Kolkata, Dec 4 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said with the Centre directly sending funds to panchayats, the power of state governments has been curbed.

Because of this, the state is not always updated about the work done by the respective panchayats in an area, she said in the assembly.

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"As the Centre is now directly sending funds to panchayats with the state having little role, our power has been curbed. We don't have updates about the works done by panchayats," she said.

The district magistrate and block development officer concerned have no say in the work of panchayats in their area, she added.

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Banerjee said, "The Centre has not released Rs 7000 crore due to West Bengal for implementing various projects."

The ruling TMC has several times claimed that due to non-release of funds for MGNREGA and Awas Yojana by the Centre along with other projects, lakhs of poor people in West Bengal are being affected.

"Despite the Centre's attitude (towards Bengal), we will ensure that people do not face hardship," she said.

As the chief minister was about to begin her speech, around 25 BJP legislators present stood up and walked out shouting "chor chor" (thieves) donning black badges.

The treasury bench did not react and she resumed her speech soon afterwards.

The assembly campus witnessed a shouting match late last week with TMC and BJP MLAs holding demonstrations, often calling each other thieves over various issues.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)