Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday that the state government is yet to receive dues to the tune of Rs 17,000 crore from the Centre, which could have assisted Bengal a lot in carrying out relief and rehabilitation of the people hit by the cyclone Bulbul, which has recently caused heavy damage to a number of districts in the state. She, however, expressed her hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would keep his promise of helping the state to compensate for the damage. "Around Rs 17,000 crore is due to us from the Centre. If they had given us that amount, we could have used that to carry out relief work," Banerjee said, after holding a state-level administrative meeting at Nabanna Sabhaghar. The meeting was attended by her cabinet ministers, principal secretaries and secretaries of the various department on Thursday. Banerjee further pointed out that the state has suffered a loss of Rs 640 crore due to less payment of Central taxes to the state. "These taxes (Central taxes) are distributed equally among all states. But the Central growth rate has been so low that all states have been suffering," she added. The Chief Minister reiterated that the states revenue earning, meanwhile, has increased. "We had an earning of Rs 33,739 crore till October last year. This time our revenue earning has gone up to Rs 34,868 crore," she maintained. Banerjee pointed out that nine people have died, with 15 lakh hectares of agricultural land affected in the state. Paddy cultivation has been the worst hit. Five lakh houses have been damaged and six lakh people have been directly affected. She urged all political parties to refrain from politics in connection with relief work. "It was a devastating cyclone. But some are playing a political game and indulging in vandalism. They should not indulge in politics and stand by the people who have been affected. We had rehabilitated 15 lakh people to safer places with the warning of the cyclone, so loss of life has not been much," she said, assuring all necessary assistance to farmers to compensate for the damage.

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