Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress on Sunday said that the West Bengal government had failed to utilise central funds for development in 12 Muslim-concentrated districts and the community remained the most deprived during the
Left rule in the state.
"The state government has failed to utilise the funds
allocated by the Centre for development work in the 12
districts identified as Muslim-concentrated," Trinamool
Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandopadhyay said.
Muslims in West Bengal constitute about 26 percent of
the community`s population in the country.
Bandopadhyay said that according to the Sachar Committee
report, Muslims in the state were the worst off and had
remained the most deprived during the Left rule.
"To hide this fact, CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP Brinda Karat
was writing to the Prime Minister and also meeting the Imam of
the Jama Masjid in Delhi. This is a futile attempt aimed at
gaining the confidence of Muslims," Bandopadhyay said.
Stating that the state government had dropped the word
`madrasa` from the name of the Kolkata Alia University which
was formed from the erstwhile Kolkata Madrasa, Bandopadhyay
demanded that it be named Kolkata Madrasa Alia University.
He appealed to the Centre to take steps to provide
salaries at government scales to the Imams of the mosques
across the country.
Trinamool Congress Minority Cell chairman Idris Ali said
that the party would launch a campaign to demand a hike in the
salaries of the Imams and Muezzins of the mosques.
According to Ali, nearly 500 Forward Bloc supporters
joined the Trinamool Congress at the function. They were
received into the party by Bandopadhyay.
PTI
