Responding to the Union finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement in Lok Sabha concerning West Bengal, the state government has said that it “does not agree” with the minister’s statement, and has shared the “factual position” in a note.
The minister, says state government, had stated that West Bengal has not sent GST compensation cess claim with AG certificate since 2017-18, and till 2021-22, the state owes Rs 1,841 cr to the Centre for deployment of CrPF in the state, and the reconciliation report concerning gram sadak yojana is awaited from the state.
The GST compensation was payable to states for five years – from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2022. Also, the compensation amount is based on actual shortfall in actual revenue, over the protected revenue.
The AG office finalises accounts after the financial year ends, so initially the compensation is calculated on gross revenue, and not on net revenue. The Centre releases due compensation on a net basis (if any), once the AG determines the actual gap between protected revenue and actual revenue.To the state, the Centre has paid compensation on net basis only for two years – 2017-18, 2018-19. For the next three years compensation has been released based on gross revenue. The state government adds that if net revenue is taken into account, the Centre owes Bengal Rs 2,409.96 crore.
Stating about deployment of central paramilitary forces, the state government has said that the forces are deployed by the Union home ministry for conducting elections to Lok Sabha and the state assembly. The deployment takes into account the instructions of the Election Commission and the state governments aren’t required for consent for deployment of the forces. Hence, the Centre should take care of expenses concerning deployment.
Mentioning deployment of CRPF in LWE-affected areas, the state has said that it is a national problem, and accordingly the Centre should take care of the expenditure.
The state government had submitted in prescribed format, the financial reconciliation of funds released to the state under PMGSY-I & II to the Union ministry of rural development (MoRD) on June 18, 2021. A revised reconciliation statement was also furnished on September 27, 2022, as was needed then. The state offered additional information over the email, when information was asked for.
“No further query has been raised till date by MoRD against this report. GST Compensation Cess Claim with AG certificate is an option for the Contractors/agencies to claim, but none of the contractor/agency has submitted any such claim as per the format of MoRD, hence it could not be sent. This is not a mandatory criterion for fund release,” the state government has stated.
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