“Duare Sarkar” not planned as political agenda: Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that her government’s programme “Duare Sarkar” (government at the doorstep) – planned to take the government programmes at the doorstep of people was not done with an eye on the election. Bengal goes to the polls within four months. “Overwhelmed” by the success of the programme, Banerjee said, “around 78 per cent of the 2.5 crore people who visited ‘Duare Sarkar’ camps have already received benefits of the programme”.

Banerjee said this while addressing top officials of international funding organisations, diplomats and senior journalists at a review meeting of the state’s welfare programmes at the state administrative headquarters, Nabanna. “Duare Sarkar” was rolled out on December 1, 2020 and is continuing in its third phase.

At the programme, Banerjee distributed certificates and benefits of various projects under “Duare Sarkar” scheme to beneficiaries. The CM added that her government is providing free healthcare under the ”Swasthya Sathi” programme and wants to reach 10-crore population, which means every family would get basic healthcare up to Rs 5 lakh every year. Other schemes under Duare Sarkar includes assisting young men and women from all backgrounds in pursuing higher education through scholarships.

Attacking the Opposition, she talked about the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme saying that it is being run with state’s contribution, while Swasthya Sathi is totally funded by the West Bengal government.

Banerjee said that Bengal has topped the list of states in its performance under the 100 days’ work programme. She said that the state has created job opportunities despite of the pandemic where 84 lakh migrant workers were given jobs and new job cards. She discussed the new initiative “Choker Alo” under which over 50,000 glasses will be distributed free of cost in all the blocks of the state. She also mentioned the scholarships given to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

Banerjee mentioned the success of her government’s various welfare programs like Sabuj Sathi, Kanyashree, Yubashree and so on. She released two books on the programmes “Duare Sarkar” and “Para-y Samadhan”.