Kolkata, Aug 6 (IANS) BJP’s Information Technology Cell Chief and the party’s central observer for West Bengal, on Wednesday, accused the Mamata Banerjee-led state government of misusing Rs 120 crore of Central funds granted to state government for implementation of the police modernisation schemes.
“Mamata Banerjee uses the supposedly professional West Bengal Police force as her Gestapo, but she has failed them when it comes to implementing Police Modernisation Schemes — Rs 120 crore in central funds wasted over the last five years! Despite repeated appeals and ample central allocations, the West Bengal Government has miserably failed to implement critical national schemes designed to strengthen law and order,” Malviya said in a social media statement made on Wednesday evening.
There, Malviya also explained why during the last five years, the West Bengal government received negligible funds under the Assistance to States for Modernization of Police (ASUMP) scheme.
According to him, this was because the West Bengal government repeatedly failed to submit timely utilisation certificates (UCs) and action plans under the sachem,
He also pointed out that year after year, the Union government allocated funds under the scheme, but non-compliance and mounting unspent balances continued. According to him, Rs 69 crore under this head remained unspent as of April 2022, while Rs 39 crore remained unspent as of April 2023 and Rs 11 crore as of April 2024.
He also said that a total of Rs 119 crore was blocked from being used to modernise the West Bengal Police, which according to him, was not because of bureaucratic delay but because of a deliberate governance failure.
“The Trinamool-led Government is actively undermining police capability, public safety, and national security by failing to follow norms that every other state complies with. While other States are equipping and modernising their police forces, West Bengal is sitting on unspent crores, paralysing its internal security system,” Malviya added.
In another social media statement posted also on Wednesday evening, Malviya launched scathing criticism against Mamata Banerjee over her comments earlier on the day where she announced that her administration will not take any action against the four election officers in the state against whom the Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed immediate suspension and lodging of affairs for their involvement in the wrongful addition of names in the electoral rolls of two Assembly seats should be considered as the commission’s first note of caution for all involved in the electoral process in the state.
“From shielding goons and corrupt officials to defending fake voter data manipulation in Moyna, Baruipur Purba, and beyond — Mamata Banerjee is no longer just turning a blind eye. She is now leading the assault on fair and free elections. Despite clear directives from the Election Commission of India (ECI) to register FIRs against EROs and AEROs for inserting fake voters, Bengal’s Chief Minister refuses to comply. Instead, she openly defies the EC,” Malviya’s statement in the matter read.
According to him, such a statement from the Chief Minister was not just defiance but rather a constitutional crisis in the making. “The system is broken. The law is mocked. Democracy is under threat,” Malviya added.
–IANS
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