Salary through banks from September: Mamata

Says she will discontinue cash payouts

PTI | June 21, 2011



In a bid to ensure transparency in administration, Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal government would bring out a "white paper" on the "precarious" financial situation and make salary payments to all its employees through banks from September.

"A special audit will be carried out by the (state) Finance Ministry on the precarious financial situation. Once this is over, our Finance Minister (Amit Mitra) will table a white paper," Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters here today.

She also announced that salaries of state government employees as well as pension would be disbursed through the banks from September 1 instead of cash. "Talks are being held with all banks in this regard."

Banerjee was replying to a wide range of questions including central financial assistance, Gorkhaland issue, land acquisition and development projects at the Press Club on her first visit to the national capital since becoming the Chief Minister.

On the financial situation inherited from Left Front government, she said the state had a debt of over Rs 2 lakh crore and claimed the erstwhile dispensation had withdrawn Rs 9,000 crore in two months after having borrowed about Rs 17,000 crore from the centre just before the assembly elections.

"We are passing through a disastrous situation. Our priority is to at least stabilize it and provide roti, kapda and makan (bread, cloth and shelter). We are not asking for swimming pools," she said.

Whether she would seek an economic package from the centre, Mamata said "we never asked for special package. Whatever we deserve, we should get...so that we can provide basic necessities of bread and butter to the people."

 

Comments

 

Other News

How Rafi, Raj Kapoor helped pave the way for a great uranium deal

There`s a certain moment in diplomacy that`s too personal to be captured in a communiqué, too small to make the front page, but more revealing than the front page. This week, prime minister Narendra Modi reached Tashkent and, amid the pomp of state visits, managed to evoke the old Bollywood tunes

Distinguishing Fish 1 and Fish 2: The pragmatism behind India’s WTO ratification

 India became the 123rd WTO member to ratify the multilateral Agreement on Fisheries subsidies (AoFS) when it deposited the Instrument of Acceptance for Phase 1 on July 20, 2026. The ratification is restricted to disciplining Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing (IUU), protection for overfished

The 7% growth problem: Why the next 7% will be harder

India has become accustomed to hearing the 7% growth number. It is now less a milestone than an expectation. Yet the paradox is becoming clearer: maintaining 7% growth may be considerably harder than achieving it once. India’s real GDP grew 7.7% in FY2025–26, following growth of 6.5% in FY202

The Constitution cannot be altered: Justice Abhay Oka

Justice Abhay Oka, who retired from the Supreme Court in May 2025, has said that the Constitution of India cannot be altered. Explaining the landmark Kesavananda Bharati judgment (1973) on the basic structure of the Constitution, he said, “This is one judgment that has saved democracy in India.&rdq

How the flora and fauna evolved in the Indian subcontinent

Mammals of India  By A.J.T. Johnsingh and P.O. Nameer HarperCollins India in association with Bombay Natural History Society  

India`s renewable race is moving beyond megawatts

When Shell bought Sprng Energy in 2022, India`s renewable energy market appeared to offer precisely what global energy majors were seeking: scale, growth and a place in one of the world`s largest energy transitions. Four years later, Shell is selling the same business to Aditya Birla Group for an enterpris

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter