Mamata to Centre: Restructure debt repayment or face demonstrations

Kolkata, Oct 3:

Chief Minister

, who has threatened to take the fight against the Centre's 'economic deprivation' of the state to the streets of Delhi, today slammed the UPA government for not acceding to its repeated request for loan repayment restructuring.

"“When the Left Front government was in power, it was allowed to take loans. You (the Centre) have allowed them to take loans for which we are suffering. You are not giving us a single pice. I am happy that you are helping other states, I love all states. But why you are stopping finances for Bengal and trying to economically deprive Bengal?" Banerjee asked at a state government programme here to give unemployment allowance.

"Remember that there is no use trying to economically deprive us. We will not bow down. We do not accept blackmailing. We can move on keeping our heads high. We will not allow Bengal to be deprived. We will fight for what is ours." she said.

Banerjee said her government had been requesting the Centre for long for loan repayment restructuring. "We are suffering for the sins committed by the previous (LF) government. A sum of Rs 25,000 crore is being taken away from the state exchequer by the Centre as interest payment for the loans," she said, adding West Bengal was the number one debt-stressed state in the country.

She had last Monday termed the Centre's silence over loan repayment restructuring as a 'political vendetta' to ruin Bengal. She had said it was her final 'appeal' and she would lead demonstrations in New Delhi with one crore people.

PTI