Kolkata--Despite bitter acrimony over the municipal polls, Prime Minister Nardenra Modi’s visit to West Bengal and his scheduled meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee comes in a positive environment, created over the land swap amendment bill that was unanimously passed in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. However, there are a lot many intricate aspects that need to be addressed and they will come up when Modi and Mamata meet on Saturday in Kolkata.
The Central government has accepted the West Bengal government’s rehabilitation package in relation to the land swap deal – worth a total of Rs 3008 crore. The top government of India officials who had gone through the rehabilitation package, however, pointed out the West Bengal government has given a very inflated figure of migration of population into the Indian side form territory that will be going to Bangladesh after the LBA is implemented. The proposal for the rehabilitation package was submitted to the centre by Bengal government in December, 2014 and a package of more than Rs 3000 crore was sought. The proposed package was divided into two components –variable and fixed.
According to the state government’s estimates, the population that might seek transfer to the Indian side is estimated at 37,000 (the total population living in Indian Enclaves in Bangladesh) on an upper scale while the actual door to door surveys conducted by officials of both Bangladesh and India had shown that the population that want to migrate to the Indian side of territory is about 750 plus. There is a huge gap between the projected migration figure of 37,000 population and 750.
However, the rehab package, therefore, suggested two components – one variable and the other constant. As per the variable estimate the money allotted for rehabilitation of 37,000 population has been pegged at Rs 2200 crore. The rehab package also projects the setting up of as many as 67 four storied housing blocks in Coochbehar district. But central government officials describe this estimate as “absurd.”
Indian Express
