Amit Shah has closed-door meeting with Mamata Banerjee

Banerjee handed over copies of the letters sent to the Centre for the "releasing of dues" under the MGNREGA programme to Shah.

Kolkata, Dec 17: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reportedly had a closed-door meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday.

During the meeting, Mamata is believed to have raised the issue of "non-release of funds" by the Centre for the 100-day work scheme in the last one year, an official told PTI. It lasted for about 15-20 minutes at Banerjee's chamber on the 14th floor of the state secretariat, 'Nabanna', was held after the Eastern Zonal Council meeting.

The West Bengal CM, who has been at the loggerheads with the Narendra Modi-led government, also handed over copies of the letters sent to the Centre for the "releasing of dues" under the MGNREGA programme to the Union Home Minister. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MGNREGA) is aimed at enhancing the livelihood security of households in rural areas of the country by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year, the report added.

The CM also alleged that West Bengal has received "less compensation" than other states for the devastations caused by cyclone 'Amphan' in 2020, the official said. During the meeting with Shah, Banerjee gifted one punjabi, a saree and 'nolen gur' (date palm jaggery) to him.

Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah presided over the 25th Eastern Zonal Council meeting in Kolkata today. The meeting was attended by the Chief Ministers of West Bengal and Jharkhand, the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar and Ministers from Odisha and other senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the States under the Council.

In his inaugural address, Shah said that in the last eight years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, more than 1,000 issues were discussed in the meetings of the Zonal Councils and 93 per cent of them were resolved, which is a huge achievement.

He said that in the eight years from 2006 to 2013, a total of six meetings of the Zonal Councils were held (an average of less than one meeting per year), but in the eight years since 2014, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, a total of 23 meetings (including today's meeting) have been held (an average of 3 meetings per year), according to a statement from the government.

Shah said that there has been a significant increase in the frequency of meetings of the Zonal Council and these results are visible, which has been possible with the cooperation of all the State Governments, Central Ministries and Departments and in this the Inter-State Council Secretariat is playing an active role.