WB's industrial wealth threatened by Modi's 'crony capitalist' policies: Cong

The Congress on Friday alleged that West Bengals industrial wealth is threatened by the Modi governments crony capitalist policies and asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will give a written guarantee that he will not sell public sector steel plants such as Durgapur to his friendsCongress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions to the prime minister ahead of his Lok Sabha poll rallies in West BengalCan the PM commit that he wont sell Durgapur Steel Plant to his friends Why has the BJP failed to increase the MSP for paddy Does the PM prioritise his PR over vaccines for Indias children Ramesh said in his post on XElaborating on what he said were jumla details Ramesh alleged that West Bengals industrial wealth is threatened by the Modi governments crony capitalist policiesAmidst SAILs privatisation drive and the PMs attempt to sell steel plants in Salem Vishakhapatnam Bhadravathi and Bastar there is a fear that Durgapur Steel Plant will also be sold to one of PM Modis industrialist friends he claimedPrivatisation of the plant would endanger thousands of livelihoods and disrupt the economic life of Durgapur he saidThe privatisation of the Durgapur Steel Plant would also be a knockout blow to the small and medium suppliers and contractors who support the plant at a time when MSMEs in Bengal have already been severely impacted by the triple threat of demonetisation GST and the unplanned lockdown Ramesh arguedBengal has also suffered from the Modi Sarkars neglect postCOVID many fertiliser factories were set up by Central Government across India but no initiatives were taken up for the plants in Durgapur and Haldia he saidWill the PM who is demanding written commitments from the Congress give a written guarantee that he will not sell public sector steel plants like Durgapur to his friends Ramesh saidHe further said that Bardhaman the rice bowl of Bengal has seen its paddy farmers suffer under the Modi governmentWhile the UPA raised the MSP of paddy by 13437 during its tenure the Modi government has just raised it by 5037 he claimedThis is nowhere near enough to account for inflation and the rising prices of farm inputs Similarly despite the promises made by PM Modi before the 2014 elections on the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission MSP remains way below the recommended rate he saidWhile paddy should be at Rs 2866 per quintal as per the Swaminathan Formula it is at just Rs 2183 per quintal today Ramesh pointed outWhat happened to the PMs promise Why has he neglected the paddy farmers of Bardhaman and West Bengal he saidThe Congress Nyay Patra pledges a legal guarantee for MSPs as per the Swaminathan Committee recommendations he pointed outCan the PM at least make a similar promise Ramesh askedHe claimed the Modi government has blocked National Health Mission funding to over 11000 subhealth centres in West BengalThese subhealth centres form the first line of defence for Indias poor they are staffed by nurses and provide vaccines for children tablets and medicines for common fever malaria TB and other infectious diseases he saidWhile the subcentres are supposed to be called Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres the state government had named them Sushasthya Centres he notedIn a letter on November 25 last year the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare MoHFW wrote to states ordering them to rename subcentres Ayushman Arogya Mandir and paint them orange The medical community has criticised this attempt by the BJP to saffronise medical centres and the state government has refused to implement it Ramesh saidIn a petty and vindictive move the Modi government seems to have blocked funds just because the state government refused to paint subcentres a different colour he saidThis comes after the Centre has already blocked state funds to MGNREGA and a Central housing scheme Ramesh addedIn their vindictiveness why is the BJP denying essential health services to the poorest communities in the state Does the PM prioritise his PR over vaccines for Indias children Ramesh said and asked the prime minister to break his silence on these issuesWith inputs from Agencies