ends meet, what to speak of development.

Mamata's magical numbers apart, data from the finance department bears out the kind of challenge the finance minister is trying to come to grips with.

The state has to spend Rs 25,561 crore in debt servicing and Rs 40,000 crore towards salaries and pension. These two add up to Rs 65,561 crore. And on the revenue side of the balance sheet, the picture is hardly comforting.

The Mamata Banerjee government has improved its tax mobilization, and along with the non-tax revenue, the income comes to Rs 34,885 crore. Add to it another Rs 21,976 crore that the state gets as its share of central tax and duties, and Bengal has an income of Rs 56,851 crore. Its liability is Rs 65,561 crore, leaving a gap of Rs 8,700 crore.

What's significant, this is minus the allocations under the plan head. But what about the Rs 20,000 crore central grant that Bengal receives for central projects? State finance officials say that the fund is project specific and cannot be used for meeting non-plan expenses.

Even while funding the Rs 17,000 crore plan allocation the state cannot use the Rs 20,000 central grants as it wishes to. The central grant is released in tranches only after the government furnishes utilisation certificates for the work done.

That explains why Mamata Banerjee had once asked for untied funds from the Centre to come out of the debt trap. The government has rephrased its demand of late, and is asking for a moratorium on central loans, but the purpose is the same - to get money that will help the government leverage the expenditure under different heads, both plan and non-plan.

People in Bengal appreciated the difficulty because Mamata Banerjee inherited a debt-burden of Rs 1.98 lakh crore left behind by the Left Front government.

What next? The finance rule book says that the state government has to curb revenue expenditure, and raise its own generation to bridge the gap. Amit Mitra has done the second. He increased tax mobilization in the first and second quarters in the present fiscal. But the chief minister did little to enforce austerity.

On the contrary, the CM went ahead with extra-budgetary pay-outs like Rs 40.09 crore to 2,395 para clubs, Rs 126 crore as honorarium to Imams and Muezzins, organizing festivals, embarking upon elaborate district tours and announcing hundreds of jobs off hand.

"A debt restructuring should essentially be preceded by a set of austerity measures," said Dipankar Dasgupta, former professor of economics at Indian Statistical Institute. "Even if the new government did not indulge in such unproductive expenditure, the money at their disposal would not have been very large, thanks to bad inheritance," conceded the ISI economist. But he can't help saying that the government is overspending on the non-plan revenue account.

However, the government isn't listening. In the last 20 months, not a single audit committee meeting was convened at Writers' Buildings. The quarterly audit meet - a norm for two decades now - is crucial for identifying deficiencies and plugging loopholes and fixing responsibility for financial irregularities.

Officials said most of the 52 government departments have not bothered to reply to audit queries so far and the lack of audit committee meetings would have a spiralling effect on the coffers.

Instead, a proper investment in infrastructure would have helped the government fetch private investments, generate jobs and thus give a push to tax mobilization. The ISI economist cited instances of poorer states such as Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha that have managed much higher tax-GSDP figures.

So when Amit Mitra meets the Union finance minister in Delhi for a palliative, the Centre may ask him to submit a consolidated road map for recovery that is pending since the days of former Bengal finance minister Asim Dasgupta. His successor hasn't been able to able to give a roadmap either.



Related Story: Bengal's money crunch - A damn untruth!

Press Council of India critical of Mamata's dictatorship

Mamata Banerjee intolerant, wants only yes men: PCI chief Markandey Katju

By FnF Correspondent

Kolkata: Terming West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as "intolerant", Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju Sunday said she only wants "yes men" around her. However, he praised her for feeling for the 'aam aadmi'.

"I had praised her earlier...She has got the good quality of integrity. I think she feels for the aam aadmi," said Katju.

"But she must realise that in democracy you have to act in a democratic manner. This is the defect in her. She is very intolerant," he said at a Calcutta Press Club programme.

The press council chief's criticism of the chief minister came on a day the local media reported about the disciplinary proceedings launched against an Indian Police Service officer for writing two books critical of the government.

"She is not prepared to listen to others. You have to listen to others. Ultimately you take the decision yourself, but after getting good advice," said Katju, a retired Supreme Court judge.

Quoting Chanakya - the shrewd minister of Maurya emperor Chandragupta - Katju said: "A good ruler is he who appoints good advisers and listens to good advisers."

He quoted a saying in Hindi which means if the king says cat has carried away the camel, you must say yes. "Yes, this is the defect of your chief minister," he said.

"She wants yes men. But you must not have yes men around you," he warned.

