West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today hardened her stance on the demand for a three-year moratorium on interest payment for accumulated debts, saying the Centre "cannot deny its responsibility in the matter".

"We are not going with a begging bowl. We are not asking for a special package. It is their commitment and their promise. They (Central government) has to do it. Our demand for moratorium is nothing new. It happened with Punjab. Is not Bengal a state? Is not Bengal's problem everyone's problem",she told reporters prior to her departure for Delhi. "How many times have I to say this?" she asked.

Banerjee, who headed for Delhi to attend the meeting on NCTC on May 5 and is likely to meet the Prime Minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi during her four-day stay, said this when a reporter asked if she was hopeful this time of
getting the moratorium from the Centre.