West Bengal on Wednesday saw nine more people die of Covid-19 while thete were 117 new cases reported in the state.
The state government in its bulletin said that the recovery rate in the state had gone up to 30%
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee called Narendra Modi government’s economic package a “big zero” and announced a new scheme to help the rural economy in the state.
The state also launched a survey to observe Covid-19 patterns in the state.
Meanwhile, opposition BJP slammed Banerjee for her remarks on the Centre’s economic package claiming she made the comments because the money will reportedly reach beneficiaries directly.
Death toll at 207
The Union health ministry put the death toll in West Bengal at 207 after nine more deaths were reported in the state. This was including the deaths of 72 people, who the government said died of co-morbidities.
The state government put the death toll at 135, without counting the 72 deaths.
PTI reported that Kolkata reported five deaths, Howrah reported two and orth 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas reported one each.
The government bulletin said that number of active cases in the state was at 1,381 and the total number of Covid-19 cases reported in the state rose to 2,290 after 117 new cases were reported.
Rise in recovery rate
The government bulletin said that 90 Covid-19 patients had been discharged from hospitals, taking the recovery rate in the state to 30.66%.
The bulletin said that 702 patients in total had recovered so far in the state.
The Telegraph quoted a minister, who was not named, as saying, “Our key takeaways are the steadily rising number of cured cases and the recovery rate, the improvement in testing stats and the falling positive confirmation rate, which is now 3.97 per cent from the 4.6 per cent on April 30.”
Sentinel survey
The West Bengal government announced a survey that will study the pattern of Covid-19 in the state to tackle the spread of the disease.
Banerjee was quoted by The Telegraph as saying, “We are the first state to conduct the survey. It will help us prepare a plan to deal with the spread of the disease.”
The report said that the government decision was keeping in mind the massive in flow of migrant workers who will be coming in from other states.
A senior government official, who was not named, told The Telegraph that this will help the state identify and prepare for the challenges it is likely to face because of the movement of those who had been stranded.
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New scheme for rural Bengal
Banerjee announced a scheme for six backward districts in West Bengal to boost the economy in these rural areas.
The scheme named Matir Srishti aims at making use of more than 50,000 acres of barren land for what the government called “income generation projects”.
Anandabazar Patrika said that the government has aimed it scheme at Bankura, Purulia, Birbhum, Jhargram, West Burdwan and West Medinpur.
The report quoted Banerjee as saying that some of the work being generated through this scheme could also be given to migrant workers returning from other states.
Banerjee claimed that this scheme will benefit at least 2.5 lakh people in the state.
“There is at least 50,000 acre of barren land in Bankura, Birbhum, Purulia, Jhargram, West Burdwan and West Midnapore districts, which cannot produce anything naturally nor can the farmers cultivate on the strip. We have decided to use this for horticulture and pisciculture involving the locals,” PTI quoted Banerjee as saying.
“Work has been initiated in 6,500 acre of land at the micro level. This is an environment-friendly scheme,” Banerjee said.
Modi’s package a ‘big zero’, says Mamata
A day after Modi announced that the government was going to introduce and economic package, Banerjee called it a ‘big zero’ and that it would not help the states in any manner.
A report in The Telegraph quoted Banerjee as saying, “Other than pulling an act of hoax and hoodwinking on the people, even in these dark days, even in this calamity, even amid such suffering of the people, they did nothing, there is nothing). Rs 20 lakh crore? Zero, zero, zero, zero, zero.”
Banerjee said that the Modi government was trying to “financially lockout” states.
“There is nothing for the unorganised sector, public spending and employment generation,” PTI quoted her as saying.
Banerjee asked why farmers’ loans had not been waived said that there was hope that states will get aid in terms of MSMEs, employment generation, unorganised sector, public spending, additional grants and health infrastructure.
Banerjee said the Modi government was trying to “bulldoze” the cooperative federalism.
“How will the state function... The Centre is bulldozing the federal structure... This is snatching of a state’s rights and an attempt to financially lockout states. We condemn it. This is unbecoming of a democracy,” she said.
The chief minister alleged that the Centre was spreading face news by using the IT cell of the BJP and had failed to deal with the pandemic. She also alleged there was a bid to instigate communal violence to shift focus away from their failures.
“Why did not it work towards self-reliance for the last six years? What were they doing for so long,” PTI quoted her as saying.
BJP hits back
The BJP almost used the same words to attack Banerjee. BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha alleged that it was Banerjee who was trying to divert attention from her failures.
PTI quoted Sinha as saying, “Her statements against the economic package are nothing but part of her political campaign against the BJP and the Union government.”
State BJP chief Dili Ghosh alleged that Mamata’s grouse was that her government was not getting money from the package.
“The true beneficiaries of the package - common people - will get the amount directly online without any intermediaries. This perhaps makes her angry as her government is not getting it,” PTI reported Ghosh as saying.
The BJP alleged that Banerjee made these statements for political gains.