Mamata tells Centre to cut fuel, LPG prices; will not meet with PM in Delhi

Accusing the central government of shifting the blame for the rising price of fuel on state governments, Banerjee said: “There is no point in writing a letter to the Centre (over several issues) as they do not respond. Yesterday (Wednesday), the agenda of the meeting was Covid-19, not the targeting state governments over fuel prices. Let me tell you in days to come, the fuel prices will be increased further. That’s why they are shifting the blame on state governments (before the increase). They (the Centre) have earned Rs 17.3 lakh crore from the people after increasing the fuel prices on fourteen occasions. The Centre will increase the price, then take away money from the state and will not clear our dues. But they will always shift the blame on us.”

“We feel the prices of domestic gas (LPG) must be slashed by Rs 300, which they increased in recent months. The prices of petrol and diesel must be slashed immediately. When crude oil prices had decreased globally, the Centre had not reduced the fuel prices. Why the prices were not slashed at that time?” Banerjee asked while  addressing a press conference at the state secretariat.

On Wednesday, Banerjee had joined a chorus of opposition leaders, criticising the Prime Minister for asking the non-BJP ruled state governments to reduce VAT on the fuel prices.

Banerjee, meanwhile, said during her two-day visit to Delhi, she won’t be able to have a separate meeting with the Prime Minister due to time constraints.

Banerjee will reach the national capital on Friday night to attend the ‘Chief Justices-Chief Ministers Conference’ on Saturday. She will return to Kolkata on Saturday evening.

“I will be going to New Delhi tomorrow (Friday) night and return on Saturday evening. I have engagements on the occasion of Labour Day on May 1. After that, I also have several engagements on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr celebrations. So, this time there cannot be a separate meeting with the PM,” said Banerjee.

The Chief Minister announced that her government would accommodate the students who returned home to West Bengal leaving their studies in Ukraine due to the ongoing war, and lashed out at the Centre for “not taking any responsibility of these students”.

“Even after two months, the Central government has not yet taken any responsibility for the students who returned from Ukraine. They have just asked the students to go to Poland and Hungary for their studies. But, we have come up with an idea to help these students as it is not possible for them to spend a huge amount of money again for their education in another country,” said Banerjee.

According to the state government, a total of 422 students were brought back to West Bengal from Ukraine. Out of which, 412 are medical students — 409 MBBS students and three dental students. There are also six engineering students and one veterinary student. Along with the students, there were three labourers. After a meeting with Ukraine-returned students with the Chief Minister on March 16, CVs and all other particulars from them were collected and shared with the departments concerned for their admission. For the sixth-year medical students, a total of 23 students, will be allowed to undergo an internship at the state government medical colleges as per norms.

For the fifth-year and fourth-year students (total of  135), they will be allowed to undergo ‘observing seat’ at different medical colleges in a distributed manner i.e 15-20 students per college. For the third-year and second-year students (total of172), they will be allowed to attend ‘practical classes’ at the different government colleges. For the first-year and second-year students (total of 78), all those who are NEET qualified for the current year (2021) (i.e., a total of 69 students), have been allowed to appear for counselling immediately at private medical colleges against the management quota seats for fresh admission. Colleges have been requested to offer concessions in fees charged to these students.

All six engineering students have been offered seats in private engineering colleges under the JIS group, two of them have joined while others are in the process of joining, said the release from the government.

For the dental students, one student who has completed his studies will be allowed to do his internship at Government Dental College in Kolkata, while the remaining two students in the second year will be allowed to do observership and practical classes at the government dental colleges. Veterinary student Aniket Banerjea has been provided admission at the West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences in the ensuing session. Out of the three workers, who have returned from Ukraine, two persons (Amit Biswas and Samir Biswas) have been accommodated as DRW (a casual worker) with the Nadia DM office and their families are being provided with a loan to start a small business. The third person (Suman Adhikari) has left for a job in Dubai, said the state government.