KOLKATA: Writing a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the  Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, accused the state government of diverting government funds under different development projects.

Adhikari claimed in a letter dated September 29 and sent on Friday that the state administration had transferred all Central money to the wage and means head of the consolidated fund prior to the implementation of the public finance management system.

"It is necessary to thoroughly investigate that head's transactions. A copy of the letter, which states that the investigation must be carried out by police who are unlikely to be influenced by state government officials.

He said, the state government opened its state nodal account for managing public finances with ICICI Bank despite Manoj Pant, the secretary of finance for West Bengal, preferring a public sector bank on this matter.

The Leader of Opposition claims that the main irregularities include the withdrawal of a sizable portion of the funds received under various Centrally sponsored schemes, their deposit in the state emergency relief fund, and their subsequent use of the funds,along with any accumulated interest,  for other purposes.

He also said that the state government is delaying the sub-allocation of funds to various departments which is even of six months. "As a result, scheme accounting is put in danger, making it impossible to provide utilisation certificates on schedule. While deliberate delayed deposit causes the calculation to be incorrect because it was tampered with in the first place. Adhikari continues in the letter, "So, the entire "hue and cry" that the Central Government doesn't pay on time is wholly incorrect and a politically motivated story, spoken repeatedly to reap benefits.

He added that if these accounts' transactions are carefully examined, evidence of anomalies will be found. "Therefore, it is my sincere appeal that you kindly consider these severe claims with seriousness and kindly take suitable steps so that the malpractices end and no one may tarnish the Central government needlessly," the letter reads.

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