Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress on Thursday hit out
at the BJP-led government at the Centre over the rejection of West Bengal's
tableau proposal for Republic Day parade, saying it insulted the people of the
state for protesting the amended Citizenship Act.
The state BJP was quick to hit back and accused the TMC government of not
properly following rules and procedure which it said caused the rejection.
The Defence Ministry had on Wednesday rejected West Bengal's tableau proposal
after an Expert Committee examined it in two rounds of meeting, a statement by
the ministry said.
"The tableau proposal of the West Bengal government was not taken
forward for further consideration by the Expert Committee after deliberations
in the second meeting. It is pertinent to mention here that the tableau of the
Government of West Bengal was short-listed for participation in the Republic
Day Parade 2019 as an outcome of the same process," it said.
The ministry had received 32 tableau proposals from states and union
territories and 24 from central ministries and departments of which 22
proposals, comprising 16 states/UTs and 6 ministries/departments, have finally
been short-listed, the statement said.
West Bengal Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Tapas Roy accused
the BJP-led government at the Centre of having a "vindictive
attitude" against the state. "Just because West Bengal has been
opposing anti-people policies of the BJP government, a step-motherly treatment
is being meted out to the state. As we have opposed anti-people laws like CAA,
the Centre has rejected our tableau proposal," Roy said.
"Such cheap politics won't deter us from opposing anti-people
policies. The BJP has insulted the people of West Bengal and they would get a
befitting reply for it in the near future," Roy said.
Speaking to News18, senior TMC leader Colonel Diptanshu Chaudhary (Retd),
said: “This time our main theme was ‘Kanyashree Prakalpa’ initiative alongside
a message on ‘Sarva Dharma Samanvaya’ (embodying equality). You tell me, what
was wrong in it? It teaches us about women empowerment and equality. It was
rejected because the BJP-led Union government doesn’t believe in these themes.”
He added, “Kanyashree, a West Bengal government initiative to improve the
status and well-being of girls, won the United Nations Public Service Award and
the Centre is now feeling the heat over it due to its comparisons with ‘Beti
Bachao Beti Padao’.
The TMC government, Colonel Chaudhary said, has allocated Rs 7,000 crore
for the scheme, compared to the allotment of Rs 1,000 crore by Centre for 29
states. ‘The total number of girls benefited by the ‘Kanyashree’ scheme is
about 90 lakh. On the other hand, ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padao’ is only a gimmick
campaign,” he said.
The TMC leader said the Mamata Banerjee government in the state was
“harassed over the same issue” earlier as well. “This is a vindictive attitude
of the central government. They are trying to break the federal structure of
the Constitution. I think the Centre should relook into the matter,” Chaudhary said.
Kanyashree Prakalpa, introduced in 2012, was the brainchild of Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee. It is a conditional cash transfer scheme which
targets adolescent girls aged 13-19 years and offers a two-tier scholarship of
an annual Rs 500 for continuing education and a one-time payment of Rs 25,000
on completion of 18 years of age.More
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