TMC vows jobs scheme, DeMon probe

KOLKATA:

West Bengal

chief minister Mamata Banerjee, among the strongest advocates of social security nets for the poor, on Wednesday suggested bolstering NREGA by doubling daily wages and the assured 100-day rural work guarantee scheme to 200 days. Without jumping on the minimum income guarantee bandwagon, Mamata’s proposals roughly translate into a fixed income of around Rs 76,400 annually for an estimated 11.86 NREGA workers pan-India for their work.


Releasing the Trinamool manifesto at

Kalighat

party office, Banerjee assured a probe by a former Supreme Court judge into the “demonetisation scam” and reinstitution of Planning Commission. She spoke of a review of GST if her party gets to play a role at the Centre.

Banerjee refused to respond directly to Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s ‘NYAY’ scheme, but harped on the fact that she was not making any promises but outlining her specific proposals in the manifesto. “We propose to increase mandays in the 100-day-work scheme to 200 days in NREGA. Presently, in Bengal, a person gets a daily wage of Rs 191. We propose to double it,” she said.

Rahul’s promise assures an annual income of Rs 72,000 to around 5 crore poorest families.

Banerjee’s proposals mean an assured daily wage of Rs 382 for 200 days to NREGA job card-holders. She also said the wages should be paid directly to the beneficiary within a fortnight.

At the same time, Banerjee also spoke of augmenting institutional delivery mechanisms of the government and increasing the reach of social security schemes. She stressed that all opposition parties would converge to frame a common minimum programme (CMP).

“I cannot impose my opinions on others. These are my party’s views. We will try to articulate these while we decide the CMP,” she said.

Banerjee started outlining the Trinamool manifesto with a stringent attack on demonetisation. “Why was this introduced? Whom was it aimed to benefit? Was this to make black money white and white money black? We will institute a probe into it to be headed by a former SC judge,” she said.

On reinstituting the Planning Commission, Mamata said: “Netaji had formed this institution. It was integral to our federal structure. They used to meet states and seek inputs. This NITI Aayog is good for nothing. I attended two meetings. They only give speeches. There is none to speak for the states. We will bring back the Planning Commission.”

The chief minister further stressed that the GST that was originally mooted was completely different from the one implemented.