Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention to restore the funds under the National Health Mission (NHM). The funds have been withheld after the state government refused to paint the health and wellness centres in saffron.

Miss Banerjee wrote the letter to the Prime Minister yesterday. Earlier, Miss Banerjee strongly opposed the decision to paint the health and wellness centres in saffron. “What is going on in the country? They had forced the Indian cricketers taking part in ICC World Cricket to wear saffron during net practice. The metro stations have been painted in saffron, and now they have forced us to paint the health and wellness centres in saffron.

This is unacceptable.” “We respect the saffron colour but cannot accept this dictatorship,” she said while addressing party leaders and workers at the Netaji Indoor Stadium on 23 November. State finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, while addressing the Assembly to celebrate Constitution Day on 28 November had said that the health sector is under the state list and the Centre has no power to intervene as per the Indian Constitution.

“The BJP has caused extensive damage to every institution and has flouted the Indian Constitution by intervening in areas that are beyond their jurisdiction.” Miss Banerjee wrote, “Under the National Health Mission, West Bengal has always been a forerunner in the implementation of different public health programmes.

As a part of the National Health Mission scheme, our state has been performing exceedingly well in setting up health and wellness centres in the state. You may be happy to know that at present there are around eleven thousand functional health and wellness centres benefiting more than three lakh people every day.

These buildings have been constructed since 2011 in accordance with the colour branding of the state.” Miss Banerjee sought the intervention of PM Modi and said, “It is most unfortunate that, very recently, I was informed that the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has withheld fund release under the National Health Mission to West Bengal due to non-compliance of certain colour branding guidelines for health and wellness centres despite other conditionalities being fulfilled.

The withholding of fund releases would adversely deprive the poor of their benefits. I would earnestly request that you kindly intervene for the immediate release of NHM funds for West Bengal and for the removal of specific colour branding conditionalities for the Health and Wellness Centres for fund release under NHM so that the poor people do not suffer from a lack of quality health services.” Miss Banerjee, in the letter, has mentioned various steps taken by the state government to provide health care to the people, including the construction of super specialty hospitals