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Indian Express
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Calcutta HC MGNREGA order: Govt to seek arrears, BJP says ‘won't change anything'
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that her government will seek arrears from the Centre in the wake of the Calcutta High Court's order for restart of the MGNREGA, the 100-day rural job guarantee scheme, in the state after a gap of three years. Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, who represented the state government in the High Court, told The Indian Express that the logical next step would be to pay the arrears. 'We have been fighting the case for the last two years, and the Chief Justice came to the finding that it is the statutory obligation of both the Centre and the state government to ensure the 100-day work. And the court has passed an order to that extent, though belatedly. The arrears have to be paid. Under the law, you have to give the job or provide unemployment allowances. They have to pay the arrears to the job seekers who come under the scheme, and secondly, if the state government could justify that some arrears are there, then that will be paid,' the senior counsel said. The BJP, however, said the restart of the MGNREGA scheme in the state would not 'solve the problems'. 'We welcome the court order, but it will not solve the problem under any circumstances. The disbursement of the funds is in the hands of the Centre, and the Centre has the authority to discontinue projects if there are irregularities or violations of the basic norms. The state government has accepted that there have been irregularities. Neither the Centre, nor the state BJP wanted this project to stop, but due to TMC's institutional corruption and non-cooperation, this situation emerged,' BJP MP Shamik Bhattacharya told The Indian Express.
India Today
14-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
'Have Pahalgam terrorists been found?' CPM leader questions Operation Sindoor
Communist Party of India (Marxist) Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya has questioned the goals and consequences of Operation Sindoor, a military operation carried out by Indian armed forces in retaliation against the Pahalgam terror attack. He asked if India had found a single terrorist and if any terrorist involved in the Pahalgam attack had died during the comments, made during an interview with Aaj Tak Bangla, have sparked a political controversy, considering the support from all Indian political parties for the government's actions against questioned whether Operation Sindoor had actually achieved its goals. He said that everyone had a question in their mind about the location of the terrorist bases, adding that while India claimed to have destroyed terrorist bases, Pakistan said it they were civilian areas. He said that this distinction needed to be clarified, adding that otherwise it would resemble "Israel's justification of its actions by labelling Palestinians as terrorists". When asked about the Indian Army's claim that it had destroyed nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Bhattacharya questioned whether India had found a single terrorist. He pointed out that even the official statements mentioned only family members had been killed. He argued that if someone was identified as a terrorist, but their wife and mother were killed in their absence, it could not be considered an achievement. He added that those in power must take who is also a former Mayor of Kolkata, further said that the Indian Army claims it has destroyed targets. "I will believe our army. But Pakistan says civilians were killed. We should not mistrust anyone without facts. Has any terrorist involved in the Pahalgam attack died? Have any of them been caught? If I'm a militant, it doesn't mean my family is militant. These are acts against humanity," he being asked if his statements questioned the Indian Army's actions, Bhattacharya said, "What the Army is claiming may have justification, but what were the results? They think they destroyed 10 places - that needs to be assessed. We still demand answers about who was behind the Pahalgam incident. I haven't seen any analysis of what led to Pulwama either. If such incidents keep happening, and we just respond by bombing some locations and claiming success, that isn't a real achievement."He concluded by saying, "The Army said it had a specific target and took action. That may be true. But what are the consequences?"Must Watch
