Kolkata: Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Saturday questioned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement about 'deterioration' of the standard of education in Bengal, and said the literacy rate was higher than that of the national average.
The expelled CPM leader, who hit the campaign trail for his erstwhile party this evening at Ballygunge, said "I have good relations with the Prime minister. I respect him. But I am hurt and surprised at his comment on education in the state."
He said the recent census report mentioned that national average of literacy rate was 74 per cent, while that of West Bengal was 77.08 per cent.
"In women's education, the national average is 65.5 per cent, but in West Bengal it is 71.16 per cent," he said. Chatterjee said if the standard of education was poor in the state, "I wonder how these figures were achieved?"
Chatterjee also said that law and order was definitely good in West Bengal otherwise why should people from other states come there. "There is no anarchy."
He said that high rate of population in West Bengal was an indicator that peace prevailed in the state. The Prime minister at his Dum Dum joint election rally with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said that the literacy rate in smaller states like Manipur and Nagaland was higher than West Bengal.
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