Central teams' visit: Bengal does not need to pass in the eyes of anyone but people: Chief secy

The West Bengal government stressed on Friday that it has been cooperating with the central teams visiting the state to assess the COVID-19 situation and said it does not need to pass examinations conducted by anyone except the people of the state.

The health department would reply to the letters sent by one of the central teams as the issues raised are related to it, Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha said, adding that the state government is like an "open book" and it expects "constructive and positive suggestions" from the inter-ministerial central teams (IMCTs).

The central team wrote to the government, seeking a detailed report on the functioning of the coronavirus death audit committee and a meeting with its members, and expressed displeasure at the arrangements at hospitals and quarantine centres.

"I will not accept that we never cooperated with them. The chief secretary calls the team to his office for a meeting. The chief secretary visits the team the next day and what else do I have to prove? We are not in a game of proving anything," Sinha said.

He said the authorities provided the team with a health department official as a local guide and told the team members that they can go wherever they want.

"My position is very clear. We are not asking them to stay put, we are not asking them to leave. Whenever they want to leave, they are most welcome," Sinha told reporters at the state secretariat.

The IMCT members have come to the state neither as inspectors nor as auditors, he said.

"We do not have to pass in the eyes of anybody. The only examination we have to pass is the one conducted by people. If people say they are happy with the services they are supposed to get...that is what is important to us," the chief secretary said.

"We are like an open book. Go anywhere and see whatever you want to see and please give us constructive and positive suggestions," he said.

On the letters written by the IMCTs, Sinha said they wrote several letters to him, including two on Friday.

"Since the subject of the letters is related to health, I have forwarded those to the secretary of the department for sending replies," he said.

To a question, he said, "If they had questioned in their letter why the (COVID-19 death) audit committee was formed, the health department would surely give them a reply. This is a very technical matter and I hope they will understand."

He said the Union health secretary had written to the state health department, stressing that a death audit is important.

"I would like to tell you what the Union health secretary wrote to our principal secretary. The letter said it is important that some sort of a death audit be done as we report cases...we need to look into comorbidity issues...," Sinha said.

The chief secretary said he had heard from various quarters about accusations that the state government was hiding information on COVID-19 deaths.

"That is why we sought a detailed report from the audit committee on Thursday evening," he added.

Replying to another question, Sinha said the state government has not received any separate COVID-19-related fund from the Centre.

West Bengal received some funds for Cyclone Bulbul that hit the state in November last year and for disaster management, he said.

"We know that there is no COVID-19 fund. We have been demanding from the Centre our dues of around Rs 50,000 crore because of our GST share, tax devolution and the centrally-sponsored schemes. If the Centre releases the dues quickly, it will help us in combatting COVID-19," Sinha said.

The state has not even received 40 per cent of the ration under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, he said.

"That is why we cannot start the scheme," Sinha added.