West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday demanded action against a section of capitalists who have allegedly amassed over Rs 100 lakh crores of unaccounted money in foreign banks.
Bhattacharjee said that some rich people in the country deposited over Rs 100 lakh crores of black money in Swiss or German banks, while a large section of people remained in poverty. "Who are they? We demand steps against them," he said at a function marking the 114th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as 'Desh Prem Divas'.
"Netaji wanted the country to run on the path of socialism and uphold socialist economy after Independence for the benefit of all sections of people. But the country is now under the grip of this 'nasty' capitalism," he said.
Bhattacharjee said that a select few cannot be allowed to remain affluent at the cost of the majority. The chief minister also demanded action against the "unscrupulous elements" involved in the 2G scam.
Netaji had dreamt of a socialist economy in independent India with the state's control on major sectors and welfare programmes for the poor, Bhattacharjee said. But unfortunately, he said, market economy had taken a firm root in the country. Welfare policies remained outside the realm of practice and the basic problems remained unsolved even after 64 years of independence.
{{/usCountry}}Netaji had dreamt of a socialist economy in independent India with the state's control on major sectors and welfare programmes for the poor, Bhattacharjee said. But unfortunately, he said, market economy had taken a firm root in the country. Welfare policies remained outside the realm of practice and the basic problems remained unsolved even after 64 years of independence.
{{/usCountry}}Bhattacharjee, after garlanding the statue of Netaji near Raj Bhavan, said the state government had declared the day as 'Desh Prem Divas'. He also urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to declare the same nation wide. District administrations, school, college and other educational institutions have been instructed to observe Netaji's birthday as the 'Desh Prem Divas', he said.