West Bengal government refuses to cut state taxes on fuel
West Bengal government refuses to cut state taxes on fuel
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday ruled out any reduction in state taxes on fuel in the wake of the Union government cutting excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per liter and diesel by Rs 6 per litre.
The Chief Minister informed that due to reduction in excise duty by the Centre, the state will suffer a loss of ₹1.80 on one liter of petrol and ₹1.03 on one liter of diesel. Ms. Banerjee also informed that earlier (February 2021), the state government had reduced the price of petrol and diesel by Re 1 per liter and due to the cumulative effect, the state would get Rs 2.80 per liter on petrol and Rs 2.03 on petrol. was being lost. diesel. According to the chief minister, the state exchequer is expected to suffer a loss of Rs 1,141 crore annually due to these deductions.
The chief minister likened West Bengal’s “loss” to rate cuts by Maharashtra, Kerala and Rajasthan. About a month ago, Ms Banerjee had claimed that the Center owed the West Bengal government Rs 97,000 crore.
He alleged that the Center was depriving non-BJP ruled states of funds. “We are not getting the money that the Center owes us. Opposition ruled states are being denied… we are being defamed politically. Tughlaqi (Totalitarian) rule is going on,” she said, referring to the BJP government at the Centre.
autonomy to agencies
The chief minister alleged that the central government was using central agencies to interfere in the affairs of the states and bulldozing the federal structure of the country. Speaking to reporters at the state secretariat, Ms Banerjee alleged that the BJP rule at the Center was “worse than Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin or Benito Mussolini”.
Claiming that the central government was giving directions to the investigating agencies, he demanded autonomy for them. “Central agencies should work with autonomy without any political interference and should get salary only from the Center and nothing else,” he said.
Ms Banerjee raised the issue of the recent raids conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at the residence of Rashtriya Janata Dal President and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad. “they [the government at the Centre] All are trying to forcibly evict political leaders. Raids have been conducted at Lalu Prasad’s residence as elections are approaching in Bihar. This is to weaken the opposition.”