West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee Meets Prime Minister Modi, Urges Timely Release Of 'Pending' Central Funds

In a recent development, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the release of pending central funds for the state.

After the meeting, Banerjee shared that the Prime Minister suggested a joint meeting with state and central officials to address the outstanding issues.

Speaking to the media as reported by Economic Times, Banerjee mentioned that 155 central teams had already visited West Bengal but no breakthrough has reached yet.

Banerjee highlighted the constitutional obligation to pay MGNREGA workers and expressed disappointment that the budget for 2022-23 did not allocate funds for 100 days of work.

On a related note, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had earlier countered claims of outstanding GST dues from the Centre, labeling the narrative as a "misnomer."

Sitharaman had clarified that states, including West Bengal, have yet to submit their Auditor General's (AG) reports.

Notably, West Bengal has not submitted the AG's report for the fiscal year 2019-20 through the first quarter of 2022-23, hindering the release of funds.