Kolkata, July 25: The West Bengal Pradesh Congress has demanded that the Left Front government declare 'financial emergency' in view of the persisting critical economic situation in the state. State Congress general secretary Manas Bhuiyan said at a press conference yesterday that the West Bengal's revenue and fiscal deficit were the highest in India.
Bhuiyan alleged that the 'tendency' of non-utilisation of development fund in the plan outlay and 'reckless' expenditure of non-plan fund over the years had aggravated the situation. The unemployment problem in the state had also reached alarming proportions with the number of registered unemployed youth reaching 64.12 lakhs, he said.
He said the state was facing an acute problem of poverty and as a result the literacy rate stood at 69.22 per cent, the 17th position in the country.
Replying to a question, Bhuiyan supported Prime Minister A B Vajpayee's statement that the state had witnessed poor industrial growth over the past two decades. Bureau Report