Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had termed the demonetisation move as 'fraud' (File Photo)
Demonetisation has burnt a Rs 350 crore-hole in West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's state budget. That money will be given to "victims", as it were, of the centre's move last November to abruptly scrap Rs 500 and 1,000 rupee notes: migrant workers who lost jobs in other states and had to return home and farmers and sharecroppers hit by the cash crunch.
Ms Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress party have been among the most vocal critics of the decision since it was announced. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government billed it as the silver bullet against tax evasion and corruption, she said it was a decision that would be disastrous for the weakest sections India's cash-first economy.
In Ms Banerjee's budget, while Rs 100 crore has been set aside for the farm sector, Rs 250 crore will be distributed among 50,000 workers - each of whom will be given Rs 50,000 each to set up their own ventures. A data bank to identify the neediest workers is being set up, Finance Minister Amit Mitra said while announcing the Budget on Friday.
"We are doing this despite the huge loans we have to pay back because of financial failures of the Left Front government," Ms Banerjee said.
Her decision is expected to especially help zari or embroidery workers, gold jewellery artisans and construction workers. Traditionally, zari and gold workers are from Howrah district and construction labour from Malda and Murshidabad districts.
As Dr Mitra was presenting the Budget in the House, opposition Left and Congress legislators held a mock Assembly in the portico of the building. One legislator had a poster saying "chief minister" pinned to her sari, another had 'speaker', yet another had 'corruption minister'.
The opposition boycotted the Budget to protest an alleged attack on the Leader of the Opposition on Wednesday inside the house during protests over amendments to a bill that would make people who damaged public property pay for it.
CPM MLA Sujan Chakraborty who participated in the mock Assembly and had not heard the budget speech, said, "In the name of Budget, the death knell of Bengal is being written. The farce is going on in the name of Budget."