Kolkata:
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today took serious umbrage at union minister Jairam Ramesh writing to her saying that the 'brain dead government in Delhi' was sensitive to the needs of people of the state.
"Incidentally, may I add that this reflects how sensitive the so-called "brain-dead government" in Delhi is to the needs of the people of West Bengal", Mr Ramesh, the union minister for Rural Development said in his letter informing Ms Banerjee of the release of the fourth instalment of MGNREGA funds amounting to Rs 601.2 crore for 2012/13.
He also informed her that with this, West Bengal had received a total of 2655.2 crore till now.
Drawing attention to a paragraph in the letter which referred to the "brain-dead government in Delhi", Ms Banerjee said, "The statement is clearly vindictive, unethical and unconstitutional.
"I am really stunned to see that a Union Minister can write a distasteful statement like this to a State Government. This creates a bad precedence and adds stigma to healthy democratic fibre of our country," Ms Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress chief said on her Facebook page.
"I am sharing a copy of the letter dated 19.10.12 received from the Union Minister of Rural Development. You would be shocked to see the attitude of the Central Government towards the State of West Bengal," she said.
She reminded Mr Ramesh that under central government schemes like MGNREGA, central funds were released to all states for implementation of the scheme.
"Releasing funds for the Central schemes is not a matter of charity. This is a pure governmental activity," Ms Banerjee, the Trianmool Congress chief said.
Ms Banerjee, a former UPA ally said "In a federal structure, the Central Government and the State Governments perform their roles as per the Constitution in public interest. Good and effective governance deserves a clear delineation of governmental activity and political activity."