Stop playing blame game, Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh tells Mamata govt

KOLKATA: Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Monday asked the state government to stop playing the “blame game” and act to get the state back on its feet, days before an MHA team comes to Bengal to make a damage assessment of Cyclone Amphan.
“People in the city are suffering for the last five days. They are left to fend for themselves without drinking water and electricity. The government is turning its back on the problem and making CESC the scapegoat,” he said.
Ghosh also expressed doubts over the utilisation of disaster funds. “We want to visit affected areas and find out if victims are getting support. But the chief minister isn’t allowing us to reach out to those areas. The Centre released Rs 1,339 crore for Aila-affected areas in 2009, when Left Front was in power. Mamata Banerjee formed the government in 2011. This government has submitted utilisation certificates for work amounting to Rs 525 crore only. Utilisation certificates for Rs 814 crore are pending. A major portion of this fund is related to embankment repair. We have urged the Centre to make direct cash transfers to victims as far as possible,” he said.
“What is the guarantee that the state will properly utilise central funds when the CM has claimed that Amphan damage in the state amounts to more than Rs 1 lakh crore,” he added.
Ghosh cited incidents of the nurse agitation at KPC Ray Hospital in Jadavpur and police unrest at Garfa police station to target the CM on the administration front. “Why are all these happening? A few days ago, a block development officer from Tapan in Dakshin Dinajpur died on way to a hospital in Siliguri because the administration couldn’t provide treatment in Dinajpur or Malda,” Ghosh said.