The apprentice who would be king

POLITICALLY INCORRECT

The apprentice who would be king

SHOBHAA DE 13.11.11

“We need Rahul Gandhi to look after all of us,” said Digvijay Singh without cringing or blushing. Digvijay is 64 years old. And Rahul, 41.What exactly was Digvijay Singh thinking when he made that rather astonishing statement? And who is ‘we’? The people of India? The Congress Party? Digvijay Singh’s immediate family? What sort of ‘looking after’ was he referring to? Physical and emotional well-being? Spiritual succour? Political leadership? Who knows? Diggy has spoken! And going by his recent, unchallenged utterings, it is safe to assume he speaks for ‘the family’. And that includes the extended family around Rahul Gandhi. 
    As the officially designated Good Shepherd, Rahul is expected to provide the much-needed booster shot to a party that is dithering and struggling to hang together. Too many brains, too much ambition and lots at stake. Plus, the rather grim possibility of a couple of heads ready to roll in the near future. Takleef ki baat hai -—no leader, no rudder. Just a good-looking, earnest young man trying hard to fit into a role he doesn’t particularly enjoy. It is almost as if all this responsibility is being thrust on the poor chap and he is being force-fed on a daily diet of sycophancy to make everything seem better. For all his good manners and charm, Rahul looks and behaves like a well- meaning apprentice working in a PSU. An intern learning the ropes under the critical gaze of a billion people. It’s tough being Rahul Gandhi. But then again, what choice does he have? 
    If Sonia indeed does slide over to ease sonny boy into her own, highly privileged position, there won’t be a squeak of protest. If that happens and Rahul gets to cut his teeth on steering the shaky party (with a li’l help from mama) to safer ground, will Rahul get promoted to the next level, and have India’s prime ministership thrust on him? Zero resistance guaranteed. Even from those ministers who are spending more time these days on fixing each other than on earning their keep. Better a Rahul, than a rival! 
    Corporate India will be overjoyed as well. Rahul is seen as ‘one of us’, and everybody is comfortable with him. Besides, as business honchos have shrewdly concluded, rather a wet-behind-the ears Rahul, than any of the Machiavellian present lot gunning for the top job. Poor Rahul is no ‘game changer’. But he is a welcome distraction. The media loves him – he is photogenic, young and reasonably articulate. He is no threat to anyone. And it is understood, Rahul can be ‘managed’ quite effortlessly, if handled right. So far, ‘Team Rahul’ is lying low, perhaps waiting to test the waters before unveiling ‘The Plan for the Prince’. It’s the right strategy. Playing it cool is definitely the way forward, and Rahul’s minders are making sure he doesn’t overstate his case or credentials. 
    For a person who has no real qualifications, has not held a ministerial post, moving to the top of the heap may prove to be a little tougher than envisaged. But throughout history, there have been inexperienced young princes groomed and licked into shape by senior courtiers and family elders. 
    Again, comparing Rahul’s trajectory to his father’s is not fair. Rajiv was plucked out his comfort zone and thrust into a brand new role because of a ghastly personal tragedy. The mood of the nation was gloomy… India was grieving. It’s a different story now. The only grief we know has to do with corruption and poor governance. Is Rahul Gandhi the right person to lead a frontal attack against both? Can he play the Knight in Shining Armour and fix the naughty boys within his own party before tackling the rest? Today’s young Indian is impatient, aggressive and demanding. Deliver or else, is how it works. Rahul Gandhi has to deliver. Dropping in on unsuspecting, poverty-stricken villagers to break bhakris with them can only take Rahul this far. If he does indeed take the leap of faith required to lead India as prime minister, he will have to do much better than that. As reality shows go, there can be no better concept than India itself. Today, we have a Sushil Kumar, the toast of the country after winning Rs 5 crore on KBC. Sushil Kumar has The Big B to thank for his luck turning overnight. But The Big G (Rahul) has it tougher by far. He will have to hold out a comparable promise to an entire generation of hungry Indians waiting to hit the jackpot. 
    In case Rahul Baba gets stuck, who will bail him— and us —out? Any answers, Diggyji?

HEIR AND NOW: Rahul Gandhi has to do more than break bread with villagers to find his footing in politics

Mamata's Police Station act get defended by 'educated' person of West Bengal

Politics News | Updated Nov 09, 2011 at 10:57pm IST

Mamata's police station act raises eyebrows

Priyanka Gupta, CNN-IBN

Click to play video

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has raised eyebrows by virtually storming into a police station and demanding the release of party cadre arrested for rioting and arson.

She asked policemen at the Bhowanipore police station in Kolkata to release two Trinamool members who had been arrested for rioting, arson and ransacking a police station on Sunday night.

Opposition CPM called it a dangerous act by a state chief minister.

An immersion party had allegedly stormed the police station in her constituency, entered into a scuffle and destroyed buses, all because they were asked not to burst crackers and play loud music in front of a hospital.

Mamata Banerjee, who is also the state's home minister, rushed in within minutes apparently to sooth frayed nerves.

The opposition CPM hit out alleging that the unusual move by Mamata was only to release the detained Trinmaool workers.

"This is completely unbecoming of her has a chief minister because in the past no CM has ever visited a thana to release party activists. It's a dangerous precedent when a CM behaves like student union leader," said Biman Bose.

However, West Bengal Governor M K Narayanan said that the chief minister actually helped prevent more violence.

Mamata's party also sprang to her defence calling it her hands-on style of governance.

"It's such a baseless allegation that I will not dignify it with a comment. It shows that she is a people's chief minister who cares," said Derek O'Brien.

The police meanwhile have registered a case against unknown people. An internal inquiry report slams the conduct of its own people.

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