Bengal refutes Cong claim on aids

West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra refuted the claim of Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi that the Centre has given Rs 8,000 crore to the state, and said his government has not received a single paise from New Delhi.

“So far, we have not got a single paise from the Centre as relief package. He (Singhvi) is a good lawyer. I appreciate him being a lawyer, but he may not understand economics at all,” Mitra said at a press conference here on Monday.      

“The amount referred to by Singhvi was the Backward Region Grants Fund given by the Centre to different states, including that given to Bihar in 2005-06”, he said.

“Unfortunately, Singhvi did not address this issue when he spoke here on Sunday,” Mitra said. “I hope he’ll correct himself. It is possible that Singhvi is misinformed”, Mitra added.

At Sunday’s press conference, Singhvi, countering the state government’s allegation that it was ignored by the Central government, said  “within a few months, the Central government has given nearly Rs 8,000 crore to the state.”