Kolkata: Nearly 30 lakh people, applying for various government welfare schemes and services, have registered themselves at the 2,000-odd Jan Kalyan Shivirs in Bengal in the past three days. The turnout has been so huge that it has prompted the state to extend the outreach programme by one more day. During his visit to such a camp in Falta on Wednesday, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced that the programme would be held on Thursday as well.
The camps, which opened on Monday, were initially scheduled to wrap up on Wednesday. But after the CM’s announcement of extending it, given the “overwhelming response” from people, the camps will stay open till 5 pm on Thursday.
“Today, I visited a Jan Kalyan Shivir in Falta, South 24 Parganas. Seeing the massive public response and to ensure eligible citizens can avail of the benefits of central and state schemes, we have decided to extend the Jan Kalyan Shivirs by an extra day,” said Adhikari on Wednesday. “It will continue till June 18. I urge everyone to visit their nearest camps to access on-spot registration for all major central and state welfare schemes.”
Among the 30 lakh-odd beneficiaries, who registered themselves for various schemes at the 2,043 Jan Kalyan Shivirs in Bengal, a majority was women. An official said the first day recorded about 8 lakh registrations, the highest turnout being recorded in North 24 Parganas, followed by Hooghly, South 24 Parganas and Kolkata. The city has 16 single-window camps, one in each KMC borough.
Services related to the 100-day work scheme also became available at these camps from Wednesday. Work for some services, such as old-age pension and widow pension, was not carried out on the first day but it started from the second day. So far, people have been able to avail of 57 kinds of services and schemes at these camps.
Adhikari pointed out that given the time shortage, camps could not be set up in every area and that led to the crowding. “The people of Bengal have placed their trust and confidence in this government, which is working with cleanliness and transparency to ensure they receive the benefits of all welfare schemes and projects, run by both the Centre and the state. The government is making sure people can access every scheme without any corruption,” he said.
He said the most significant among the schemes was Ayushman Bharat, under which beneficiaries would receive free medical treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh at any government or private hospital anywhere in the country. He said around 1.4 crore families or about 6.5 crore people would benefit from this health scheme.
For Annapurna Yojana, the CM explained, forms were being printed and data verified to identify eligible beneficiaries as there was “widespread corruption” in Lakshmir Bhandar.
He also announced that low-income villagers would be eligible for the Prime Minister Surya Ghar Scheme, under which Rs 30,000 subsidies would be granted for 100 units, Rs 60,000 for 200 units and Rs 78,000 for 300 units. “To receive benefits under this scheme, people must register their names at the public welfare camps... the state budget will be presented on June 22, and it will include many more initiatives for the youth, government employees and educated job-seekers. The government is preparing several programmes for farmers,” said the CM.
