Kolkata, April 21 : A fresh tussle has started between the Centre and West Bengal government over the dues from the state government over expenses incurred for the deployment of central armed forces for different purposes, majority of which is pertaining to election-related security.
State government sources said that they have received a communication from the Union Home Ministry for the payment of dues to the tune of Rs 1,852 crore, which include the principal amount as well as penalty accrued for non- payment of earlier dues at the rate 2.5 per cent on the principal unpaid amount.
However, sources said that the state government might write back to the Union government highlighting the same logic that since the central armed forces personnel were deployed for poll purposes monitored by the office of the Election Commission of India, the question of the state government bearing a share of the expenses does not arise.
This is not the first time that a spat between the Union and the West Bengal government has erupted on this issue.In February this year, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a statement in Parliament that the West Bengal government had not been clearing the dues on account of the state’s share in bearing the expenses borne for the purpose of deployment of the forces.
On that occasion the Union finance minister pointed out that while West Bengal is often vocal on non-payment of central dues to the state, the Union government too has points in raising objections to the non-payment of the state government’s share in the expenses borne for the deployment of central armed forces.
At that point of time too the state government was prompt in giving a counter- reaction by issuing a statement questioning the logic of the state bearing expenses for deploying central armed forces in poll-related duties as it is done by the ECI.
At that point of time, the West Bengal government also argued that it also does not hold the onus of bearing expenses for central forces deployment in the Left-wing extremism (LWE)-affected areas considering Left-wing extremism is a national problem and to deal with the problem, the paramilitary forces are deployed, who work in close coordination with the state police.
It said that the expenditure relating to deployment of central armed forces in LWE affected areas, which is a national issue, should be borne by the Union government.
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