Kolkata: The Congress-sponsored motion on non-implementation of Central schemes in West Bengal was today defeated in the state assembly, even as the party Legislature Party leader Manas Bhuniya, who moved it in the House, denied the CPI(M)'s allegation that the state was deprived by the Centre in many of its developoment projects.

Bhuniya tried to establish with statistics that it was the state government's tactics to hide its failure to spend the fund sanctioned by the Centre. In most of the Central projects in rural development, he said, the state government failed to spend the sanctioned fund properly and a majore portion of fund remained unutilised.

Describing it as inefficiency of the state government, Bhuniya wondered how dare the ruling CPI(M) raise the issue of deprivation by the Centre. If it was so, the state government should publish a white paper on the issue justifying the allegations, he said. Even after its 30-year rule, 45.69 lakh family out of 1.33 crore family in the left-ruled state still remained below poverty line, while 5.77 lakh families were homeless.

Quoting government documents, Bhuniya also said currently the number of families of migrating labours was 20.95 lakh in the state, while the number of landless families was 75.78 lakh.

Source : PTI