After the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) released a report alleging fraud and siphoning of funds by the West Bengal government, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on February 2 wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating that the allegations were false and her government had provided all utilisation certificates.
The sanction orders issued by various Ministries of the Government of India clearly stated that “there are no pending Utilisation Certificates of the preceding period”, she mentioned in the letter.
“Hence, it is really shocking to note that the high office of reputed Constitutional institution like the C&AG could make such observations which are incorrect and have been made without application of due diligence and examination of the procedures for submission of Utilisation Certificates as per Government of India guidelines,” she said.
Ms. Banerjee pointed out in the letter that “such erroneous reports give a misleading picture and are unfortunately being used by some people for false propaganda against the state administrative machinery”.
A number of BJP leaders, including BJP State president Sukanta Majumdar, had described it as the “mother of all scams”. According to the BJP leadership, the report highlighted that the State government had not provided over 2.4 lakh utilisation certificates, which were required to be submitted for completed projects within a fixed time. The total money involved was around ₹1.95 lakh crore.
Addressing a public gathering in Kolkata, the Chief Minister said that the details mentioned in the CAG report were misleading. “All institutions have become party offices of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). CAG has no information and all the reports and on distorted facts,” she said.
Ms. Banerjee sat on a dharna on Friday demanding the release of MGNREGS funds in the interest of the poor in the State.
“Considering the seriousness and gravity of this matter, I would request your kind intervention and ensure that the funds legitimately due to the State of West Bengal are immediately released in the interest of the poor people of the State,” she said, adding that Centre should not use one pretext after another to stop releasing funds to the State.
