Bengal's dues will be cleared if state meets Centre's requirements: Guv

All dues of West Bengal will be cleared by the Centre provided the state government meets the requirements laid down by the Centre, Governor CV Ananda Bose said on Thursday after a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.Bose, who is on a two-day official trip to the national capital, said discussions on the states law and order and other subjects were also held during his meeting with Shah.Whatever dues are there will certainly be given, provided the requirements laid down by the Centre are met.

All dues of West Bengal will be cleared by the Centre provided the state government meets the requirements laid down by the Centre, Governor CV Ananda Bose said on Thursday after a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.

Bose, who is on a two-day official trip to the national capital, said discussions on the state's law and order and other subjects were also held during his meeting with Shah.

''Whatever dues are there will certainly be given, provided the requirements laid down by the Centre are met. (The) state government has given answers to various queries raised by the Centre over the last few months. I also reviewed it at my level,'' Bose said in a video message released by the Raj Bhavan here.

''(The) matter has been taken up with the Centre. Whatever is to be done to give justice to the people of Bengal will soon be done by the Union government,'' he added.

Incidentally, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had given the Centre a seven-day ultimatum to clear the dues by Thursday, failing which she would start a 48-hour dharna in the city.

The state's dues amount to a mammoth Rs 7,000 crore for several central government-run schemes including MGNREGA, and Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana (PMGAY), among others.

''Law and order and various other subjects are normally discussed during a meeting between the governor and the Union home minister. Not only with the Bengal governor but with any governor. Such discussions have taken place, but I cannot share details,'' he said.

Referring to the mob attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers during a raid at the residence of now absconding Trinamool Congress leader Shahjahan Sheikh at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district, Bose said the Home Ministry has taken ''strong steps'' in this regard.

''About the recent developments there (Sandeshkhali), strong action has been taken by the (Union) Home Ministry as we know the ED was prevented from conducting the raids and other steps were taken in the recent past. Strong action against lawbreakers will continue,'' he said.

Bose said there was no discussion on the absconding TMC leader but asserted that law would take its own course.

''A particular incident involving an alleged criminal cannot be discussed in this forum. Law will take its course and you are observing strong legal action is being taken decisively in the last few days in Bengal. This will continue,'' he added.

Earlier in the day, Bose met his predecessor and current Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar at the new Parliament House and held a closed-door meeting there, a Raj Bhavan official said.