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Bengal preparing Rs 1.5 lakh crore economic rehabilitation plan: Mamata Banerjee
Banerjee had earlier urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to spend at least six percent of the GDP to fight the crisis and announce a National Economic and Health Package worth Rs 10 lakh crore for the state governments. The state has also been demanding its due of Rs 50,000 crore.
The West Bengal government will come up with a six-month long economic rehabilitation plan involving Rs 1.5 lakh crore to deal with the crisis arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday.
“I want to congratulate the economic task force I had set up. It has prepared a six-month long economic rehabilitation plan involving Rs 1.52 lakh crore. The task force headed by the state finance secretary has prepared the plan and it is now being examined by the state government,” Banerjee said, without divulging further details.
Banerjee had earlier urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to spend at least six percent of the GDP to fight the crisis and announce a National Economic and Health Package worth Rs 10 lakh crore for the state governments. The state has also been demanding its due of Rs 50,000 crore.
The chief minister said that around 2500 people from Bengal who are stranded at Kota in Rajasthan were being brought back in 101 buses. It will take three days for them to reach Bengal.
The government is also planning to allow stand-alone shops to reopen from Monday. Economic activities such as construction work, certain factories and public transport are also expected to start in districts that come under a ‘green zone’ the chief minister said.
The local police will do a survey and decide on which shops could be reopened. Eight districts of the 23 districts in Bengal are in the green zone while four are in the red zone.
“The Centre had asked states to allow shops to reopen while at the same time asking them to strictly maintain the lockdown. There is a lack of clarity. We had approached the Centre and are waiting for clarity,” she added.
Coming down heavily on the Bharatiya Janata Party, without naming the saffron party, for repeatedly attacking the Trinamool Congress-led government on various issues, Banerjee said that they were like vultures, which wait for people to die so that they can make an issue out of it and play politics.
“I am also a human being. I am not getting any sleep. I am having severe headache since yesterday. Whom shall I tell all these things to? We are doing overtime and double duty. I condemn those who are resorting to such things,” she added
Banerjee also challenged the BJP leaders to come down to the streets and sweep the roads and clean hospitals.
“Keep the roads and hospitals clean. Work like Florence Nightingale. Stay beside Covid-19 patients and help the health department and police,” she said.
