Kolkata, June 30 (IANS) With the West Bengal government proposing to send an all-party delegation to New Delhi to seek a three-year moratorium on interest payments on the state’s debts, the Left Front Saturday said that it should first disclose the demands to be placed before the central government.
“We want the state government and the chief minister (Mamata Banerjee) to clear what will be there in the memorandum. Until and unless the state government clearly spells out its contents, how can we say anything,” said Left Front chairman Biman Bose.
The state has a debt burden of over Rs.2,08,000 crore and the government ends up paying up Rs.25,000 crore annually in interest and part principal. The total annual earning of the state is just Rs.21,000 crore, said Banerjee in her reply to a question in the state assembly Friday.
Bose also noted that the Left Front legislative party had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Kolkata and given him a memorandum requesting him to see to it that all the commitments regarding the ongoing projects in the state are kept.
Bose, a politburo member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, also stated that the Left Front plans to take up continuous programmes to protest against the price hike of essentials.
“We will start continuous protest programmes to oppose the price hike of essentials. We want the state government to convene an all-party meeting and discuss the matter with all the political parties to find a solution to the problem of rising prices,” he said.
