KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee's meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singha fortnight ago seems to be bearing fruits slowly and steadily. The Centre has started loosening its purse strings. It has granted Bengal special central assistance (SCA) of Rs 158.35 crore forborder development. That's higher than the allocations for Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan which border Pakistan.
Officials at Writers' Buildings are upbeat over the small yet significant gesture since they have been provided with a list of allocations for 17 states by the ministry of home affairs (MHA), which shows that Bengal's share is the biggest.
The letter to chief secretary Samar Ghosh reveals that Rs 2.16 crore has been allocated for "the hilly areas of the border blocks in Darjeeling". CM Mamata Banerjee has been campaigning for special funds for Darjeeling after last year's earthquake and to strengthen her efforts to restore peace in the Hills.
Only 24 hours ago in Parliament, Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had resolved to look into Bengal's distress along with the other two debt-stressed states of Punjab and Kerala. He talked about special packages but officials at Writers' Buildings feel that Mamata's recent talks with the Prime Minister were more effective.
Having some inkling that the Centre might try to appease her with compensatory allocations, the chief minister recently told Ghosh to ask district officials to ensure that not a rupee of central funds is left unutilized. Her meeting with Singh was targeted at winning a moratorium on the Rs 22,000 crore that Bengal owes to the Centre every year as interest on loans granted over the years. Even as Mamata had made it clear that she won't settle for a development package in lieu of a moratorium or any other "half-hearted measure", both the PM and the FM had told her that an interest waiver or debt restructuring won't happen until the committee headed by Union expenditure secretary Sumit Bose submits its report.
The UPA is aware that its way of handling the bailout package for Bengal could influence Mamata's support for the Congress candidate for the presidential elections in June. The next big allocation in the border funds has gone to Rajasthan (Rs 137.73 crore) followed by Jammu and Kashmir (Rs 128 crore).
It has asked Bengal to repair roads on the borders with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan with the money allocated and secure the areas on this side of the fence. In a communique to the state government, the Centre has promised to consider funds for tourism development by including eastern India in its "Incredible India" campaign.
Officials at Writers' Buildings are upbeat over the small yet significant gesture since they have been provided with a list of allocations for 17 states by the ministry of home affairs (MHA), which shows that Bengal's share is the biggest.
The letter to chief secretary Samar Ghosh reveals that Rs 2.16 crore has been allocated for "the hilly areas of the border blocks in Darjeeling". CM Mamata Banerjee has been campaigning for special funds for Darjeeling after last year's earthquake and to strengthen her efforts to restore peace in the Hills.
Only 24 hours ago in Parliament, Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had resolved to look into Bengal's distress along with the other two debt-stressed states of Punjab and Kerala. He talked about special packages but officials at Writers' Buildings feel that Mamata's recent talks with the Prime Minister were more effective.
Having some inkling that the Centre might try to appease her with compensatory allocations, the chief minister recently told Ghosh to ask district officials to ensure that not a rupee of central funds is left unutilized. Her meeting with Singh was targeted at winning a moratorium on the Rs 22,000 crore that Bengal owes to the Centre every year as interest on loans granted over the years. Even as Mamata had made it clear that she won't settle for a development package in lieu of a moratorium or any other "half-hearted measure", both the PM and the FM had told her that an interest waiver or debt restructuring won't happen until the committee headed by Union expenditure secretary Sumit Bose submits its report.
The UPA is aware that its way of handling the bailout package for Bengal could influence Mamata's support for the Congress candidate for the presidential elections in June. The next big allocation in the border funds has gone to Rajasthan (Rs 137.73 crore) followed by Jammu and Kashmir (Rs 128 crore).
It has asked Bengal to repair roads on the borders with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan with the money allocated and secure the areas on this side of the fence. In a communique to the state government, the Centre has promised to consider funds for tourism development by including eastern India in its "Incredible India" campaign.
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